Using things from your kitchen to help your garden

 So this year I am planing to get back into growing a vegetable garden.
Besides the obvious savings on your grocery bill, home grown always seems to taste so much better than store bought.  Or is that just me?
Anyway, I've never used chemicals of any kind when I garden and I like to use what I already have on hand.  So I thought I would share a few easy and simple things you can use from your kitchen to help out your garden.
Coffee grounds - They add nutrients like nitrogen to the soil without significantly altering it's ph.
Egg shells - These help to keep the slugs away, just sprinkle some crushed shells around the garden.
Cinnamon & Cucumber Peels (fleshy side up) - Sprinkle or place this around the garden or in a place you want to discourage ants from crossing.
Baking Soda - Sprinkling this around your garden (careful not to get this on any plants) will help repel slugs.
Vinegar - Mix equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle and spray around areas you want to repel ants.  I also use plain vinegar and spray it directly on weeds in rocky areas, cracks in cement or anywhere else you want to get rid of weeds. This works best on sunny days, but note that vinegar will also kill grass and flowers so be selective on where you spay.

Another helpful thing to know about gardening is what plants go best together and which plants you don't want to plant together.  Here is a short list to get you started.

Companion Planting

Basil - helps bring out the flavour of tomatoes and is also good for Asparagus, Oregano, and peppers.  The Basil repels things like flies, mites, aphids, and mosquitoes
Bush and Pole Beans - Plant with strawberries, radish, potatoes, peas, eggplant, carrots, celery, and chard.  Avoid planting them by onions, leeks, chives, or garlic.
Lettuce - plant with carrots, cucumbers, beets, garlic, onions, strawberries, squash, and spinach.
Parsley - plant with tomatoes, onions, chives, carrots, and asparagus.
Peas - plant with turnips, strawberries, spinach, potatoes, parsley, cucumber, beans, and carrots.  Avoid planting near onions.
Rosemary- repels mosquitoes as well as several other harmful insects found in your garden.

Here is a simple homemade repellent and insecticide spray that's safe to use on all your plants.
Mix 1 cup vegetable oil with 1 tbsp mild soap (cover and shake well).  When ready to use add 2 tsp of oil mixture to 1 quart water, shake well and spray directly onto plants.

There is a great article I recently found that's all about companion planting.  So if your looking for a bit more information this is a great place to start westcoastseeds.com




Source: homestolove.com, familyhandyman,com, westcoastseeds.com, treehugger.com, chatelaine.com