Savor the Stinking Rose

This week I thought I’d share some unique uses for one of my favorite garden helpers — the stinking rose, a.k.a. garlic. Garlic does more than make food taste great—it’s also one of the most potent thug-busters Mom Nature ever dreamed up! Here’s just a few of the ways I put it to use in my garden:

1) Keep aphids away: Plant a few cloves among your rose bushes.

2) Sock it to slugs: Soak 4-5 crushed garlic cloves with 4-5 onions for 10 days. Strain, dilute the mix with 3 parts water, and spray on your greens.

3) Repel insects. Liquefy 2 garlic bulbs, 2 hot peppers, and 2 cups of water in a blender. Strain, and add 1/4 cup of this concentrate to 1 gallon of water before spraying on your plants.

4) Ward off dogs and cats: Grind up 2-3 garlic cloves and 3-4 hot peppers in a food processor, and add to a bucket of water. Sprinkle around the edges of any lawn areas you want Fido and Fluffy to stay out of.

5) Fight fungus: Grind up equal parts garlic and onion, and soak overnight. Spray the strained liquid on your fungus-prone fruit trees and flowers.

Super Salt Solutions

The next time you spill a little salt on the table, scoop it up, but don’t toss it over your shoulder. Put it to use in the yard with one of these terrific tips:

1. Kill weeds by adding a little salt to boiling water, and pouring it over the weeds growing in sidewalk cracks.

2. Sprinkle some salt on snails and slugs to melt them into a slimy goo.

3. To get your hands extra clean after a day of gardening, add 1 tsp. of salt to the soap lather when washing up.

4. Dust ants and their trails with salt. The ants’ll soon disappear.

5. Cool down a hot barbecue grill by sprinkling salt over the embers after your cooking’s done.

Fantastic Fishing Line Fun

Hi folks!

Believe it or not, in my neck of the woods, the last few nights have already had a touch of autumn in them. So get out there and enjoy the summer weather while you can—maybe by spending a lazy afternoon at the local fishin’ hole. And if you’ve got any extra fishing line to spare, don’t waste it—it has plenty of amazing uses all around your home and garden, including:

1. String it between two poles (or tie it to your fence) to make a sturdy trellis for climbing vines.
2. Reattach buttons to your clothing—it’ll hold a whole lot stronger than ordinary thread!
3. Attach to the tops of poles around your garden for an “invisible” fence to keep the hungry neighborhood deer away.
4. Use some to hang a picture—attach it securely to the screw eyes on the back of the frame, and hang it high.
5. String popcorn on it to make a great treat for your fine-feathered friends.

Vinegar in the Garden

Hi folks!

If you’re headin’ out to your garden, take a bottle of vinegar with you! Here are some terrific tips for putting it to use around the yard:

1. Fleas and ticks will stay away from your pets if you add 1 tsp. of vinegar per quart bowl of drinking water (ratio based on a 40 lb. animal).
2. Send ants a packin’ by spraying their hills and trails with vinegar.
3. Clean your flower vases and terra cotta pots by rubbing them with a vinegar-soaked paper towel.
4. Get rid of unwanted weeds by dousing them with vinegar.
5. Your acid-loving azaleas will be happy as clams if you add 2 tbsp. of vinegar to a quart of water and use the mix to water them once a week.

Hi gang!

Whew! It’s really scorchin’ in my neck of the woods. I hope you’re relaxing poolside with a nice, tall cold drink and a dish of your favorite ice cream.

I’m tryin’ to stay cool, but I did take a few minutes one evening last week to give my lawn an invigorating drink. I mixed 1 can of regular cola (not diet), 1 cup of baby shampoo, and 1 cup of ammonia in a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer and saturated my turf to the point of run-off. That’ll keep it green no matter how hot and dry things get.

And if you’re looking for an unusual way to put your grass clippings to use, try this old-time deodorant mix. Loosely pack a large canning jar with untreated grass clippings, cover ‘em with vodka, and seal the jar. Set it in a cool, dark place for about 10 days, shaking it every couple of days. Strain out the clippings, and pour the liquid into a clean bottle with a tight lid. Then dab the liquid on with a cotton ball.

Once I was done with the yard work, I sat down to enjoy some homemade lemonade. My wife brought 2 cups of water to a boil, stirred in ½ cup of sugar, and let it cool. Then she added ½ cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice and refrigerated it ‘til the mix was good ‘n’ cold. Ahhhh…that was refreshing!