I am on some sort of natural, organic, homemade journey. It’s fun, a healthy distraction, and I hope we will feel better as well. Plus save money. That would be nice too. I am extremely new to all this so I really have no idea what I am doing. I get most of my information from library books, websites, and blogs. Recently I made my own natural insecticide. Here’s the reason, the results, and the recipe.

We have our own salsa garden because we love salsa, it’s low-fat, and it’s good for you. Our garden includes the following plants: two tomatoes, one cayenne pepper, one jalapeno pepper, one chili pepper, and one cilantro. This is our first year so we don’t know the outcome yet. We already killed our first tomato plant. I don’t know how. It turned yellow and stopped growing. Maybe too much chemical fertilizer… I know it wasn’t the coffee grinds or the egg shells because they are good natural fertilizer for your plants. Anyway, after buying a new (bigger, better, and stronger) tomato plant to replace the one we killed, we encountered a new problem. Bugs were eating the leaves on my little jalapeno pepper. We had to get rid of them quick. I didn’t want to replace the plant and I didn’t want to use strong chemicals. So I got online and found two recipes for a natural plant insecticide. I combined them and here is the recipe for a killer insecticide cocktail:

Four jalapeno peppers
Four cloves of garlic
Half of a large onion
One teaspoon vegetable oil
Four cups water

Blend everything except the oil. Use an old milk jug to store the entire blended mixture. Add the vegetable oil to this as well. Seal and let it set twenty-four hours. The next day use a wire mesh strainer and a funnel to pour it into a spray bottle. Use a thirty-two ounce bottle or larger. I filled my bottle and had a little extra. There may be chunks in your bottle even after you strain it but my Kroger spray bottle has a filter on the tip of the tube so it still works fine. I use this on all of our vegetable and flower plants and it seems to be working. Shake before each use. Spray all of the leaves, bottom and top. Remember to reapply after it rains. And…

DON’T SMELL THE CONCOCTION!! I tried this and it was not pleasant. I burned my nose and my eyes. I guess that is how it works. The bugs get a whiff of the stuff and decide to go elsewhere for lunch. I bet it would make a great pepper spray as well, but you didn’t get that idea from me :)