Organic Gardening With Gill
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Some tips, ideas and opinions :-)Chemical sprays, of any sort, kill the bad bugs and then the good bugs also get killed. The whole balance of nature becomes askew. Spraying can actually have the unintended effect of causing an upswing in the pest population. Also, many insects can very quickly develop populations resistant to a given chemical. Why use any sprays? If some plants succumb to disease, get rid of them - and use plants that stand up to our climate and withstand our bugs. Herbs planted with our plants can have a dramatic effect on frightening off the bugs (but more about this later).Picking the right plants for the right places, planting them properly, and giving them adequate care are the key to minimizing the use of pesticides.  Milk is an ideal organic fungicide for protecting cucumbers and other vegetables. Cucumbers and courgettes are particularly vulnerable to a powdery white mildew called "Sphaerotheca fuliginea". It causes their leaves to wither and until now could be controlled only with chemical fungicides. Spraying heavily infected plants twice a week with a mixture of one part cow's milk to nine parts water is at least as good at stopping mildew as the chemical fungicides "Fenarimol" and "Benomyl" are. And, of course, it is far less harmful!. So when your roses and other plants succumb to mildew, try this remedy instead of reaching for the harmful chemicals. My Email Address. Quick tips, trialed and tested in my own garden. Compost no garden should be without its compost heap! Composting is easy, fun and provides the most readily available source of organic matter - and this organic matter is free. Sure, it takes a bit of effort but the end result is very worthwhile. Gather fallen leaves, grass clippings, stalks from all the salad and vegetable plants, and other once-living debris of the garden and a few months later you will find a lovely rich pile of black crumbly compost, hopefully, full of worms. I have several bins, but in my wild part of the garden, I have simply started piles of debris and I have to say, some of these piles yield more compost than my bought or built compost bins. Garlic chives planted around roses deters aphids. Garlic, onions and leeks planted amongst your flower borders, repels the bad bugs. Pennyroyal repels fleas and other insects - put some in your dog's kennel (if your dog is unfortunate enough to live outside!) and your dog will be happier!. It is also an excellent ground cover.  Milk is an ideal organic fungicide for protecting vegetables, plants and roses. Try mixing one part cow's milk to nine parts water and pouring this over your affected plants.  Building our gardens' soil with organic fertilisers and amendments is a way of attracting birds butterflies and other wildlife into our gardens and these creatures eat the bad bugs. To encourage hedgehogs, throw your sprays away! And use a bait trap for slug pellets, if you have to use them. In summer, leave out shallow bowls of water for the hedgehogs. Feed them with cat food, not milk and bread. You can create a haven for them with using a piece of wire mesh, lay that on the ground and peg the sides down, raise the middle with some old bricks to create ‘a nest’, and then pile leaves and old woody plants etc over the top. I put food out most nights for the lovely little critters and they are always about now. Feeding gardens organically creates a natural habitat with strong healthy plants that resist diseases and pests. Chemical sprays and fertilisers do more harm to the soil than good to the plants - plus harm us! . The Neem Tree I am intrigued with the Neem tree. This unique tree has more remedial benefits than most plants and is used widely in India. For more information on the Neem tree "Azadirachta indica", a member of the mahogany family, click Here. There is a new botanical flea powder which contains Neem (and other) oils and which will not harm your pets. It is available from Suntec . The powder can be sprinkled around the pet's bedding and used on carpet. This flea powder has a pleasant smell and my pets do not seem to mind being 'powdered' at all. It appears to have very good control of fleas and acts as a deterrent to prevent reinfection. I also make my own organic flea spray for my animals - Artemisia (Wormwood) - an attractive and hardy and very useful herb for flea control on dogs and cats. A preventative and eradication measure -it seems to be extremely effective. Pour the solution on animals back and rub it into their coats. When checked later there will be lots of dead fleas. For cats it is easier to pour the stuff into your hands and then rub it in generously Preparing the flea wash is very easy. Pick a handful of wormwood leaves and 2 large sprigs of rosemary. The rosemary adds a pleasant scent, is soothing to the skin and mildly antiseptic. Place the leaves in an old saucepan or other container and pour over boiling water to cover. Leave to steep until cool, then strain and bottle the liquid. Can be used as is for dogs or diluted to half strength for cats. Keeps well for several weeks. Be careful around the face area. NB. Do not give wormwood internally to your pets. Wormwood is poisonous to humans and animals unless administered in homeopathic accordingly to a qualified herbalist's prescription. In my garden my main source of fertilizer is the herb plant comfrey
which I use as a liquid food. It is also great in the compost bin and
the leavaes will break down very quickly. Comfrey is rich in nitrogen,
calcium, potash and phosphorus - more so than any animal manures. I
merely chop the leaves of the comfrey and place them around my roses or
plants. There are a few different varieties of this plant and some are
more invasive than others but they all have pretty flowers and are so
good for the earth, that I do not mind if they take over in certain
areas.
More Organic, Gardening, Homestay and Animal Links Diane's Flower Seeds www.tucker.co.nz Mothers Against Genetic Engineering www.overthegardengate.co.uk www.sensory-garden.com www.premroses.com www.travelnotes.org www.travelguides.com< www.organicholidays.co.uk Garden Humour :-) www.wildaboutgardening.org www.bestfriends.org(animals) www.organicgardening.com Rachel Carson Council(Pesticides) Roundup information. www.organic.com OceanOrganics.co.nz Urban Wildlife Webring Home |
Pictures.
Ollie is the cat & ---- :) Rosie is the dog.
Californica
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