Natural Pesticide: To Kill or Not To Kill

Yep. I thought that title might get ya. That’s right, this entire post is about organic pesticides and the moral debate involved in using them (a.k.a. killing). It’s also got some charming garden pictures. How about that for confusing?

Before I give you the recipe and directions on making your own organic pesticides, know that they are not selective in their killing. So, by using them even the beneficial bugs die or vacate. This is actually a factor that I appreciate because it prevents me from going wild spraying my plants “just because.” I am forced to wait until I can’t find any beneficial insects/arachnids to combat the harmful insects. Also, when the only ones I find are Black Widows and… well… as technically beneficial as they might be: I want them dead. They may not linger on my innocent tomatoes and plot their evil spidery schemes. Not in my garden.

Let’s just take a moment to recognize the Technical Knock Out (TKO) that is in the picture above. Sigh. Check out the blush on that heirloom’s cheek, would ya? If that doesn’t make you want to plant a garden — only a glance at the prices in the produce section of the supermarket will.

Before mixing up the magic organic pesticide, be sure that you have surrounded your plant-babies with nature’s first defense: marigolds, orange peels, cedar chips, mint, geraniums, sage, and rosemary. These are natural pesticides which discourage those unwanted guests from lingering in your garden patch (to name a few: tomato hornworms, Japanese beetles, aphids, and others). Only, I mean ONLY, if these have failed to protect your food source may we resort to the use of sprays.