The weather is finally getting nice enough for me to get cracking on my little garden. It is a tiny area so I can pull the weeds that are there, but my husband has been talking about ridding the front yard of the other weeds of which there are many so I thought I would look up some inexpensive weed killers for the yard. I got a bunch from TipNut.com. I am not posting the ones with salt, because salt is supposed to be damaging to the soil. Here are the ones I liked the best.
- Vinegar and Dish Detergent - Fill a spray bottle with pickling vinegar (honestly I do not know what pickling vinegar is or where you might get it) and add a couple of squirts of liquid dish detergent. Spray the mixture directly on the weeds during the hottest part of the day.
- Boiling Water - Pretty self explanatory. Boil some water in a kettle and pour the water directly over the weeds. ***Carlo, one of our listeners called and said that his Botany professor in South Dakota told them this same trick and it works! He also said that if the weed is long like a dandelion to split it down the middle with a paring knife before you pour the boiling water on it. :) Very cool! Thanks Carlo!!!
- Liquid Dish Detergent and Water - Mix a solution of 1 part dish washing liquid and 10 parts water. Soak the weeds with the mixture. ***Avoid using dish washing detergent with bleach.
-Lemon Juice - Use this if you have a lemon tree and a surplus of lemons. Honestly, I love lemons in water and can't imagine using this mixture because it would be pricey. Anyway...mix 1/2 a cup of lemon juice with a quart of vinegar. TipNut says it works the same as straight vinegar so I really don't see the point in this concoction. Especially since vinegar for the most part is going to be cheaper than lemon juice.
Vinegar - Yep...just a straight solution of vinegar. For the best results, TipNut recommends not diluting with water and spraying the weeds when you are pretty sure there will be no rain storms. Also they say that this is good for baby weeds and for more mature weeds you may want to use pickling vinegar.
I also thought it would be a good idea to find out ways to get rid of bugs in your garden. One of the cool things I found was companion planting. Apparently some plants will offend a bug or pest to the degree that it will stay away because if it and leave your other plants alone as well. Here is a nice list:
This list came from PestInformation.com
ants -- spearmint, tansy, pennyroyal
been leaf beetle -- onion, turnip, potato
Codling moth -- common oleander
flea beetle -- onion, mint, garlic
Harlequin bug -- turnips, onion, radish
Japanese beetle -- garlic, larkspur, red buckeye
Mexican bean beetle -- potato, garlic, radish, onion
root-knot nematodes -- French marigold
spider mites -- onion, cloves, garlic
squash bug -- marigold, radish
squash vine borer -- cloves, garlic, onion
stink bug -- radish
tomato hornworm -- marigold, sage
whitefly -- marigold, nasturtium
Mind you, I didn't even know what some of these bugs are, but I know I don't want them in my garden. I am thinking that growing garlic, radishes, and onions is a great idea. Those cover some interesting bugs.
To get rid of pests like deer you can tie some fabric softener around areas of your garden. Apparently they aren't too keen on the scent. They also suggest tying garbage bags around, but I don't like that idea, because I hate seeing bags stuck in trees as it is. They also suggest hanging slinkys around because of the sound they make and the shiny reflection. Putting pet hair or human hair in little mesh bags around your garden is also supposed to be a deterrent.
Planting garlic is also a good way to keep rabbits out of your garden.Make a
Other tricks I found for getting rid of bugs are:
Mix chopped garlic cloves and water and put in a spray bottle (but I am thinking this could be really smelly).
Make a garden spray with 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid mixed with 1 cup of vegetable oil. Mix 2 teaspoons of this with 1 cup of water in a spray bottle and spray it directly to plants.
Burpee has an awesome vegetable garden guide totally for free that is filled with all kinds of great information on what to grow, how much to grow and when to grow it. Right now they are out of stock, but the link says they will be rushing to fill orders so we can hope that they will come back soon. Follow the link below:
LINK: BURPEE Vegetable Garden Guide
Taco Bell has a coupon on their website for a free Limeade Sparkler. This coupon offer is good for the first 500,000 so you got to print this out ASAP. Click on the link and see how yummy these look.
LINK: Taco Bell Limeade Sparkler
This was gone for a bit but is now back. Head on over to Walmart.com for another free sample of Crest White Strips. If you haven't gotten this yet, you definitely should try it out.
LINK: Crest 3D White Strips
This might sound weird, but I understand that runners can experience chafing in strange places. So it seems very nice that Lanacane is offering a free sample of their Lanacane Anti-Chafing Gel. You do fill out a quick little survey. Link below.
LINK: Lanacane Anti-Chafing Gel
Considering how expensive dry cleaning can be, it is nice to have a product like Dryel on hand at least for the pinch cleaning. Right now you can sign up for Dryel to email or mail you a coupon for $2 off the purchase of Dryel and $10 in coupons for other oneCARE products.
LINK: Dryel Coupons
The weather is slowly getting warmer, and I cant think of a better time to take advantage of Sonic's newest deal. From now until June 27th buy one of their real ice cream shakes and get one free! This is a deal I would enjoy in any kind of weather. Check out the details at the link below.
LINK: Sonic Real Ice Cream Shakes buy 1 get 1 free!
Okay this is a pretty neat contest that would be an amazing win for a church library from WaterBrook Multnomah 5 churches will receive non-fiction and fiction titles from authors like John Piper, Randy Alcorn, Robin Jones Gunn, Andy Stanley, Kay Arthur, Ravi Zacharias, Mark Batterson, Steven K. Scott and more! This is a collection that can be a great start for a church library or a wonderful addition. Enter at the link below.
LINK: Church Library Contest at WaterBrook Multnomah
Freeccm.com download of the week is 33Miles "Little Bit of Love."
LINK: 33Miles
Take advantage of the builder workshops that Home Depot and Lowe's has for kids. They are free and a great way to teach the kids something new.
On May 22 Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic Project is a toy catapult and on May 29th the kids can build a wooden race car.
Sign ups are at the link below:
LINK: Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic
Home Depot has a really cool wooden soccer game the kids can learn to build at the Home Depot Kids Workshop on June 5th. Check it out at the link below:
LINK: Home Depot Kids Workshops
2 comments:
Great post!
First time to your blog! I like lemons in water, too! :)
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