Great Garden Tips
Posted By auke On March 22, 2009 @ 2:39 pm In Production | No Comments
Bees or Wasps in the HouseSpray the insect with hair spray. The spray will stiffen their wings and they will plummet to their death.
Black Flies or GnatsWater soil with a mix of 1 teaspoon of ammonia and 1 quart of water. Do this every 3 days for 3 weeks.
Alcohol SpraysUse for aphids, mealybugs, scale, thrips and whitefly control. Mix ? cup Isopropyl alcohol (70%) with 1 cup water and spray on leaves and pests. Alcohol can burn the leaves of certain plants. African Violets and Apple trees are sensitive to alcohol sprays. Test a few leaves on your plant before you spray the whole plant.
Caterpillar Deterrent Citrus SprayCaterpillars don’t like the taste of citrus, it’s bitter chemicals run the caterpillars off.To make a citrus spray, grind up the rinds and seeds of any citrus fruit. Soak over night in 2 cups of water. Strain out the pulp, add 2 t liquid soap to mix. Spray on plants.
Garlic Oil SprayUse for control over aphids, cabbage loopers, earwigs, June bugs, leafhoppers, squash bugs, and whiteflies. * Mince 1 bulb garlic * soak in 2 t mineral oil for 24 hours * mix 1 pint of water with 1 T liquid soap * add garlic mix to water and soap * Mix throughly * Strain out garlic and place into a jar for storage Use 1 to 2 T garlic oil mix to 2 cups water. Spray plants covering all leaf surfaces.
Fire Place AshesUse wood ashes from your fire place to control any soft bodied bug such as pear slugs and regular slugs. Sprinkle the powder where ever these creatures travel. The powder dehydrates the slugs and they die.
Low-fat For AphidsTo control aphids apply nonfat dried milk, mixed according to the box, onto the leaves of your plants. The aphids get stuck in the milky residue and perish.
Slug TerminatorSpray slugs with a mix of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water to terminate your slugs. Mix vinegar and water into a trigger sprayer and spray directly onto the slug. They will die almost immediately. Also spray the ground around your plants and any hidden slugs will come out of the sprayed soil and die.
Drunken SlugSet a shallow pan of beer (the darker the better) out into the garden where the slugs hang out. They can not resist the taste of beer and crawl in and drown.
Slug trapUse a plastic pop bottle to catch slugs. Remove the lid, cut the pop bottle just below the curve of the neck all the way around. Invert the neck piece and staple it inside of the main piece. Throw in some slug bait or some beer and set in the garden where the slugs are doing the damage. The slugs can crawl in but don’t crawl out.
Slug StopperSprinkle a ring of moth crystals around the base of your plants to keep the slugs from eating your plants. The slugs as well as cats, dogs and raccoons will stay away from these plants.
Weather Forecasting CricketsYou can tell the outside temperature in Fahrenheit by counting the number of chirps made by a cricket in 14 seconds then add 40 to it.
Earwig CatcherEarwigs like dark, tight places to hide in during the day. Lay some corrugated cardboard out in the garden where you have had earwig damage. The earwigs will climb into the cardboard to hide during the day. Collect the cardboard and burn it.
Codling Moth BrothTo catch codling moths, use a mixture of 2 parts vinegar and one part molasses. Place this mixture in a tin can and hang it in the apple tree. Clean out the moths and place more mix in the can when needed.
Fly CatcherTo catch flies, place a piece of meat in a jar. Using a quart jar, place a small piece of meat and ? inch of water into the jar. Punch a few holes big enough for the flies to crawl in, into the lid of the jar. Screw on the lid and set in a good fly location. When the fly crawls in, it can’t get out. Clean out the jar when the smell gets to strong or it gets full of flies.
Yellow Sticky TrapsTo catch white flies, gnats and aphids use STP motor oil treatment or honey. Smear motor oil treatment or honey onto bright yellow plastic and place it amongst your plants with bugs. When the plastic gets full of bugs, wipe them off and reapply STP motor oil treatment or honey and set the trap out again.
How to Get the Skunk Smell off of Your Pets * 1 quart 3% Hydrogen Peroxide * 1/4 cup baking soda * 2 teaspoons baby shampooMix up solution. Thoroughly wet dog and shampoo in. Let sit for 5 minutes then rinse. Be sure not to get the solution in the dogs eyes. The percentage of Hydrogen Peroxide is not strong enough to bleach the dogs hair.
Protect Your Grapes from the BirdsJust before your grapes ripen when the birds start to get into them protect your crop with plastic grocery bags. Punch each bag full of air holes. Slip a bag around each bundle of grapes and staple to hold bag in place.
Spank Your Fruit TreesFor more fruit production, take a rolled up newspaper and spank the day lights out of the trunk of your fruit trees. This action loosens the cambium layer and more sap will flow up to the tree producing more fruit. This is for more fruit the following year.
Mini GreenhousesWhen you first place your seedlings out you will want to protect them from to much wind, sun or frost. A gallon milk jug with the bottom cut out and the lid off is the perfect mini green house for setting out your plants. If it is going to frost, just put the lid on for the night. If the jug keep blowing off, cut off the top of the handle. Next run a stick through the handle, this will secure the jug to the stick. Push the stick down into the ground to anchor it. The wind will not pick it up now.
Mini Shade HouseWhen first setting out seedling the can be wind burned or sunburned. To help the acclimate your plants to the great outdoors you can protect them with a mini shade house. Cut out a 18 inch by 24 inch piece of woven fence material, being sure to leave the extra wire that sticks out when you cut it. Bend it into the shape of an arch. Cut a piece of burlap 20 inches by 26 inches. Hook the burlap over the ends of the fence material. Set the whole unit over your transplanted seedlings. Leave this over them for a week to harden off your plants. This is great for working people because you never build up heat under this covering so you don’t have to take it off during the day if the sun shines to hot.
Dress up Your GardenUse old panty hose for tying up your plants. The panty hose are strong and will not cut into the tender stems.Another use for old panty hose is to place them over the heads of your cabbage. As your cabbage grows the panty hose will stretch.
Canned CornTo keep birds and squirrels from eating your corn, place aluminum pop or beer cans on your corn ear. Prepare the cans by cutting off the tab end. Next punch air holes all the way around the can. When you see birds or squirrels getting into your corn, slip a can over each ear until it is ripe.
Eggshell PlantersEggshells make great plant starters. When you crack your egg, just take off the tip of one end. Rinse out the shell and poke a small drain hole into the bottom of the shell while it is still wet. Fill shell 3/4 full of potting soil and plant seeds. When it is time to plant out just crush the egg shell and plant into the ground. The egg shell adds lime to help feed the soil and plant.
Mildew on Your PeoniesSprinkle your peonies with cinnamon to stop molds and fungi. Tokyo researchers have found that fungi will not grow in the presence of cinnamon.
Clothespin for RosesTo avoid being stuck when working with roses, use a spring type clothes pin to hold the stem instead of your fingers.
Baking Soda SprayUse baking soda to control fungal diseases, especially black spot on roses.Dissolve 1 t baking soda in 1 quart of water, add 1 t liquid soapSpray entire leaf surfaces of plants every 3 days for 21 days. Reapply after every rain.
No Room for a Garden?If you want to grow a tomato plant or a cucumber plant and you have no room. Get a bale of straw, poke some holes in it and pour compost into the holes. Plant your vegetables right into the bale. Water when needed. The decomposing bale will feed your vegetables all season.
Soak Your Feet or Feed Your TomatoesEpsom salt is great for getting your tomato plants to produce large crops of tomatoes. It also helps to prevent blossom end rot. Use 1/4 cup around the base of each tomato plant every year.
Easy Sowing of Small SeedsSeason salt or spice shakers are great to use to sow small seeds. Place your tiny seeds in the shakers with some fine sand and shake away. The sand helps to evenly distribute your seeds so they don’t end up in one pile.
Quick Sprout CarrotsSoak your carrot seeds in a glass of warm water for 24 hours. Drain off water and place carrot seeds evenly on several wet paper towels. About ? inches apart. Layer the paper towels in a glass baking dish. Place a sheet of plastic wrap between the layers. Cover the whole dish with plastic wrap. Place in a warm location for about a week. When you start to see little white sprout coming out of the end of the carrot seed it is time to plant them. Place the paper towel in the garden row. Cover lightly with soil and water lightly. Your carrots should be up in a few days.
Rid Your Sidewalks of Weeds and GrassTo kill weeds and grass in unwanted places such as the cracks in your side walks, pour boiling salt water directly onto the weeds or grass for an instant kill.
Hammer Those Tough WeedsFor those hard to pull weeds, hook them with the claw end of a hammer and pull.
Pickle Those WeedsTo kill weeds in areas that you don’t plan to plant anything you can use a solution of vinegar and salt. * 1/4 cup vinegar * 2 t salt * 1 quart water Spray weed until soaked. Heat of the day is best.
Fizzy BubblesTo clean the dirt and stains out of the crevices and cracks of your hands. Drop two denture tables into 2 cups of warm water. Soak your hands for 15 to 20 minutes. It will also remove the dirt from under your nails and will also soften your hands.
I invite you to use this guide as a first step in developing you own garden survival list. Mentally walk through the garden season and list all of the items you use. If any of them are “modern appliances” you will need to think of a man powered replacement or back up system. Contact your local county extension agent and find out what pests lurk in your neck of the woods. Get the supplies you will need to eradicate the pests that will plague your garden. Find a gardener to buddy up with. There should be several experienced gardeners in your area. Go ask them some questions. Find out when they plant, what they plant, what pests they deal with, what kind of fertilizer they use, be sure to take notes. Most gardeners love to talk about their gardens. Go to the library and find some books on gardening. The ones you like have the book store order for you. Fore thought and preparation is the key. It is very possible for us to feed our families from our garde
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090319.wzimbabwe19/BNStory/International
The last stand of Zimbabwe’s white farmers
Nine years ago, Zimbabwe had more than 4,000 white-owned commercial farms. In a fresh wave of invasions, farmers keep their guns close at hand as ZANU-PF thugs lay siege to many of the 300 that remain
GEOFFREY YORK
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
March 20, 2009 at 2:18 AM EDT
CHEGUTU, ZIMBABWE — James Etheredge relaxes on his patio and surveys a bucolic scene of green lawns and orchards, where a peaceful river sparkles in the sunshine. But slowly, as he talks of the violence and destruction that surround him, the pastoral landscape emerges as something very different: a war zone.
On the river behind him, calmly fishing now, are the farm invaders, young thugs who wear the T-shirts of a prominent member of the long-ruling ZANU-PF political party.
They set up their camp at the entrance gate, where they nailed their posters to the farm buildings. “Our Land, Our Sovereignty,” the posters say, bearing a large photo of President Robert Mugabe.
The thugs have repeatedly ordered Mr. Etheredge and his brother to surrender their 110-hectare citrus farm, one of the biggest in Zimbabwe with 6,000 tonnes of fruit waiting to be harvested this month. So far the young invaders have refrained from violence, but there is a menace in their presence.
The assault on the citrus farm is just the latest in a fresh wave of invasions of the dwindling white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe, a last-ditch scramble for free land before the new coalition government can prohibit the practice. About 80 farms have been seized and at least 50 more are under siege, sparking a crisis inside the new government as Mr. Mugabe continues to defend the invasions.
“I’m not afraid,” Mr. Etheredge says, gazing at the young men who invaded his land. “I’ve told these guys, ‘If you come into my house, I will kill you.’”
He speaks of guns and death with the nonchalance of someone who has seen violence around him for years. “I killed a person in my house last March,” he says, and shrugs.