Companion Plantings and Pesticide recipes With many recipes and ways to drive those pests over to visit with your neighbors. Yu might want to use companion planting, and trap crops, which also work and can add beauty to your yard and gardens as well. APHIDS: To keep aphids and other pests off: Finely chop 1 onion 2 medium cloves of garlic Put ingredients into a blender with 2 cups of water and blend on high. Strain out pulp. Pour liquid into spray bottle. Spray a fine mist on rose bushes, making sure to coat both tops and bottoms of leaves. (see beneficial insects) ALUMINUM FOIL "FOILS" APHIDS Use an aluminum foil mulch around the base of plants such as tomatoes. The reflection confuses the insects and drives them away. SPIDER MITES: Combine 1/2 cup buttermilk, 4 cups wheat flour and 5 gallons water. Suffocates spider mites and other mites. MEALYBUGS: Apply rubbing alcohol to insect clusters with cotton swab. Wash with insecticidal soap and rinse. Isolate infected plant if possible. CABBAGE WORMS: Sprinkle flour on developing cabbage heads. The flour swells up inside the worms and bursts their intestines. SLUGS: Sprinkle salt directly onto slug. They shrivel up and die. Place shallow bowl of beer on the ground near slug trails and leave overnight. Copper wire? Coil a piece of wire around the base of your plants to give slugs a shocking experience. They won't come back. GENERAL INSECT REPELLENT: To help protect flowers, vegetables and shrubs from insects attacks. Recipe 1: 1/2 cup dead insects 2 cups water When insects infest flowers, vegetables or shrubs, identify and gather the pests. Collect at least 1/2 cupful. Place in an old blender with the water. Blend on high, and then strain out the pulp using a cheesecloth or fine sieve. Dilute at a rate of 1/4 cup to 1 cup of water. Pour liquid into a spray bottle and apply to plants. Will keep up to a year, stored in a tightly sealed container. Recipe 2: 3 hot green peppers (canned or fresh) 2 or 3 cloves garlic 3/4 tsp liquid soap 3 cups raw water Puree the peppers and garlic cloves in a blender. Pour into a spray bottle and add the liquid soap and water. Let stand 24 hours. Strain out pulp and spray onto infested plants, making sure to coat both tops and bottoms of leaves. CAUTION: Always test any new insecticide on a few small leaves before starting a full-scale application. NATURE'S INSECTICIDES Basil: Plant with tomatoes to improve growth and flavor. Plant with asparagus to increase vigor. Plant near compost pile to keep insects away. Plant around doors and windows to keep insects away. DO NOT plant with Rue. Bay Leaf: A fresh bay leaf in storage containers of beans or grains will deter weevils and moths. Borage: Plant with tomatoes, squash, and strawberries to deter horn worms and black flea beetles. Also attracts honeybees. Plant as close as possible to compost pile; adds potassium, calcium, and other minerals when decomposing. Caraway: Good for loosening compacted soil. Catnip: Deters flea beetles. Chamomile: Improves flavor of cabbage and onions. Also promotes growth in nearby plants. Chervil: Improves growth and flavor of radishes. Dill: Improves growth and health of cabbages. DO NOT plant with carrots or tomatoes. Fennel: DO NOT plant in garden for any reason. Plant separately, plant coriander with it to prevent seeds from setting. Attracts bees. Garlic: Plant with roses, raspberries, and lettuce to repel aphids and Japanese beetles. Also repels blight from potatoes and tomatoes, flea beetles from potatoes, red spiders from tomatoes, and green lopers from cabbage. DO NOT plant near peas. Horseradish: Plant near potatoes to repel potato bugs. Also at the base of fruit trees to fight fruit rot. Hyssop: Plant with grapevines to increase grape yield. DO NOT plant with radishes. Lovage: Plant with any plant; improves health of all vegetables. Marjoram: Plant with any plant; improves flavor and health. Mint: Plant with tomatoes and cabbage to improve health. Also repels cabbageworm; black flea beetles from radishes; hornworm from tomatoes; ants from almost everything. Parsley: Plant with roses to repel rose beetles; Mix with carrot seeds to repel carrot flies; Attracts bees second year if allowed to flower. Rosemary: Plant with cabbage, beans, and carrots to improve overall health. Sage: Repels cabbageworm, and white cabbage butterfly. Also repels carrot flies. DO NOT plant near cucumbers. Southernwood: Plant near cabbage to repel cabbagemoths; also dried leaves repel ants. Savory: Plant with beans and onions to improve flavor; repels cabbage moths, hornworms, and black flea beetles. Tansy: Plant with blackberries, grapes, raspberries, and roses; repels cane borers. Also repels flying insects, Japanese beetles, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs, cabbageworms, cabbage butterfly, and ants. Thyme: Deters cabbage butterfly and cabbageworms. Valerian: Plant anywhere in the garden to attract earthworms. Yarrow: Plant with any other herb to increase the oils in that herb. Also good with any vegetable. Sugar Ant Hotel More Pest Control Solutions by Annie Berthold-Bond, Care2.com Producer, Green Living Channels The ants go marching one by one into this homemade sugar ant hotel. I make three to six of them every ant season, place a few in the kitchen, and wherever else ants like to frequent. There are a number of herbs such as mint and pennyroyal, and spices such as cayenne pepper, that repel ants, but I've never had to do much more than make these ant-trap hotels to rid our house of these common spring and summer pests. Simple Solution: Sugar Ant Hotel a.. 1 cup borax b.. 1 cup sugar water c.. 4 shallow glass jars with screw tops (small jar of marinated artichoke heart jars are ideal) d.. 4 loose wads of toilet paper In a bowl, mix the borax and sugar. Place a loose wad of toilet paper into each of four different screw-top jars. Pour a quarter of the sugar and borax mixture into each of the four jars, over the toilet paper. Fill each jar with water to one inch of the top. Screw the lids on the jars, and with a hammer and nail, make four to eight holes in the lid. Place the jars in areas where you have ants (but keep away from pets and children). Helpful Hints: This ant trap will catch the workers but not the queen. A more comprehensive solution is to blend 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar and one tablespoon of borax and sprinkle it in ant traffic areas. There is not enough borax with this method to kill the worker ants immediately, so they take it back to the nest, ultimately eradicating it. (If the worker ants do die at the powder, cut back on the borax.) Caution: Keep borax products away from pets and other animals. This is a start to get you on the right track to a more healthful and productive garden and orchard. Jon Wood-Master Gardener, and Organic Homesteader