 Pests are organisms that can damage and weaken a plant, potentially reducing their availability and quality of the food that will ultimately come to our table. If your plants are diseased or that are getting damaged by pests, then your garden ecosystem is out of balance. In permaculture, we aim to grow nutrient-dense, health organic best practice foods. Still, there are times when we have, or something from outside our system has unbalanced it, and we need to do something to remedy this imbalance and learn from the feedback given. There are times we need to let nature take it course and sometimes we have a responsibility to intervene or lose everything we have tried to achieve. Pesticides from "nature." An insecticide is a substance that disrupts or kills organisms that we consider to be pests such as weeds, damaging insects, or microbes that cause disease. Natural insecticides are pesticides that are derived from a natural source such as a mineral or plant. Most people believe that natural pesticides are always safer and more eco-friendly than man-made pesticides. While this is mostly true, it is not always so. Natural pesticides are much safer and more eco-friendly than conventional pesticides. As they are also very effective, natural pesticides should be your first choice for your home and garden pest balancing needs. Natural pesticides are eco-friendly, safer for the user, and very effective when used correctly, though it may require more frequent application if necessary Below are some of the use on our site if absolutely necessary. There is a downloadable PDF at the bottom for your convenience General Spray An all purpose pest repellent and fungicide. Spray daily for heavy infestations Ingredients: 1 onion, 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 1 garlic bulb. Chop or grind ingredients. Steep overnight and strain. Dilute to 1 part in five of water. Soapy water A spray to chase away or kill aphids, maggots, mealy bugs, red spider mites and whitefly Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of laundry soap, 1 litre water. Mix and leave standing until dissolved. Strain. Add a teaspoon of mineral oil (or kerosene) for big infestations. Add soap to other sprays to make sure they cling to leaves, especially to undersides. Garlic Spray Repels: aphids, cabbage white butterfly, bean fly, caterpillars, mosquitoes, snails, wireworm. Checks: leaf curl, brown rot, downy mildew, leafspot, bean rust Ingredients: 90g garlic bulbs, 2 teaspoons of kerosene, 600ml water, 20g pure soap Soak for 24/48 hours and then add water with dissolved soap. Stir and strain through gauze and store in a glass container (non metallic). Dilute to 1 part in 20 of water Garlic and Chilli spray Treats similar conditions to garlic but is more potent Ingredients: 10 cloves of garlic, 5-5 hot chillies, 2-3 onions. Boil, store in a glass container, and stand overnight. To use, mix 1 small cup in 10l of water; add a little liquid soap or milk to adhere. For curl leaf, spray everyday for about a week. Onion Spray Spray several times for blight on potatoes and tomatoes, for apple scab, curl leaf, powder mildew, aphids and red spider mites. Ingredients: Onions Double the amount of water as onions. Grind onions alone or with chives/ onion tops in blender, then simmer ingredients on stove for 2 hours. Dilute 1 part in 20 of water. Chive Tea For: scab and mildew Ingredients: 50ml of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of chives. Mix and leave for 1 hour and strain. Dilute with 2 parts water Milk Spray Checks virus diseases like tomato mosaic and kills red spider mites, caterpillars and tomato worms. Ingredients: milk/sour milk, nine parts of water. Dilute milk with water. Buttermilk Spray This spray destroys adult spider mites and their eggs, which are enveloped in a sticky mixture and suffocate. Ingredients: 1 tablespoon of butter milk, ½ cup of flour, 2 l of water. Mix all together Baking Soda Spray For rusts and mildews Ingredients: 100g of baking soda, 3 litres of water, 50g soap. Mix thoroughly Pyrethrum Spray Wide spectrum insecticide – use with caution Especially good for Aphids. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of flower heads, 2 litres of hot water. Make tea with flower heads and add a little dissolved soap to improve consistency. Or grind flower heads and add to water. Let stand for one hour. Spray in the evening against – aphids, caterpillars, leafhoppers, mites and thrips, mildew and scab Wormwood Tea Spray to repel aphids, black flea, beetles, flies, white cabbage moth, butterflies and slugs. Note: wormwood contains a toxic substance called absinthian. Ingredients: 1 litre of boiling water, a handful of wormwood. Mix all together and let stand until cool. Strain Cabbage Grub Dust Dust plants to kill all kinds of cabbage grubs. Ingredients: 2 handful of wood ash, 2 handfuls of flour, ½ cup of salt. Mix all together Epsom salts For spraying on plants with leaves yellowing as they have been attacked by a virus. Such plants are deficient in magnesium which has been ‘locked up’ by overuse of wood ash, lime or phosphorus. Ingredients: 50g of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate), 4 litres of water. Dissolve salts in water. 
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  I have had a lot of questions about the things we do month by month to help not only maintain but add to our system. While the best time to have ‘planted a tree’ was 20 years ago, the next best time to start is now. Each little thing we do can and will help increase our ability to build resilient, regenerative and abundant lives. Let’s Make It Real - Here is our March garden to-do list. We hope it helps you in your endeavors Downloadable file attached at the bottom To Do List •Apply compost to your gardens •Make a compost •Check plants for fungal diseases and treat as needed •Time to plant your trees for the year •As trees start to lose their leaves, gather and make leafmold •Foliar feed trees and potager •Sow seeds for April planting •Plant out chosen flowers for beneficial insects •Time to cut back perennials that have finished flowering •Time to plant in containers to give them a good start before winter •Take cuttings of perennial herbs •Harvest macadamias and pecans •Take Mulberry cuttings What To Plant Amaranth, Broad Beans, Beetroot, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Chives, Coriander , Endive, Florence Fennel, Kale, Kohlrabi , Leeks Lettuce, Mustard greens, Oregano, Pak choy, Parsley, Radish, Rocket, Silver beet Spinach
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