I was out working on the garden today and thought I would share a recipe I use to keep the critters away from my plants. A lot of you probably have something similar so please add on..



Simple critter B gone Tea



1 large jug of water



A handful or so of dried or semi dry marigold flowers.



1 cup Juice/Oil from minced garlic



Place marigolds and garlic oil in jug. Fill with warm water and let sit in the sun for a week or so. Once it is Rip (You will know when) it can be cut down and added to a pump sprayer but make sure you screen out any solids or it will clog your sprayer. Spray on veggies, fruit and flower plants. Deer, rabbits etc hate both marigolds and garlic and will keep off in addition the Marigold will help repel a lot of the bugs you don't want around as well. It is simple, cheap and very effective.


Halt spraying a week out of harvest to avoid the repellent taste carrying into the kitchen

Interesting! Thank you very much. I hate having to resort to chemical pesticides, so recipes like this are always welcome.

I will definitely give your recipe a try, Coydog. My family has used a similar method for generations now. Boil as much garlic as you can spare and hot peppers (my Dad uses cayenne but I’ve recently switched to Chinese five color) in water for a few hours. Strain, pour into a spray bottle and then spray on plants or create a large barrier around the garden. Works pretty well for rabbits and deer. The only thing it doesn’t seem to bother is the ground hogs but I’ve got a sneaky blue heeler that takes care of that for me.

As far as insects go I don’t have a real problem with them because I keep a good crop rotation going. The trick is to not plant the same thing in the same spot for at least 3 years. It can get tricky but if you actually keep records of your garden it works. A few bugs won’t hurt your crop; it’s when their eggs hatch the next year that you have an infestation. That’s my theory anyways.

Diatomaceous Earth also works great for keeping bugs at bay. Very good for slugs to its non toxic and to a bug the microscopic particles are the equivalent of us walking barefoot on razors. It just dosent hold up to the rain very well.