My Frugal Garden Plan + Homemade Pesticides

For many of you, spring sprang weeks even months ago and now you're busy in your gardens. We're still a few weeks away from "gardening" conditions here in NW Minnesota but I'm planning and trying to get prepared so I can get in the garden as early as possible this year.
This is my second year gardening so I'm by no means an expert. Much of my gardening time last year was spent preparing for this season. There were tons of rocks and lots of brush in my garden area. This took me weeks getting things cleared out and the soil aerated. Last year I didn't expect great results but, this year my hopes are high. I've been paying close attention to morning garden segments, HGTV, plus I've bought a couple books (Reader's Digest: Homemade and Newspapers Pennies Cardboard & Eggs for Growing a Better Garden by Roger Yepson) that may help me produce a fruitful garden for pennies on the dollar. I also plan to hit up Mr Wilson for all his green thumb advice this season.

These photos were taken Sunday only 4 miles from our home. That's a grain bin in the middle photo. Thankfully the standing water in our yard has receded!

Most of my gardening will start from rooted veggies. This will cut down on my waste and help give a better start to my garden than from the seed packets. I have a few potatoes ready to go in the ground, an onion that should be ready soon and hopefully tomato and pepper plants will be available at Wilson's Greenhouse in the next couple of weeks. We've got Okra seeds our friend Sid gave us last year and there will be another attempt to grow squash and broccoli. I may try lettuce again but haven't decided since it was a big FLOP-pesky wabbits! I'd also like to grow some carrots and parsnips. I'll start rooting those inside the house later this week.

Now that I have a rough plan in place for my garden, it's time to focus on keeping my garden healthy. Besides using Miracle Grow (gotta love it) I want to use less toxic means to deterring pests and encourage growth. Pesticides are not great for the environment plus they tend to cost a pretty penny. I have children and pets so I don't want the pesticides seeping into our vegetables through the natural growth process. Here are a few of the more natural pesticides and pest deterrents I plan to use this year:

1. Homemade Insecticide-1 tsp Dish Detergent, 1 tbs Vegetable Oil, and 3 c Water mixed in spray bottle. Apply to plants and leaves.
   
2. Weed Eater-1/4 c Pure Vinegar poured directly on garden weeds.*
3. Aspirin Systemic Insecticide-Dilute 3 regular strength aspirins diluted into 5 gallon bucket of water. Water twice a month and may use in a spray bottle for intermittent treatments.*
4. Cardboard barriers-Cut paper towel and toilet paper rolls will be planted around smaller plants to help protect against underground critters giving the plant time to mature. The cardboard eventually degrades into the soil.*
5. White Flag Deer Deterrent-Tie white grocery bags or fabric strips from an old sheet, towel, rag, etc to posts surrounding the garden. This is suppose to mimic the deer's natural response to danger when other deer flash their white tails to warn of area predators. It's a freebie I'll try but I'm not holding my breath!!!*
6. Soap Deer Repellent-Use bars of deodorant soap or soap scraps tied off in a sock, attach to a tree, shrub or garden stake where ever your problem spot is to repel deer. Replace as soap dissapates with rain. Still not sure if this will work but will give a try if #5 fails.*
7. Earwig Traps-Roll newspaper into a tube shape, tape off one end, dampen and point opening toward end of plant base. Shake the earwigs into a bucket of soapy water the next morning. Not sure what an earwig is but, if we get them, this is what I'll try!*
8. Banana Peel compost-I've heard in several places you can bury banana peelings in your garden for great compost. We'll give it a try and see what happens!
9. Bird & Squirrel Deterrent-Plant a few catnip seeds or plants around the garden area to attract cats to ward away these garden pests. I'm not sure about this since cat poop and pee isn't good for all plants. Plus this would drive my dog, Ruby NUTSO! This is a maybe.*

You've seen my plans, now it's time for you to share yours! What does your frugal garden look like this year?

* Denotes recipes and tips I found from either Reader's Digest: Homemade OR Newspaper Pennies Cardboard & Eggs.