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Here it is the beginning of June and bugs are making their appearances in our garden. We wanted to share a recipe we’ve found that has been recommended to us by other gardeners and has proven to be effective in dealing with unwanted insects and other bugs in the garden.

This is a different approach than our Squash bug solution. You can read that article here – Squash Bugs and Ways to Deal with Them. That approach works well for more than just Squash bugs, so give this recipe and that one a try to see what works for your garden! You might also like some of our solutions detailed in Heirloom Tomato Growing Tips that shows several methods of deflecting insects, nematodes and blight, mildew and other assorted fungi that love our tomatoes.

It needs to be mentioned that spending time in your garden and getting to know who lives there is extremely valuable, as then you’ll know when some shady character moves in. You might still be taken by surprise when you discover a colony of insects chomping on your squash, tomatillo or tomato plants; but you’ll know with certainty that they weren’t there last night or the morning before. This knowledge is valuable, as this helps in choosing which methods to use and how aggressive to apply them.

Here is another recipe for a broad-based insect repellent for your garden. This is a very concentrated recipe, as the garlic and onion oils are extracted into the mineral oil, so test spray a small area before soaking the whole garden. The extraction is based on English research used to test the effectiveness of garlic and onion oils as natural antibiotics and anti-fungal agents.

Start by testing it on a small area at a 20:1 dilution – 20 parts water to 1 part bug solution. You can always dilute it with more water if you find it is too aggressive for your plants. If it is effective, increase the dilution ratio 10:1 at a time until the solution is still effective, but not immediate. You don’t want to nuclear carpet bomb the problem, just kill off the bad bugs. Remember, this kills all bugs, not just the bad ones, so go easy and be careful! Garlic oil is very effective, but if used in large doses it will be deadly to bugs and soil micro-organisms as well. It must be said that homegrown or locally and organically grown garlic and onions are the best, as they will have much stronger oils than commodity ones from the grocery store.

Home Garden Bug Solution

This is a very powerful solution, so go easy at first - test on a small area before declaring all-out war!

Ingredients

3 heads not cloves, of garlic - crushed
2 medium onions finely chopped
1/4 cup mineral oil
2 Tsp pure liquid dish soap - Dr. Bronner's is best - it is organic do not use any detergent - it lasts too long and upsets the biological balance of the soil organisms.
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tsp extra hot pepper sauce Dave's Insanity Sauce is great!

Instructions

For the Garlic/Onion Extract

Add crushed garlic and chopped onion to 1/4 cup mineral oil and let soak for 24 hours.
Dissolve liquid dish soap into 1 pint of warm water, stirring well.
Slowly soap-dissolved water to mineral oil, stirring well.
Strain out solids through fine gauze or cheesecloth, then store in glass container - do not use a metal one as the extract will react with it!

For the Bug Solution

Add Garlic/Onion extract to apple cider vinegar and hot sauce.
Stir well, making sure not to get any on your hands - it will burn!
Use a 20:1 dilution ratio as a starting point - 20 parts water to 1 part bug solution. If bugs die rapidly, increase dilution to 30:1 or 40:1 until bugs don't die off as rapidly, then go back one dilution.

Recipe Notes

It is best to make this fresh as needed, as the oils will work best on the bugs when they are at their peak. Another approach is to use garlic essential oil that has been distilled and is many times more potent than the home-grown extract. If using the essential oil, start with 5 - 10 drops of oil in place of the extract. Look for garlic essential oil in your local health foods store or apothecary.

This will chase off all bugs that it comes in contact with, so be sure to use sparingly and only on areas that are showing undesirable insects. Once you see a reduction in the insect population or an increase in plant health, reduce the amount and number of times the bug solution is applied.

by Stephen Scott

Garden Tips, Vegetables

How to Pick Perfectly Ripe Heirloom Vegetables

Finding and picking perfectly ripe heirloom vegetables or fruit seems second nature to some, but those new to gardening can be confused and frustrated by the seemingly endless choices. One the one hand, you don’t want to pick too early and miss out on the scrumptious flavors, but you also don’t want to pick too late and not only miss the flavors, but lose the time and work of growing the vegetables in the first place. What’s a hard-working home gardener to do?

Do not use size (or color) alone to choose when to pick, as most of us are used to the size and color of the supermarket produce, which is not an honest or accurate measure to use for your veggies! Most home grown produce will be a bit smaller, more colorful and a bit less uniform in appearance than the supermarket equivalent. Heirloom vegetables grown at home will mature over a span of a few days to a couple of weeks, so you have time to let things get a bit riper if needed. No need to rush.

Use your sense of sight, touch, smell and taste to determine when to pick. Gently feel the tomato to see if it is soft and slightly yielding, or still just a bit firm. If it feels like it is ready to pick, gently pull the tomato just a bit. If it is truly ripe, it will almost fall off into your hand, if not it may need a day or two more. Give the melon vine the slightest pull to see if it slips from the melon. Smell the skin to see if it has that deliciously ripe tomato perfume, that heady melon scent or if it needs just a day or two more. Watch the colors change on the peppers, feel the skin and flesh change from firm and unyielding to slightly pliable to see when the flavor is best. Gently squeeze the okra, fondle the eggplant, watch the translucence of the pea pods fill with young luscious peas. Gardening is a full contact sport, and not just in the physical sense. It requires, engages and tunes all of your senses to learn when everything is at its absolute peak ripeness and therefore peak flavor and nutrition.

When in doubt, always take a taste test to see if your other senses are right, or they need a little education and fine tuning. Don’t be afraid to taste! Most of us have been educated on what to expect with vegetables from the supermarket, which is very misleading. Supermarket produce is specially selected to be picture perfect; everything else is discarded or used for other products. Every time you do a taste test, you become more in tune with the flavors and timing of your particular garden, and your particular vegetables that are growing there. This is called terroir, and your garden has its own special brand and flavor of terroir! With a little time, you will know exactly when everything will be at the peak of its flavor, and can plan some scrumptious meals around them. Once you have experienced the magic of a ripening garden, you will never forget the sights and smells.

It’s usually best to pick in the cool of the morning, as the evening’s growth is completed and flavor is at the day’s best. Cool evenings are a good time to pick as well. Make sure to plan ahead if you need chilled vegetables such as salad makings and pick ahead of time. Harvesting the day before will give plenty of time to get things chilled without losing any flavors that you’ve worked so hard to grow.

by Stephen Scott