This weekend I went to my local Home Depot with my husband to pick up some cedar mulch and a few more plants for the garden. While I was there I also looked around at their organic/eco-friendly insect sprays for the garden. The prices were higher and there were several brands. I looked over the ingredients. 99 percent was water - this is comparable to the chemical poision sprays as well. The rest were minute amounts of various herbal oils, including rosemary, thyme, and peppermint.
Being the "frugal farmer" that I am (lol) I immediately started thinking "I can make this!". I went to my local bargain book store (Half Price Books) and found two books on backyard organic gardening. Today I had time to do a quick search on the web and found several helpful sites that explain how to make your own garden insect repellant.
Here are my favorite "recipes"/ideas I found online:
Comfy Country Creations in the garden has many different ideas for keeping the bugs out of your garden. I plan to try the herbal sprays.
Golden Harvest Organics has a great article on "Companion Planting"
Of course, you can always purchase products pre-made, such as the ones I saw at Home Depot. And I DO recommend this if you:
don't need a lot (you'll pay just as much for the oils to make your own, especially if you only make one or two batches)
don't have the time/patience
EcoSmart has a Garden Insect Killer that includes rosemary, peppermint, thyme, and clove. It claims to repell against garden insects and mites at all stages (egg, larvae, and adult). You can purchase the plant and garden value bundle for only 26.00, and includes 4 different products - Weed and grass killer, fungicide, insect repellant, garden insect killer.
Right now I don't have a bug problem, but I want to be prepared if it occurs. Please let me know if you have heard of any great "home-made" solutions or have tried a product and love it!
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