Showing posts with label tips and tricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips and tricks. Show all posts

Saturday, June 12, 2021

10 Household Ingredients to Help Your Garden & Natural Pest Repellants

**UPDATED 6/25/23**




Did you know you can use household pantry items to help grow your garden and are great insect/animal repellants? Here are a few tips & tricks:


  1. BAKING SODA - Sprinkle it on the surface of your soil to make your geraniums, coneflowers, daylilies, and clematis bloom like crazy. That’s because baking soda is alkaline, and those flowers thrive on alkaline soil. Also makes your tomatoes sweeter. You can use it to prevent fungus because its alkalinity creates an environment hostile to fungal growth. Simply stir a teaspoon of baking soda into a liter of water and spray the leaves of your fungus-prone plants (these include tomatoes and lilacs).
  2. CREAM OF TARTAR -  makes a great ant repellant, simply sprinkle a bit on the perimeter of the table or wherever you want to dust their trail.
  3. CAYENNE PEPPER - Repel squirrels, these little buggers like to dig flower bulbs. To deter them, sprinkle cayenne pepper around your bulb gardens. Reapply when you see the squirrels returned.
  4. WHITE VINEGAR - Gets rid of algae. Just spray it with full-strength distilled white vinegar on your patio and voila it's gone!! You can also turn your pink hydrangeas blue with vinegar. Vinegar also enhances the soil of acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, and gardenias. Use a cup of white distilled vinegar to a gallon of tap water.
  5. OLIVE OIL - Rub olive oil onto the cutting and digging surfaces of your garden tools, as well as on your lawn mower blades. This will repel dirt and rust and make it easier to clean them next time.
  6. DISH SOAP - Get rid of those pesky bugs eating your flowers and veggies. Combine liquid dish soap with water at a ratio of 2 tablespoons per gallon to create a mixture of slightly less than 1 percent soap. Mix together well. Pour the mixture into a garden sprayer or spray bottle if you prepared it in a different container. Repeat the application every four to seven days until the pests are sufficiently controlled. Use only a mild liquid dish soap that does not contain a degreaser and is not intended for use with a dishwashing machine.
  7. COFFEE GROUNDS - Attracts earthworms and other microorganisms. They are naturally acidic and high in nutrients plants need like nitrogen and potassium, which can be very beneficial – a great way to neutralize alkaline soils or enrich nutrient-poor gardens.
  8. **CANOLA OIL AND IVORY SOAP - Help rid mites, aphids and mealy bugs. Mix one tablespoon of canola oil and a few drops of Ivory soap into a quart of water. Shake well and pour into a spray bottle. Spray plants from above down, and from below up to get the underside of the leaves. The oil smothers the insects.

  9. **EGGS - For Deer control: Mix one whole egg with a quarter cup of water and mix well. Pour the mixture into a pump bottle and spray it on your plants. This deterrent will withstand light rains because the egg sticks to the leaves.
  10. **BANANAS Chop up banana peels, then bury them in the soil when you plant tomatoes, rosebushes, or green pepper plants. The potash and phosphorous content in the peels will enrich the soil and strengthen your plants.
Do you have helpful hints to encourage our gardens to grow and/or natural pest repellants that you use? Comment below and share your tips!

Keep it sassy,
Kelly
Sassy Silver Sisters

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Monday, August 3, 2020

10 Great Picnic Tips & Hacks

****UPDATED 8/5/23/****


Picnic season is a favorite of our family. Whether it be a quick lunch in the park or a family gathering, it's always fun. You can have a picnic just about anywhere, at the beach, the park, in the back of your car with the trunk open, or in your very own backyard. We all can use some help on how to have a picnic go smoothly. Follow these helpful tips and enjoy the great outdoors!

1. Grab 'n Go Push the bottom of a large chip bag upwards inside itself to turn it instantly into the perfect snack bowl.




2. Easy Sippin’ - Worry no more about losing your straw to the wind or into your drink. Instead, stick your straw securely through the cap of your soda or drink can.




3. Keep Your Blanket Dry - Stick a shower curtain under your picnic blanket to ensure that no one has a damp seat from the grass!




4. Make Your Own Speakers - Place your phone into a glass to stream music. The cup will amplify the music like a speaker!




5. Cupcake Liners Aren’t Just for Cupcakes - Place a cupcake liner over your glass to keep the bugs at bay!

See the source image

6. Prevent Apples from Turning Brown - If you’re a fan of sliced apples and looking to prep them ahead of time, keep them from turning brown by holding the slices together with a hair tie or rubber band.



7. Keep Your Salads Fresh - Store your salad in a glass canning jar, keeping the dressing at the bottom to prevent your salad from getting soggy. Stir when it’s time to enjoy!

See the source image

8. Easy Salt & Pepper Shakers - Don't throw those mint containers away. Store salt and pepper in empty mint containers for easy pouring.





9. Prevent Sticky Hands - another use for those cupcake wrappersPlace a cupcake liner at the base of your popsicle to prevent dripping, keeping your hands free of a sticky mess!




10. Frozen Water Bottles - Freeze water bottles ahead of time, using them as the “ice packs” for your picnic lunch!





What do you think about these tips? Have you any tips or hints to share? We would love to hear from you!

Keep it Sassy, 
Kelly

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Thank you for reading our blog post. If you haven't already subscribed to receive our weekly blog post and Recipe of the Week, just click the SUBSCRIBE button on the right of the page and you will be the first to find out what's going on in our sassy brains. 😜

The Recipe of the Week is a bonus for our subscribers and goes out via email mid-week.
So, don't miss out, and SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

FTC DISCLAIMER:  This page informs you of our disclosure statement regarding the advertisements we use and disclosure of our Service and the choices we have associated with it. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics, or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third-party ad network or affiliates. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements. The owner(s) of this website is not compensated to provide opinions on products, services, websites, and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this website are purely the owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. This website does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

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