Garden 2013 — Growing Nicely & An Experiment

Blackberry Buds

Green Berries

Purple Sage Flowers

Roses are trying to invade the Greek Oregano.

Basil

No need to pull off green peaches.  They’re falling off on their own.

Even though most of my garden is thriving.  We do have a few issues.  The worst of those issues?  Aphids!  Aphids are trying to eat my gorgeous tomato buds.  For me, using a pesticide would defeat the purpose of a backyard garden.  So, what to do?  Soapy water mist, oil mist, neem oil?  Today, I tried a very light blend of water, soap, and tiny drop of oil in  a mister.  Will it work?  No clue.  But, it’s worth a try.  I’ll check the tomato buds daily to see if this is going to work.

After spritzing one plant to test the mist, I spritzed a bit of the mixture on my dirty hands to clean up.  Then, washed it off.  Turns out, this mixture makes a very nice and very mild hand wash too.  So, as another experiment, I filled a foaming hand soap dispenser with the mixture.  I’m guessing it will need a good shake every now and then.  But, I’m loving the silky feel of my skin without the greasy residue of moisturizer.

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Update May 31, 2013
It worked!  Well, it mostly worked.  Twenty-four hours later there are a only few stragglers remaining.  The delicate stems and buds are still healthy, too. (So Far… But, I’ll be keeping an eye on the branches that I’ve sprayed.)  I’m going to wait a couple days to spray again… just to be safe.  I have very little gardening experience and I don’t want to kill the delicate little buds.  If I had to guess, I’d say that 80% of the aphids died overnight.  So, I’m going to tentatively call this spray a success.

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Homemade Aphid Spray
fills one 24 ounce spray bottle

1 good squeeze of Dawn (or real soap)
(some dish soaps might be too harsh… so choose your soap carefully and test it on a small area)
1 teaspoon canola oil
fill with water

Combine all in misting bottle.  Attach spritzer and seal tight.  Shake vigorously.  The mixture should be soapy enough to foam when shaken.  But, it should feel mostly like water when spritzed on your fingers.