Speaking of Bug Spray....

A friend that uses chemicals was talking about the insect problems in his garden this year and said that he sprayed a chemical on there. His comment was, "It doesn't do any good; it just makes them meaner." Our neighbor then came over and said that he had used the same well-known chemical and it hadn't done any good at all. Hmmmm.....
Well, I was happy to find something homemade and harmless that worked.
Nancy

Homemade Bug Spray

Just wanted to let you know that the homemade bug spray worked very well in getting the bugs on the run. (See previous post.) We didn't see any beetles or worms. I'm sure we will need to spray again before long as it wears off.
Hope you have a great day!
Nancy

Refrigerator Pickles

The refrigerator pickles we tried are good! I got the recipe at the Choosing Simplicity blog site. I wondered if soaking them in the salt and ice would really make them crisp, and it does!
I mixed up a concoction to spray on the garden for pests last night. I have never seen so many beetles at one time in my life. There is no way to hand-pick them all because they take off in another direction when you disturb them (and I definitely disturbed them). I have tansy growing and insects don't like it so I made a strong tea out of it, added chopped garlic and cayenne peppers after it cooled, let that soak a while, and then strained it. I poured in a little dishwashing liquid and vegetable oil to make it stick and smother smaller insects. We also have worms in the garden that we haven't had trouble with before and there are GOBS of them. They are eating the jalapeno pepper plants like crazy. Normally (did I say NORMAL?), nothing bothers them.
Well, it's always an adventure.
How's your garden doing?
Nancy
P.S. Thought I'd better mention that I diluted the mixture with water before using and that I sprayed right before the sun went down so it wouldn't scorch the plants. Early morning would be good, too. Don't spray when it's hot or when the plants are in full sun.