With the new season of gardening among us, there are multiple beginners just starting to grow their first plants. Gardening can seem complicated at times, but luckily, there are an abundance of tricks and tips to help you get started!
1. Homemade Weed Killer
To create your own weed killer, the recipe calls for 1 gallon of white vinegar, 1 cup of table salt, and 1 tbsp of liquid dish soap. No one really has time to pull weeds all day. Chances are, you already have these ingredients lying around your kitchen, so whipping up a batch of weed killer wouldn’t take too long.
–Be careful because this solution can be harmful to grass as well, so it’s best used in sidewalk cracks, landscape borders, and other areas with unwanted grass or flowers, and not spots where the spray may be harmful to your other plants. Also, if you spray the weeds when they are exposed to direct sunlight, it works its magic a lot faster.
2. Dry Creek Bed Garden
To break up a large portion of the yard, consider a dry creek bed for added visual interest. It not only looks fabulous, but it’s also great for landscape drainage and redirecting rain water on a slope. With the added benefit of the creek being low maintenance.
3. Homemade Rain Barrel
Rain barrels are easy to assemble and only take around 30 minutes or less to build. Collect the rain directly from your gutter spouts, and use it to water your garden, lawn, and potted plants. You will just need a heavy duty trash can, a drill, a pair of pliers, and a few other basic tools. There are even kits The Rain Barrel Depot can provide you as well.
4. Keep The Pets Out
Animals, especially cats, view the entire garden as one huge pooping station. This can cause you to pull out your hair from all the little surprises found around your garden. To stop these pesky little friends from pooping everywhere, strategically place a few plastic forks around your plants to deter them from destroying your fresh herbs, fruits, and veggies.
5. Rubbermaid Container Garden
If you have the lack of a backyard, do not worry! Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Using Rubbermaid storage containers, fill the bottom with packing peanuts and a layer of garden fabric so that they are easy to move. This method could even work on an apartment balcony.
6. Give Your Garden A Calcium Boost
Just like grinding your food makes it easier to digest, grinding eggshells makes it easy for your garden to absorb the calcium egg shells provide. Acting like a nutritious snack or breakfast for your garden!
7. Epsom Salt in the Garden
Epsom salt has a lot of uses. Epsom salt is rich in magnesium and sulfate which are crucial to plant life. For potted plants, mix a couple of tablespoons of the salt into your watering can once or twice a month. Even sprinkle it in your garden’s soil to help your seeds germinate better. Tomatoes and peppers benefit the most because they both tend to have a magnesium deficiency. Add a tablespoon or so in with the soil when first planting, and then sprinkle more into the soil once mature.
8. Fertilize Your Plants
Be sure to save your vegetable cooking water! The water has a lot of nutrients that your garden thrives on. Wait for the water to cool down first, and then use it to “fertilize” your garden or potted plants. This makes for a green and happy garden! I don’t recommend drinking the water or pouring the water over your plants while the water is still boiling. You may accidentally cook your plants!
9. Pinch Your Herbs
Pinch the upper portions of your herb plant stems off to encourage new leaf growth. Herbs have a natural instinct to stay alive so when they are pinched, they send a signal to the dormant leaf buds to grow.
10. Pot-in-Pot Landscaping
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of redoing the landscaping every time the seasons change. Dig a hole for your seasonal plants and fill it with an empty plastic pot. Now you can just drop your seasonal flowers in there and easily switch them out once they’re ready to retire.
11. Line Pots with Coffee Filters
This is a wonderful method for indoor plants. Most of the time when you water indoor plants in the sink, you can lose a lot of the soil down the drain. Not to mention the mess it makes under the pot. Coffee filters allow the water to still drain, but keep the dirt contained.
12. Eggshell Starters Get your garden started early by planting your seeds in eggshells indoors before the weather permits outdoor growth. There are several reasons why eggshells are the perfect pot for this, but the biggest is that they are cheap. Or if you own chickens then the eggs are obviously free. Eggs are full of calcium to give your seedlings that extra boost and easy to plant in the garden when ready.
13. Roses in Spuds Just a quick tip, rose bushes or any bush, can be re-planted just by having the trimmings of the previous bush you want to grow from. Push the bottom ends of your rose trimmings into a small potato to help it retain moisture as it develops roots.
14. Stop Invasive Plants
Cut the bottom off of a plastic pot and bury it in the ground! Use it for invasive plants that tend to grow too large and take over your garden. This simple garden technique limits the growth of the root system, giving you better control over the size of the plant once it reaches maturity, and also protects the plants around it. This method is great if you’re planning on growing blackberries.
15. Plastic Pot Watering System
Place a sink pot in the middle of your garden to create a well for easier and deeper root watering. This is especially helpful for squash. As the roots mature, they get deeper and deeper into the ground’s soil, making it harder for the water to reach in a dry climate.
16. DIY Mini Greenhouse Get your seedlings off to a good start with their very own little greenhouse! The bottom 3/4 part of a plastic soda bottle makes for the perfect little dome to cover your little pots with. This is also a great way to get the kiddos interested in gardening.
There you have it, 16 tricks of the trade for gardening. Good luck out there in the dirt!
Detox with diatomaceous earth to remove allergies, mercury, chemicals, GMOs, parasites
Sunday, March 03, 2013 by: JB Bardot
(NaturalNews) Diatomaceous earth (DE) is a naturally occurring rock made from the skeletons of fossilized diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. When ground into a fine powder, diatomaceous earth works mechanically to destroy a wide range of pests, insects, parasites and pathogens by cutting through the exoskeleton, absorbing bodily fluids and causing them to die. Food grade diatomaceous earth is chemical-free and non toxic.
Diatomaceous earth has many uses including detoxification of the body — inside and out; protecting pets and livestock from parasites and insect infestation; and keep your yard and garden pest-free.
Detoxing
Add diatomaceous earth to your diet to detox parasites that can contribute to food intolerance, nausea, bowel discomfort, pain, itching, asthma, sinus infections, Morgellon’s disease, and a host of other allergic-type reactions.
DE detoxes mercury, cadmium, lead and other heavy metals; removes poisons from chemtrails, radiation and may alleviate the effects of GMOs. DE possesses antibacterial, anti-fungal and antiviral properties.
In addition to detoxing and destroying pathogens, diatomaceous earth helps to lower blood pressure and contributes to the production of collagen to improve skin tone, strengthening the tendons and joints.
To consume DE orally, start with half a teaspoon and work up to two heaping tablespoons. Mix thoroughly in four ounces of water. Drink immediately and follow with another eight ounces of water. Take on an empty stomach. Continue drinking water throughout the day, because DE can cause constipation.
Initially, you may experience a Herxhemier reaction, which can cause abdominal discomfort and flu-like symptoms. This is a normal response to detoxing, as parasites and pathogens die, releasing their toxins into your system for elimination. The symptoms disappear after a few days.
Protect grains and dry goods
Add diatomaceous earth to bulk grains and legumes to keep opportunistic pests out of your pantry. Use in bags of dried dog, cat and foods for livestock.
Yard and garden
· Sprinkle DE along outside edges on window sills and doors to prevent spiders and ants from entering the house
· Pour into a lawn spreader and apply diatomaceous earth to yard to kill fleas, tics, chiggers and other biting insects that attach themselves to pets. Sprinkle on bushes with a strainer.
· Apply diatomaceous earth on garden soil and plants to protect them from vegetable-loving insects. Make a ring around the stem on the soil to prevent crawly insects from munching stems.
· Pour over fire ant hills to destroy the colony
· Apply to compost and manure piles to reduce odor and control flies
· Apply around garbage pails to keep flies away
· Avoid applying to flowers where beneficial insects like bees, ladybugs and butterflies visit
Pets and Livestock
· Carefully apply to your pet’s coat to kill fleas. DE also prevents new fleas from taking hold and destroys ticks. Avoid making lots of dust when treating your animals. Wear a mask and drape a lightweight towel over the animal’s face during the application.
Diatomaceous earth is safe for use on pets as long as precautions are taken to protect them from inhaling the dust. Add small amounts of DE to pet’s food to kill internal worms and other parasites.
· Sprinkle DE on the soil around your dog’s kennel
· Add to kitty litter to reduce odor and kill fleas
· Sprinkle the chicken coop, barn, stall, and nesting boxes with DE to keep your livestock pest free
Indoors
· Sprinkle diatomaceous earth on furniture, rugs and in cracks around the edge of baseboards to kill insects. Leave for several hours or longer, then vacuum.
· Use a plastic squeeze bottle with a pointed tip to blow DE into hard-to-reach places like electrical outlets — after removing the cover
Warning
· Always use food grade DE
· Avoid inhaling
· DE is drying to the eyes and skin; use precautions when applying
· Diatomaceous earth kills beneficial insects; use caution in the garden
For thousands of years, our ancestors lived in barrios, hamlets, neighborhoods, and villages. Yet in the time since our parents and grandparents were young, privacy has become so valued that many neighborhoods are not much more than houses in proximity.
Now, many activities take place behind locked doors and backyard privacy fences. The street out front is not always safe for pedestrians, and is often out of bounds for children. With families spread across the country and friends living across town, a person who doesn’t know their neighbors can feel isolated and insecure. And when the links among neighbors are weak, security relies on locks, gates, and guns, rather than a closely knit web of connections.
Building a community from scratch is daunting. But the good news is that vibrant communities can grow over time from existing neighborhoods.
Right here, right now: Ten ways to build community.
Neighbors at N Street in Davis, Calif., joined their backyards.
Photo by Ross Chapin.
1. Move your picnic table to the front yard.See what happens when you eat supper out front. It’s likely you’ll strike up a conversation with a neighbor, so invite them to bring a dish to share.
2. Plant a front yard vegetable garden. Don’t stop with the picnic table. Build a raised bed for veggies and plant edible landscaping and fruit trees. Break your boundaries by inviting your neighbors to share your garden.
3. Build a room-sized front porch. The magic of a good porch comes from both its private and public setting. It belongs to the household while also being open to passersby. Its placement, size, relation to the interior and the public space, and railing height are both an art and a science. Make it more than a tiny covering under which you fumble for your keys; make it big enough to be a veritable outdoor living room.
Front yard garden at Danielson Grove, Kirkland, Wash.
Photo by Ross Chapin.
4. Add layers of privacy.Curiously, giving your personal space more definition will foster connections with neighbors. A secure space will be more comfortable and more often used, which will increase chances for seeing your neighbors—even if only in a passing nod.
But rather than achieving privacy with a tall fence, consider an approach with layers: a bed of perennial flowers in front of a low fence, with a shade tree to further filter the view. These layers help define personal boundaries, but are permeable at the same time.
5. Take down your backyard fence. Join with your neighbors to create a shared safe play space for children, a community garden, or a wood-fired pizza oven. In Davis, Calif., a group of neighbors on N Street did just that. Twenty years later, nearly all the neighbors around the block have joined in.
If that’s too radical, consider cutting your six-foot fence to four feet to make chatting across the fence easier, or building a gate between yards.
Layers of privacy at Greenwood Avenue Cottages in Shoreline, Wash.
Photo by Ross Chapin.
6. Organize summer potluck street parties. Claim the street, gather the lawn chairs, and fire up the hibachi! Take over the otherwise off-limits street as a space to draw neighbors together.
7. Put up a book lending cupboard. Bring a book, take a book. Collect your old reads and share them with passersby in a cupboard mounted next to the sidewalk out front. Give it a roof, a door with glass panes, and paint it to match the flowers below.
9. Create an online network for nearby neighbors. Expand the survey into an active online resource and communication tool. Find a new home for an outgrown bike. Ask for help keeping an eye out for a lost dog. Organize a yard sale.
Take advantage of free neighbor-to-neighbor networking tools such as Nextdoor to facilitate communications and build happier, safer neighborhoods.
10. Be a good neighbor. It’s easy to focus on your own needs and concerns, but a slight shift in outlook can make a big difference in the day-to-day lives in a neighborhood. Check in on your elderly neighbor if her curtains aren’t raised in the morning. On a hot summer day, put out a pitcher of ice lemonade for passersby, or a bowl of cool water for dogs on walks.
To be sure, grievances among neighbors are common. But when a neighborhood grows from a base of goodwill, little squabbles won’t escalate into turf fights, and neighborhoods can become what they are meant to be: places of support, security, and friendship.
Spring is just around the corner, and your thoughts might be turning to planting. If you are a gardener concerned about toxins in your foods, here is a list of organic pest control options:
You can make your own organic bug spray from kitchen leftovers! Simply save your onion skins, peels and ends then refrigerate in an empty margarine-sized tub or ziplock bag until the container is full. Once you have enough, place the onion pieces in a pail and fill with warm water. Soak for a few days, up to a week. You can keep this on the patio in the sun to steep but this is optional. After one week, strain the onion bits out and store the onion water in spray bottles.
Bury the onion bits around plants that are prone to aphids, spiders and other pests. Just spray both house and garden plants with the water to fight aphids and pests. You can also mix your garlic trimmings in with the onion pieces, bugs hate garlic too!
CURE FOR WHITE/BLACK SPOT (mildew)
Add *1 litre of FULL cream milk to an *8 litre watering can, watered on Roses or mildew attracting plants, will kill white/black spot
SCALES
Make the oil spray by blending two cups of vegetable oil with one cup of pure liquid soap, and mix it until it turns white.
Dilute one tablespoon of the emulsion to one litre of water and spray all affected areas thoroughly. Do this during mild weather, because if it’s hot it may burn the plant’s leaves.
Scales shoot a sweet substance called honeydew. Ants literally farm the scale to feed on the honeydew. They’ll pick them up and they’ll move them all over the tree. Honeydew also leads to sooty mould, a black dusty fungus that grows over the leaves and stems. Controlling the scale will also get rid of the sooty mould.
If you only have a small amount of scale, scrape it off with a fingernail or toothbrush. Larger infestations can be controlled by spraying with an oil to suffocate them.
To keep APHIDS and OTHER PESTS off your roses: Finely chop 1 onion and 2 medium cloves of garlic. Put ingredients into a blender with 2 cups of water and blend on high. Strain out pulp. Pour liquid into spray bottle. Spray a fine mist on rose bushes, making sure to coat both tops and bottoms of leaves.
GARLIC SPRAY
Chop 90 grams of garlic, cover with mineral oil let soak over night, strain, add 1 litre of soapy water and store in a glass jar with a sealed lid. Dilute one part garlic to 50 parts water for use in spraying.
ALUMINUM FOIL “FOILS” APHIDS
Use an aluminum foil much around the base of plants such as tomatoes. The reflection confuses the insects and drives them away.
GENERAL PESTICIDE
3 hot green peppers (canned or fresh) 2 or 3 cloves garlic 3/4 tsp liquid soap 3 cups water Puree the peppers and garlic cloves in a blender. Pour into a spray bottle and add the liquid soap and water. Let stand 24 hours. Strain out pulp and spray onto infested plants, making sure to coat both tops and bottoms of leaves.
AGAINST INSECT PESTS
1. Soapy water (NOT detergent). Try to find one based on caustic potash, rather than caustic soda and mix well with water until frothy (you’ll need more soap in hard water areas). For aphids and other soft-shelled insects
2. Oil sprays suffocate insects. Boil 1 kg soap with 8L of oil, stirring until dissolved. Dilute 1:20 with water just before use. Spray on cool days only.
3. Tomato leaf spray (very poisonous). Cover leaves with water, boil and cool. Use immediately as a general insecticide.
4. Pyrethrum spray. Pick almost-open flowers of Tanacetum cinerariifolium and dry in a cool place. Cover a few tablespoons of flowers with cheap sherry, steep overnight and mix with a litre of hot soapy water. Cool and use within a few days as a general insecticide. Store in a dark place.
5. Wormwood spray. Infuse leaves in boiling water and leave for a few hours. Dilute 1:4 and use for sap-sucking insects.
6. Chilli spray – equal volumes chilli and water blended and sprayed fresh onto caterpillars. (Prevent contact with eyes and skin.)
7. Lapsang Souchong tea – a strong brew (1 tbspn in a pot) deters possums from nipping rose tips
8. Many other materials can be used to make insect sprays. Depending on what you have available, try -quassia, garlic, marigolds, melaleuca, parsnips, turnips, eucalyptus, larkspur, elder, white cedar (Melia azaderach) or rhubarb (Please note: larkspur, elder (except for ripe berries) white cedar and rhubarb leaves are all highly toxic to humans.)
AGAINST FUNGAL DISEASES
The following plants reportedly contain antifungal or antibacterial chemicals that you can extract via infusion to spray onto crops:Chamomile, chives, sheoak (Allocasuarina), elder, eucalyptus, garlic, horseradish, hyssop, melaleuca (tea-tree), neem (Azadirachta indica), nettle (Urtica dioica), and thyme.
ANTI FUNGALS:
1. Milk spray: a 1:1 mix of milk and water reportedly controls black spot on roses and fungal diseases on other plants
2. Fresh urine (a healthy person’s urine is sterile)
3. Condy’s Crystals: 1gram/L of potassium permanganate. Use immediately.
4. Washing soda: 110g dissolved in 5.5L water. Add 56g soap and use immediately.
5. Bordeaux mixture: In a bucket completely dissolve 90g of copper sulphate in 6.5L water. In another bucket, thoroughly mix 125g brickies lime with 2.5L water and strain into first bucket. Mix well and use immediately. 6. Dusting sulphur
BORDEAUX MIXTURE
This is a standard organic fungicide used to treat a wide range of rots, mildews, and blights. Mix 90g of copper sulphate (bluestone) with 4.5 litres of hot water in a non metallic container and leave overnight. Next day mix 125g slaked lime with 4.5 litres of cold water in a non metallic container. Combine both mixtures by stirring vigorously. Use immediately. An oil like Codacide can be added to increase its effectiveness. Bordeaux spray may clog nozzles. Also, if over-used, it may lead to a build up of copper in the soil and associated toxicity.
OTHER PEST CONTROL HINTS
1. Use companion plants that mask the scent or appearance of desirable crops. Many highly aromatic plants contain chemicals designed to make them unattractive to pests. Camphor, mints, scented pelargoniums, wormwood, southernwood, lavender, balm of Gilead, rosemary, sage and many other herbs have spicy/bitter scents rather than sweet ones. When actively growing amongst desirable crops, these herbs can confuse pest insects by masking attractive scents.
2. Use companion plants that act as trap, sacrifice or indicator crops. Some plants, including nasturtium, mustard and Chinese cabbage, can be used as decoys so that pests attack them rather than your crop. Roses planted along the edges of vineyards deter human predators but also provide early warning of mildew disease!3. Use Physical Pest ControlsThe good ol’ “see ’em and squash ’em” technique still works a treat for snails and slugs. Attract them with beer in a jar sunk into the ground, or lay a wooden plank a centimetre above the ground – they’ll shelter underneath it and you can squash them in the morning. Yellow boards painted with sticky oil will attract aphids. Control ants to reduce aphid and scale infestations on trees – a band of grease will stop them climbing the trunk. Codling moth can also be reduced by banding trees with corrugated cardboard soaked in derris spray.
ORGANIC SPRAY. Quarter fill your spray bottle with vinegar, a teaspoon each of molasses (melt down in a cup of hot water) and liquid soap, top up with tap water.
BUG JUICE
Collect by hand the nuisance pest, bug, grub or snail from your garden. Place the bug(s) into a blender, cover with fresh water and switch on. DON’T FORGET THE LID. Then strain, dilute 1 part to 20 parts of water into a spray bottle. Spray the juice on the underside of the leaves as well as on top.
MILK
Milk is effective against a range of mildews on peas, pumpkins and cucumber leaves. Use equal parts milk and water and spray every couple of days until the mildew is under control. If the mildew is out of control remove the affected leaves to avoid the mildew from spreading and do not water at night, try watering in the mornings.
MOLASSES SPRAY
Molasses is a good deterrent sticky spray, ideal for cabbage moths and grubs on the Brassicas. Blend 1 tablespoon of molasses with 1 litre of hot water until the colour of weak tea, then mix in one tea spoon of detergent, which will help the molasses to stick to the leaves, spray top and under side of the leaves. You could also add vinegar to this brew to make it more potent.
VINEGAR SPRAY
For cabbage moths and grubs on the Brassicas. Blend 1/4 vinegar with 3/4 of water, then mix in one tea spoon of detergent, which will help the vinegar to stick to the grubs, bugs and leaves of the plant, spray top and under side of the leaves. You can also add molasses to this brew.
VEGETABLE OIL
1 table spoon of dishwashing detergent & 1 cup of vegetable oil. Mix together and store in an air tight bottle. When required add 1 to 2 ½ tea spoons of brew to 1 cup of water in a spray bottle, spray on plants covering all leaf and stem surfaces.
CHAMOMILE TEA
Is a mild fungicide. Pour boiling water over a chamomile tea bag, leave to steep for ten minutes, when cool use as a spray.
PYRETHRUM.
(Harmless to animals and humans) Two heaped tablespoon pyrethrum flowers, stand in one litre of hot soapy water for one hour, strain and use (the soap will help the spray to stick on the plants). Do not inhale the fumes as they are toxic.
CHILLI PEPPER
Blend fresh chillies in water, add pure soap, strain and spray. Acts as a stomach poison and can be used against caterpillars. Spray along ant trails or kitchen shelves as an ant repellent. Used by beekeepers to keep ants from hives.
WORMWOOD.
Cover leaves in boiling water, infuse several hours. Dilute 1 part brew 4 parts water, use as a spray. It has very pungent qualities which makes it useful against soft bodied insects. Good aphid and fly spray. General repellent for fleas, flies, housemoth, ants and snakes.
RHUBARB.
A spray made from rhubarb leaves is harmless to bees and breaks down quickly, but it is harmful to humans, so be sure to keep it out of the reach of children. Boil 1 kilogram of leaves in 3 litres of water for half an hour, strain, add some soap. Dilute with equal parts of water before spraying.
VEGETABLE OIL
Spray recipe Mix 1 tbsp of liquid soap with 1 cup of vegetable oil. Dilute as required using 1-2.5 tsp of the mixture to 1 cup of water.Oil sprays can cause burning when applied to sensitive plants. If in doubt, test a plant sample first and wait 2-3 days to see if burning results. Oil sprays can also cause burning if applied when shade temperatures exceed 29 degrees celcius or when applied within 4 weeks of a sulfur spray such as wettable sulfur or lime sulfur.
INSECTICIDAL POTASSIUM SOAP
Insecticidal potassium soap has a high salt content which when sprayed on susceptible insects desiccates and kills them. Being a contact insecticide, the target insect must come into direct contact with the spray, so good coverage is essential for optimum results. Susceptible insects include aphids, mealybug, some mite species, thrip and whitefly. Potassium based soap products available on the home garden market include, ‘Moeco Neemtech’, ‘Yates Green Earth aphid-mite spray’, ‘Multicrop BugGuard’ and ‘Spraytech or Yates Naturasoap’.
PURE SOAP
Pure soap when mixed with water can be used as a natural insecticide for the control of some sap-sucking insect pests, including aphids and mealy bugs. It is a contact insecticide and works by breaking down the insect’s exoskeleton, causing it to dehydrate and die.
SULPHUR
Sulfur is registered as a protectant and erradicant fungicide for the control of powdery mildew on vegetables and ornamentals, rust on vegetables and various fungal diseases on stonefruit. Sulfur is also registered as an insecticide, for the control of mites on vegetables and ornamentals, grape leaf rust mite and grape leaf blister mite on grapes and white louse scale, citrus rust mite and citrus bud mite on citrus. Sulfur should not be applied 21 days before or after an oil spray, in combination with an oil spray or when temperatures are expected to exceed 25 degrees celcius. Sulfur can be purchased as ‘Sulfur spray’, ‘Dusting sulfur’, ‘Powdered sulfur’ or ‘Wettable sulfur’ and can be found in various other products in combination with ‘mancozeb’, ‘copper oxychloride’, ‘rotenone’ and ‘carbaryl’.
LIME SULPHUR
Lime sulfur is registered to control powdery mildew on ornamentals and various diseases on stonefruit and apples. It is also registered as an insecticide for the control of some scale and mite species on various fruit trees, ornamentals and tomatoes.Lime sulfur should not be applied when the air temperature is over 32 degrees celsius, after a copper spray in the same season or within 2 weeks of an oil spray.
CONDIES CRYSTALS (potassium permanganate)
Condies crystals can be mixed with water and sprayed onto plant foliage to control powdery mildew. They may also be useful as a contact spray for the control of aphids and slugs.Condies crystal spray recipe Mix 30g of condies crystals, 9L of warm water and 30 ml of petroleum oil. Spray undiluted.
MOLASSES Molasses spray can be used as a feeding deterrent for chewing insects such as caterpillars and grasshoppers.Molasses spray recipe Mix 1 tbsp of molasses and 5 g of pure soap flakes in 1 L of water. Apply undiluted as required.Molasses applied to soil infested with nematodes may reduce root galling and nematode reproduction. Molasses soil treatmentApply 38 ml of molasses per litre of water per square metre of soil per week.
MILK Spraying equal parts full cream milk and water every 2 days may help control the fungal disease powdery mildew. Powdery mildew can be a problem in pea, tomato, capsicum and cucurbit crops.
VINEGAR Vinegar spray may be useful in controlling caterpillars and sap-sucking insects such as stink bugs, aphids, and mealybugs. Vinegar spray recipe Mix 1 part vinegar with 3 parts water and add 5 g of pure soap flakes.
CHILLI SPRAY FOR APHIDS ON ROSES
5 garlic cloves 3 hot chillies 2 litres of boiling water Steep overnight. Use in all garden sprayers.
GARLIC SPRAY
general pest deterrent 10 garlic cloves 5 small hot chillies 3 medium onions 1 litre of water
Mix all ingredients together, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.Let stand overnight then add 2 tbsp. of milk. Store in labelled glass jars.Use by diluting 1 cup of the mixture to 9 litres of water. Use in all garden sprayers.
TO ERADICATE MILLIPEDES OR EARWIGS.
10 ml Eucalyptus Oil 10 ml Biodegradable Hair Shampoo 80 ml water Mix all ingredients together and spray around on the ground at night.
POSSUM DETERRENT
300 grams of Quassia Chips, (Surinam Tree:- wood, bark or root of this and other trees yielding bitter medicinal decoction) to 1 litre of water.
Boil chips for 5 minutes. Strain and collect water mixture. Spray on ground when cool.
SUFFOCATING SPRAYS
Many small insects, especially thrips and aphids, can be suffocated by being sprayed with a weak solution of water soluble glue. Fine clay mixed with water has a similar effect but tends to clog spray nozzles.
LANTANA/WORMWOOD SPRAY
Boil 500g of lantana leaves in 1 litre of water- for 20 minutes. Cool and strain. Spray liberally on affected plants. Most effective against aphids. A stronger spray can he made by substituting wormwood for lantana.
Please note : All Natural sprays can be dangerous, so LABEL well, and keep out of reach of children. Also overuse of deterants can jepordise the natural balance, so use sprays of any sort, sparingly
Bus Roots is a living garden planted on the roofs of city buses. It’s an effort that rose out of New York City designer Marco Antonio Castro Cosio’s graduate thesis at the NYU. The project aims to reclaim the forgotten space on the tops of city buses, while enhancing the quality of urban life by proliferating green spaces on these unused bus roofs. A prototype of the rolling gardens has been installed on the roof of the BioBus, a mobile science laboratory and the first bus with an extensive green roof system. It has been growing for five months while travelling around New York City and as far as Ohio.
Bus Roots joins the ranks of mobile gardens planted on trucks, trains, and other roving sites. Cosio explains his project as an exercise in “nomadic urban agriculture.”
Benefits
According to the bustop gardener, benefits include:
• Aesthetic Value
• Mitigation of Urban Heat Island Effect
• Acoustical and Thermal Insulation
• Storm Water Reduction and Management
• CO2 absorbtion
• Habitat Restoration
• Public Education and Recreation
• Reclaiming Forgotten Real Estate
Raising the Roots
Cosio estimates Bus Roots can add greatly to the city’s green space. Each public transit bus has a surface of 340 ft2., and The Metropolitan Transit Authority has a fleet of around 4,500 buses. Do the math.
“If a garden were planted on the roof of every one of the 4,500 buses in the city’s bus fleet,” calculates Cosio, his busses could add 35 acres of new rolling green space in the city.
27th Feburary 2012
