Natural Pesticide: Avoid the chemicals and make your own!

Insects, especially aphids, are a nuisance in the garden because they eat just about any vegetable you grow. How crunchy or milky do you want your salad to be? Rather than buying chemicals at the store that may or may not negatively impact the health of you and your family (including pets), why not make your own chemical free pesticide! Here are the directions:

1) Finely chop up a head of garlic (6-8 cloves) and place them in a dish.

2) Pour in 1 1/2 cups of mineral oil or whatever you have available. Then Mix the 2 ingredients.

3) Pour in a tablespoon of mild liquid soap or whatever you have available. Then mix the 3 ingredients.

3a) You may add hot peppers, onions, or hot sauce to strengthen up the mixture. I would not add in more than 4 tbsp of hot sauce/tabasco sauce, hand full of chopped onions, or 4 hot peppers.

Note: You may use a blender for all these ingredients to avoid using the sieve.

4) Dump the mixture into a sealable container (glass jar with lid) and let it sit over night. Some people let the mixture sit for 72 hours in room temperature.

5) Pour 3 to 4 cups of water into a spray bottle and then add the mixture and shake. You may or may not want to sieve the mixture to remove chunks of vegetables that may cause blockage.

Before spraying, you should grab your garden hose and spray down your plants thoroughly. You want to get rid of those aphids before applying the pesticide. After you have sprayed the plants, let it dry. Once the plants are dry, spray on the pesticide to keep those pesky insects off your delicious vegetables or fruits. Spray the solution in the morning or evening. You can spray the solution as often as you wish. Ideally, you should check your plants daily if you have a really bad infestation.

Be sure to get under the leaves and into the 'crevices'. Before picking, spray the solution and wait an hour before picking and rinsing to kills any remaining aphids/insects.

You can add additional defense against those unwanted insects by planting the following: Marigolds, Orange Peels, Cedar Chips, Mint, Geraniums, Sage, and Rosemary. Planting Angelica and Morning Glory near your garden may attract the aphids predator, the lady bug.

Another natural pesticide recipe: 

Tomato Leaf Spray

Tomato plants contain toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves. When the leaves of tomato plants are chopped, they release their alkaloids. When the alkaloids are suspended and diluted with water, they make an easy to use spray that is toxic to aphids, but still safe around plants and humans.

What You'll Need:

• One to two cups of tomato leaves
• Two cups of water
• A strainer or cheesecloth
• Spray bottle

To make tomato leaf spray, simply soak one to two cups of chopped tomato leaves in two cups of water. Let it steep overnight. To make the spray, strain the leaves out of the liquid using cheesecloth or a fine strainer. Add another one to two cups of water to the liquid and add it to a spray bottle.

To use the tomato leaf spray in your battle against aphids, spray the stems and foliage of the infested plant with the spray, paying special attention to the undersides of leaves, since that is where aphids most commonly congregate.

Both recipes are BEE safe :-)