[Aunt Sally]

It's an "organic" device too.  WG will be pleased with me  

I am, I am.  I'll bake you a cake.  All of my cake recipes use smoked garlic.  

As soon as I saw the picture of the trolley-thing, I remembered seeing it in Lawrence Hills book (the one I have misplaced / lost  :evil: )

Thanks, Aunty

I'll give your cake a miss if you don't mind WG :shock: , but I'm sure Worzel would love a piece  

[splodger]

i have always used old soot (light dusting over leaves) to deter lots of nasties - flea beetles included - also very good on celery - it helps growth and deters celery fly.

soot must be old though or it may scorch leaves.

i also find that once you have treated a crop / attacked a nasty, it is beneficial to cover with a fleece. it stops the little critters you're trying to kill from escaping and prevents new ones attacking.

good luck

[mulletsrokk]

Thanks for all the ideas! This forum is the best.

I haven't had a chance to try the trolley, but I have noticed the flea beetles don't like the old Aphid fairy liquid treatment. I don't know if its just because of the moisture, but it does seem to deter them. At least for the time being anyway! :?

All the best.

[Gardening Mark]

I do have a list of the ingredients needed to make your very own organic pesticides, havent tried any of em yet but the old guy that wrote it down for me is 83 years old this year with over 55 years experience in the garden/plot he has now. 55 years in the same garden, the soil is perfect.  He wants to teach me as much as he can in the time he has left. What a lovely old fella he is too..... I will find the list and write it down here for all to use if you wish. I went and left it at my garden/plot, as thats where I'll need it but for the benefit of all your crops I'll get it up here by the end of today ok. Theres 3 or 4 different mixes for different things but they all pretty much work on anything, as well as having other things growing to keep the nasties away from food, like marigolds, lavender bushes etc. Plz bear with me ok...

[niclala]

Sounds great Mark - look forward to seeing the list when you get a chance to post it. How wonderful that you've got someone who wants to pass on all that experience. That's made me smile.  

[Gardening Mark]

This is exactly as he wrote it:-

 Herbal Pesticide
Spray with herbal tea, made by pouring 2 pints (1 litre) of boiling water over 2 handfulls of fresh stining nettles or basil or 4 crushed cloves of garlic.        
OR
Simmer half pound (225g) of Elder Leaves (He means the elderberry bush leaves) for half an hour in a pint (500ml) of water.  Dilute before using with 2 more pints (1litre) of cold water. Also a spray.
Garlic Spray-
To erradicate Wireworms, Slugs (Annie will be very happy)!! (Obviously he never wrote that bit lol), Caterpillars and Weevils.  Chop 3oz (750g) of Garlic and mix with 2 teaspoons of Mineral Oil.  Leave for 24 hours, then add a pint (500ml) of water in which 2 teaspoons of soft soap (washing up liquid works well) have been dissolved.. Strain into plastic container to store.  To use - dissolve 1 part of this with 20 parts water (so it's strong stuff).  Spray onto leaves of affected vegetables and soil around them.
Weed Killer
Clear weeds away from a path or patio by pouring boiling salted water over them.
Stinging Nettle Mulch
Soak a bunch of stinging nettles for 3 weeks in a bucket of rain water until thoroughly decomposed. Spread this as a mulch around roots. (If strained, this mixture can be used as an anti-Blackfly Spray).

Thats the lot, more than I was expecting to write but the tips were here so I thought I'd share them all.  Hope this works well for us all and we can have lovely healthy good looking veggies to eat..... with no creepy crawlies hiding in there.. :mrgreen:

[niclala]

Sounds simple enough that even I can manage to give it a try. Thanks for posting Mark - I'll definitely be giving these concoctions a try out over the next few weeks!