Natural Garden Pest Control Solutions

Control Bugs the Natural Way

Birds, toads, and other bugs are the best way to control bugs or pests in your garden. Unfortunately, many things we do in our garden actually sabotage nature’s ability to do what she does best – keep a balance. Pesticides, poisons and extreme measures actually kill the very predators that will do the job the best. Here are two homemade plant sprays that will keep pests off your garden favorites without the use of environmentally unsafe products. You can “cook” these up in your own kitchen in minutes.

All Purpose Bug Spray

This is the one I use the most. It works on almost all pests, including slugs and beetles.

1. Chop or dice 1 garlic bulb & 1 small onion.
2. Place in a pot with 1 quart of water and 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper.
3. Steep one hour.
4. Strain through fine sieve or cheesecloth.
5. Add one tablespoon environmentally-friendly dishwashing liquid.
6. Put in spray bottle.
7. Spray on plant leaves.
8. Store the extra in tightly sealed jar.

I use this one for most of my vegetable garden plants, including tomatoes. Some plants are sensitive to leaf burn, so test new plants on one leaf before spraying the whole plant.

Hot Pepper Spray

This is what I spray on the ground or on the mulch to keep the neighborhood cats out of my yard. I also use it on my plants when I run out of the above mixture.

1. Place ½ cup diced hot peppers and 2 cups of water in a blender.
2. Puree until smooth.
3. Strain and spray frequently to deter cats and dogs from your yard.

Deb Bixler presents environmental workshops to schools, churches, clubs and businesses. Learn more about Deb Speaks by clicking here

National Wildlife Federation Global Warming Ambassador
Certified Professional Recycler of Pennsylvania
Springettsbury Township Recycling Committee
National Wildlife Federation Certified Back Yard Habitat

Herbs For Your Garden And Kitchen

Herbs Have Many Benefits

Now that it is finally getting warm here in South Central Pennsylvania, the garden is growing like crazy. I love to cook with herbs and therefore I love to grow them in my garden.  Multi-tasking your garden and your kitchen is easy.  My perennial herbs are taking off! Some of the many health and culinary benefits of herbs are:

• most are powerful antioxidants and therefore reduce your chance of diseases
• they improve your immune system
• assist you in healing
• they contain micronutrients not found in other foods
• of course, they increase the flavor in foods
• many have emotionally soothing properties
• the medicinal properties of herbs are documented in detail
• some herbs herbs/spices like curry will increase your metabolism

Herb Gardens

From a gardening stand point herbs have a huge value too. When your garden includes herb plant that winter over in your climate, you have beautiful and useful landscaping that requires little maintenance. Herbs are weeds and they grow very easily. They require minimum water and can survive in adverse conditions.

Sage As A Shrub

My sage plant is a corner shrub on my patio. It creates a beautiful visual and when I trim it regularly for culinary purposes, it maintains a dense focal point. Two or three could easily be put in a line to form a small hedge type border.

Thyme As Ground Cover

I put the thyme out front on either side of my porch steps about 2 years ago. It has now spread to 5 times its original size. I clip off of it almost year-round. The color is a deep green and serves as a good ground cover as well as a culinary treat.

Mint Spreads

I am sure most of you know that mint grows like the week that it is. I have 3 kinds of mint in my garden. They are gorgeous plants that grow tall and are in 3 different shades. In order to keep them under control, I box off the root system with 2X4’s so that they do not spread where I do not want them. Added to tea, garnish a dessert, or flavor whipped cream, or just as a visual in the yard, mint is a great and easy addition to any yard.

Chives Are Everywhere!

Another prolific speeder is chives. The seeds blow all over the yard and little chive clumps show up everywhere. There is no shortage of chives in my cooking from Spring to Fall. Omelets, stews, dips and more all get the delicate onions added.

Plant Herbs In Your Planters Too!

Rosemary In Garden

Herbs are great for planters. I started using them after realizing that I am not a good waterer. I start off with good intentions and then fail as the season rolls along. With herbs, it is not so crucial that I get out with the watering can every other day. The weeds are resilient to neglect and even in the hot sun of my Eastern facing front porch they usually last the season. Now I have oregano, cilantro, parsley and rosemary in my planters. Each one has only one small flower placed with it for color.

Herbs In The Garden And The Kitchen

Be creative! Try different herbs in your landscaping. I love rosemary. Pennsylvania is on the edge of the area that is warm enough for rosemary so sometimes it will winter over and other times it will not. So now I use it in the planters and bring it in indoors for the Winter.

Worldwide-2008 Recipe Contest

Recipes - Chefs From Around The World

Are you a chef in your own right? Now is the time to become recognized for your culinary skills. Send me your fun, fast and healthy recipes, family favorites, international specialties or just plain good food. I am looking for recipes from all over the world, so if you know anyone in another country, forward this to them. Over the next two months I will feature one recipe per week on the WOW! You Are Really Lucky! website. I will pick a winner from each week’s submitted recipes and post it as a fun, fast, healthy recipe feature. Each week’s recipe will be one of the finalists in the 8-week contest competition for worldwide fame! At the end of 8 weeks those 8 runners up will be judged and the 2008 Worldwide WOW Recipe Champion will be picked.

Award Winning Recipes

Any recipe will do as long as it fits in with the theme of this site. And what is that theme, you may ask? Every recipe must be fun and healthy; fast and healthy or all three: fun, fast and healthy! It is really that simple! Each week’s winner will receive the prestige and recognition of a feature spot on this website as well as an exclusive never-before sold or distributed healthy CD mailed directly to them.

Grand Prize Winner

I may not test every recipe before the weekly winner is posted. I will test, eat and enjoy all of the final recipes before picking the grand prize winner, so make sure your recipe is in fact fun, fast, healthy and accurate. The grand prize winner will receive a full 8-CD set of Wow! You Are Really Lucky… You Have a High Metabolism, sold here for $97, plus the title of Worldwide 2008 WOW! Recipe Champion.

And wait, there is more! If you refer an international friend or a friend in another state to the site and they win the contest, then you win too!

WOW! You can’t go wrong!

 

Recipe Contest Rules - The Small Print

1. The decision of the judges is final.
2. Recipes become property of the WOW! website and by submitting it you are authorizing us to publicize it.
3. Recipes may be submitted by email to DebBixler@FoodSmart.tv as a Word document.
4. All recipes must include a full name, address, phone number and email. (In case you win!)
5. Only your name and town and country or state will be published with the recipe.
6. Include a short bio and reference to who referred you to the contest if you are new to the site.
7. Recipes will be judged for the weekly winner on their merits of fun, fast and healthy.
8. Recipe finalists will be judged for the Grand Prize on fun, fast, healthy, accuracy and flavor.
9. We reserve the rights to change or add to the rules if necessary as we go along.

Fun, Fast, Healthy Foods

Let’s have some fun. Pass this on to your friends in another country or state, and let’s see how many recipes we can get from the international world wide web!