The Gardener’s Rake

By keeping my plants healthy, watered and weed free I can usually control pests. But once in a while I have a pest problem or my neighbors ask for a pest control that is more organic than the store bought chemical products.

The recipe below is close to being organic and works well. I originally saw this in Organic Gardening and tried it. It works well.

4 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
1 small jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. of Murphy’s oil soap
1 tsp. of vegetable oil
1 gallon Warm Water

1. Crush the Garlic, Onion, and Pepper in a blender. Add to 1 quart of warm water and let soak for 2 hrs.
2. Strain the mixture through an old pair of pantyhose into a gallon jug. Add rest of ingredients and fill rest of jug with warm water.
3. Shake mixture and add to a hand held sprayer.

The pests do not like the onion, jalapeno and garlic and they will move on. The Murphy’s oil soap and vegetable oil help the spray to stay on the plants. This spray will not harm plants. I try not to use it when bees are pollinating the plants.

I myself have not used this spray in several years. My pest problem is almost non-existent and I can hand pick any bugs easily.