Homemade Garden Spray

Here's some fresh-picked basil from my garden!

Steve has also been growing in his horticultural skills (ooh, ooh, a pun! By the way, does anyone else think "pun" is the stupidest sounding word EVER?), which you can read about here.

A few days ago, I checked my garden and found two discoveries. Discovery number one was flower buds on my cherry tomato plant. It's growing! I haven't killed anything yet!!! In fact, every one of my plants has new growth. Joy!

Discovery number two was not as thrill-inducing. I found a few little holes munched in some of my basil, most likely caused by aphids. Eating MY basil. So I put together a homemade insecticidal garden spray, and regulated on the bugs. So far, I haven't seen many pests around.

The spray is easy to make, and completely safe for use on edible plants. For you other gardeners out there, here's the recipe:

Homemade Garden Spray
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Ivory Soap, grated
16 ounces filtered or distilled water, room temperature

Mix soap into water until completely dissolved. Stir in garlic. Pour mixture through a coffee filter and funnel into a spray bottle. Shake bottle to mix separated solution, and thoroughly saturate entire plant with spray. Spray will kill insects on contact, including ants, aphids, whiteflies and other pests. Wait 24 hours and examine plant for re-infestation. Re-spray specific areas or entire plant daily, for as many as five days, if necessary. Spray will last three months when stored away from heat and light.