Gardening 101: Tips, Tricks and So Much More

Have not seen too much in the way of natural non-toxic insecticides here so I thought I would toss this into the mix.

I've used garlic tea for a long time as a natural insecticide in the garden. I just toss some crushed garlic into an old milk jug with water and let it steep for a couple days, strain and put into a spray bottle. Nice thing about this is that since it is non-toxic you can use it the same day as harvesting and don't have to let it evaporate away. Only thing with garlic is that for me it makes me hungry which is always a nice excuse (if any is needed) to pick a few things in the garden, wipe it off and munch on as I continue on my merry way!!

Here is a webpage that I found that has some other natural insecticide recipes.

Natural Insecticides

This is my homemade fertilizer plan for this year, I can't take credit for it as it isn't my idea and lots of people do this already, maybe just variations on how they get the end product, you can get more information via google.

I have two 4ft lengths of drainpipe around 5 inch diameter, these will be fixed vertically to my fence.

The bottom of the pipe will have a mesh filter.

I'll then fix a funnel to the bottom of the pipe.over the mesh.

One of the pipes will be used for comfrey and the other for nettles. Just stuff the leaves into the top of the pipe and put an empty plastic bottle at the bottom over the funnel and as the leaves break down the fertilizer will drip out of the bottom into the bottle, just change the bottles as they get filled

You can also fill a coke bottle with water and tie a length of string around the neck and drop it into the pipe on top of the leaves to act as a press, use the string to pull the coke bottle back up when you want to add more leaves.

This fertilizer should be diluted 1 part feed to 10 parts water. The comfrey is high in potassium and the nettles high in nitrogen. In theory you should never have to buy liquid feed again.

I have been planning on doing this for three years now and never seem to get around to doing it but I have all the bits except the mesh and will hopefully get it done before the comfrey needs its first cut this year.

I'm 62 but years ago I made myself a little bench to sit on while gardening and use it all the time. It is simply a wide board 4' long with a piece of 2X4 nailed horizontally at both ends. Originally I used it to access deeper areas without trampling plants. It keeps you off the ground but close enough to do what you need to do and also really saves the back and knees because you can sit down while you work.

Gardening is never a precise science as far as your own garden goes. You just have to learn, trial and error, which pants like which part of your yard. My gardens are spread out in different places so I have a spot suitable to each plant's needs.

I usually rotate; that is, I don't plant the same thing in the same place every year because eventually nutrients get used up.

I never throw away woody stems, branches and leaves. Everything gets thrown back down to decompose and return the "goodies" into the soil. It acts as a mulch to slow down evaporation in hot areas, and also helps amend the soil which has a lot of clay where I am now.

Many flowers are actually edible. Last year near fall I "harvested" a huge batch of Marigold petals and let them dry out. Now I add them to dishes to add colour as well as nutrients. Macular degeneration is a common problem for older people. The ingredients they use to make the medicine for this condition is extracted from Marigolds. I see including Marigold petals in my food as preventive medicine.

Once you are into it, gardening becomes not just a source of clean, chemical free food, but a respite, a meditation, and a source of joy and contentment.

reply to post by Christarella

....I may just invest in the roundup and kill everything off

Unfortunately that is often the only way forward once you get "infested" Do not forget the boiling water or a heavy black tarp to heat up the soil and kill off the seeds.

reply to post by Slipdig1

Thats not nice. not to get up you I hate cats and love birds.

She hangs around the garden and the birds are free to go elsewhere. She also got rid of the moles, mice, chipmunks and squirrels eating my veggies. Since I have 109 Ac and the cats hang around the house and gardens, All I have to say is TOUGH.

I do not hunt but critters that attack MY food, including neighboring dogs are dead. If you are squeamish stick to being a supermarket predator and eat GMO foods.

I am sorry if I sound harsh but the people raised on Bambi and the Disney view of life have allowed the REAL PREDATORS, the Banking and Corporate cartels to brain wash them. The day of "Awakening" is very close and as Doreen said

LET THEM EAT GRASS

A nation that cannot feed itself cannot be free. This is not a difficult concept to wrap one’s brain around, but people have become so removed from food creation that, as a nation, we are apparently going to have to be hungry or worse before we understand that animals are made out of meat, manure is a fertilizer and life is dirty. If you’re going to live, something else has to die.

Even if you’re a militant vegan, you still kill the carrot when you consume it....

Life feeds on life, whether you like it or not. That’s just life.

That is why we should be thankful for what sustains us and not delude ourselves about reality. If you can’t sustain yourself on everything you can grow on the balcony or the cracks in the sidewalk out front, you had better get yourself educated on the impacts of regulations and constraints on farms that will supposedly ‘make you safe’....

The consolidation and concentration in agriculture has been ongoing since the founding of this country. To some degree it is natural, but in the last fifty years, it has been completely orchestrated. In 1790, 90% of the workforce farmed for a living. In 1930, when the media really began to make fun of farmers and infer that those who fed the nation were unintelligent hicks, there were still more than one-fifth (21%) of the nation’s workers engaged in full time agriculture....

According to USDA statistics, we now have a total of less than one percent of the entire population engaged in agriculture.

Instead, we have increased our imports in produce to a phenomenal 68% in fruits and vegetables. Less than 1% of these are inspected by the agencies charged with “keeping” our food safe. A few years ago, Florida tomato growers lost more than $1 billion dollars for causing salmonella in salsa. Further investigation revealed it was Mexican produced jalapenos that were the real culprit. So now, in our illustrious intelligence, we are expanding the authority of the agencies in charge of “food safety” in this country, and enabling them to further annihilate our farms....

When less than 1% of the population is engaged in feeding the entire population and those being fed don’t actively, and positively support the one percent, then the 99% should be happy when they are left to feed themselves....

When Marie Antoinette was told that the peasants were threatening revolt because they had no bread, she said, “Let them eat cake.”

When we are faced with rampant hunger because of the regulatory, financial, trade and foreign policies of the past 100 or so years, those of us who have been crying from the roof tops for people to take an interest in what really sustains them may be very well justified in saying, “Let them eat grass.” Remember, No Farmers, No Food.

www.newswithviews.com...

I have been in the trenches with Doreen and others fighting for our right to grow food. After six years I am a bit tired of those who we are trying to feed biting our hand.

So I agree with Doreen - LET THEM EAT GRASS!

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


I love this. Very informative. I grow my own garden, I like how I can just pick the fruit of veges that I grew myself. Also a thing I like to do is can tomatos, and keep a chicken coop. The eggs are fabulous and you know what you are getting.

Seed Saving is another thing that some of you may be interested in doing.

So far I have saved tomato, onion, chives, coriander (cilantro), peppers, chilis, french bean and lettuce seeds. These ones are all fairly straight forward except maybe for the peppers and chilis, these plants have to be isolated and hand polinated in order to stop cross polination.

There is a lot of information on seed saving via google. There are also seed saving clubs where you can swap some of your saved seed with others.

Landshare is becoming really popular here in the UK. It matches up people who want to grow but don't have any land with people who either can't or don't grow but have land that they are happy to let others use for a share of some of the produce.

reply to post by Slipdig1


After I hit reply...that is exactly what I thought in kind of panic mode...THE BEES!
All of my seedlings are in pots and are not blooming yet. Maybe I will treat the soil well in advance of blooming season. Before I plant them in the garden.

Just a thought. Do you think think this would make a difference.

reply to post by cazzy2211


Thanks for sharing that. I had never even heard of taking that approach to homemade fertilizer before. Something that I will most definitely do some more looking into and perhaps implementing here. I think I will also pass this idea onto a couple of friends of mine with a farm close by as I am not sure that they have done such a thing at least not that they have mentioned anyway.

Also like the suggestion about seed saving. There are a lot of ways to go about this that can be found on the net and it is a skill that I feel, imho, is extremely important to insure that we all have safe quality seeds for the next planting season should safe seeds (or any seeds for that matter) not be available.

reply to post by Wetpaint72


Hi there, Wetpaint72.... I'm sure glad to have you here! What in specifically worries you about the bees? I know they are important in the pollination process and overall health of the ecosystem but I'm just trying to get at what specifically you are having worries over so that we can get you the best answer to help you out.

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


I am looking into using diatomatious earth as an insect repelent. It was brought to my attention that it could harm bees. I was hoping there would be a way around causing them harm, while ridding my yard and garden from harmful pests.

It is organic matter so I thought it would be better than chemicals.


I said repelent, but I meant to say killer.

reply to post by Wetpaint72


It is ground up seashells. I call it clam flour. Spread it only on the problem areas so it doesn't kill the good bugs and worms in your garden. Do a googe search on it. I give it to my horses as a natural wormer. I use the food grade kind. It kills fleas and bed bugs too.

Originally posted by MyMindIsMyOwn
Have not seen too much in the way of natural non-toxic insecticides here so I thought I would toss this into the mix.

I've used garlic tea for a long time as a natural insecticide in the garden. I just toss some crushed garlic into an old milk jug with water and let it steep for a couple days, strain and put into a spray bottle. Nice thing about this is that since it is non-toxic you can use it the same day as harvesting and don't have to let it evaporate away. Only thing with garlic is that for me it makes me hungry which is always a nice excuse (if any is needed) to pick a few things in the garden, wipe it off and munch on as I continue on my merry way!!

Here is a webpage that I found that has some other natural insecticide recipes.

Natural Insecticides

Excellent suggestion. We had a japanese beetle problem two years ago, one day they just appeareared allover the place. We spent half the day picking them off everything and throwing them in a bucket of soapy water. Then we randomly put garlic bulbs in the beds and they did not come back. Japanese Beatles can devastate a garden. They come out of nowhere and breed and eat, breed and eat and so on. Perhaps as a preventative measure new gardeners should consider placing random bulbs of garlic around the garden before the shock of bagagillions of Jap. Beatles munching on their hard work. If you don't pull them they grow year after year. If you decide to pull them plant new ones again in spring. We just used bulbs from the supermarket, one clove in each spot you want it to grow.

A neat trick I learned from my Mom was to take empty milk jugs and poke holes in them; all around and on the bottom so water will leak out; bury them in the dirt up to the neck, fill with water and it will give your veggies the deep slow drink they needs. Fill them up as needed; you will use less water with almost no waste. I'm going to use them this year in the raised beds I intend to build.

I see alot of comments on here about bees. I don't know traditionally what plants attract bees but from experience there are a few that they seem to be allover. Oregano, when let flower attracts tons of bees, rasperries, sunflowers, coneflower, black eyed suzies, shasta daisies, butterfly bush. There is also a tree or shrub with pink flowers that attracts those huge fuzzy bees. I'm gonna go find it and get back to you!

Came across this whilst looking. gardening.about.com...


www.plants-plus.co.uk...

Its called tree mallow and bees l-o-v-e it!

Originally posted by crimvelvet
OH, One of the things many forget about is WOOD ASH!

My garden was not very good until I added wood ash. I had used lime but wood ash worked much much better for sweeting the compost. Especially a compost of oak leaves and manure.

I only use my wood ash because some people put plastic and other things in their wood stoves.

Yes we do the same thing here, we only burn Hard wood ( Oak,ash and some cherry) I scoop the ashes out of our fireplace and can them. The wife adds the ash to our compost over the year and I tell you it is great stuff.
You have to be a little careful though because wood does contain hard metals so you don't want to over do it.

Trust me and the quoted poster it works like magic!.
Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by MyMindIsMyOwn
reply to post by crimvelvet

 

Thanks for all of your great posts, Crim! As I am not too far behind you in the age race I have been kicking around the idea of raised bed gardening as well simply because the back and knees are not what they used to be. Not sure what the best method would be for me here but I'm glad you brought to the table the use of RR ties and landscape timbers and the fact that the chemicals used to treat them would leach into the soil.

Wood ash is great for the garden as well. I have tossed wood ash from an outdoor fireplace into the garden for a while now and it really does add to the quality of the soil. That along with the untreated mulch and some compost makes the most lushious loamy soil that has also increased the earthworm population, which is a good thing!

Thanks again for all the informative posts! And while I know you say you've not gardened for a while and are a whiz at raising animals, feel free to post some tips on the raising of your animals as well here as I think there are several people who are interested in that too to compliment the garden to become self sustaining. I believe it was dizziedame who mentioned the building of a chicken coop and their interest in that. I have limited knowledge of raising farm animals and would welcome the knowledge that you can bring to the table.

Railroad ties should not be used for bordering a garden which produces food products. The oil used to treat them so they do not rot, is bad news for humans and pets alike.
Link here.......
en.wikipedia.org...
Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by wayno
I'm 62 but years ago I made myself a little bench to sit on while gardening and use it all the time. It is simply a wide board 4' long with a piece of 2X4 nailed horizontally at both ends. Originally I used it to access deeper areas without trampling plants. It keeps you off the ground but close enough to do what you need to do and also really saves the back and knees because you can sit down while you work.

Gardening is never a precise science as far as your own garden goes. You just have to learn, trial and error, which pants like which part of your yard. My gardens are spread out in different places so I have a spot suitable to each plant's needs.

I usually rotate; that is, I don't plant the same thing in the same place every year because eventually nutrients get used up.

I never throw away woody stems, branches and leaves. Everything gets thrown back down to decompose and return the "goodies" into the soil. It acts as a mulch to slow down evaporation in hot areas, and also helps amend the soil which has a lot of clay where I am now.

Many flowers are actually edible. Last year near fall I "harvested" a huge batch of Marigold petals and let them dry out. Now I add them to dishes to add colour as well as nutrients. Macular degeneration is a common problem for older people. The ingredients they use to make the medicine for this condition is extracted from Marigolds. I see including Marigold petals in my food as preventive medicine.

Once you are into it, gardening becomes not just a source of clean, chemical free food, but a respite, a meditation, and a source of joy and contentment.

Excellent information as myself and wife are nearing retirement age. Note to self plant more Marigolds and save the petals just like spices.

Thank You, Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by gallopinghordes
A neat trick I learned from my Mom was to take empty milk jugs and poke holes in them; all around and on the bottom so water will leak out; bury them in the dirt up to the neck, fill with water and it will give your veggies the deep slow drink they needs. Fill them up as needed; you will use less water with almost no waste. I'm going to use them this year in the raised beds I intend to build.

Wow great idea, I wish we had milk jugs here but all they sell are milk bags. I suppose a juice jug would work just as well?
We have a massive garden here some veggies and lots of flowers so if it saves us water and labour we are all for it.
Thanks for the great tip.
Regards, Iwinder

reply to post by crimvelvet


Ya know, Crim.. I've read this posting several times today and have started I don't know how many replies to it during the course of the day. If you had been anywhere near my home at the time I finished reading it this afternoon you would have thought me mad. I let out a resounding "YAH BABY!!" arms waving in the air.....I could only imagine what I would have been like if I had already consumed my 2nd cup of coffee... thank heavens I had only finished my first.

I've long believed that the USDA and FDA have become to agriculture (large and small growers) what the DHS and TSA have become to the 'war on terror'. I feel that they have their boots firmly on the necks of honest growers/suppliers and in turn the consumer in the USA and abroad, when you consider the US Foreign policies on other countries agricultural policies through the government connections with companies like Monsanto. But my diatribe on Monstanto is for another thread entirely. One example of what I mean about the TSA type of operations is with the recently passed S510 bill and how conveniently it was timed in it's passing with the egg scare over the summer. To me it is/was nothing more than a false flag opperation to drum up support for it. All one has to do is follow the money. Consumer food safety my right rump cheek.

This is one reason why I wanted to start this thread to get people interested, I hope, in gardening and for the advanced gardener perhaps gleaning new insights on old subjects. We all need to be concerned about the food we have on our tables whether it is for prepping purposes or recreational or whatever brings a person to start a garden. If you no longer trust the government/corporations to provide what we all want... good, nurishing and safe food then we have to pick up that banner and run with it on our own. My fear, as I stated to you before, is that S510 will bring down the small producers because they will not longer be able to compete as the stranglehold is on them when it comes to new laws and protective measures in their practices. This would almost be laughable if I didn't believe we've seen the first wave of an all out attack on our local producers. Let's face it folks, lets get the smaller producers out of the way so the larger ones... the corporate producers... can come in buy them up and start producing the way the government wishes them to. Who was to blame for the outbreak of contaminated eggs? Was it your small producer that has respect for their animals and their animals well being? No, it was the corporate producers that have not one clue about proper animal husbandry..... oh sheesh..... here I go.......

I'll end my tirade now before I go off the deep end on this topic.... and just say.... let's get to growing!!!