Your Friday Quickie * There's Only Two Things That Money Can't Buy

Wendy, Wendy quite contrary how does your garden grow? Ummmm - to be honest, it looks like crap.  What had been such a pretty little garden (yes, I often referred to it as "the farm" earlier in the season, did what every garden I've ever had usually does this time of year.  It starts to look straggly, pathetic and bug-ridden.  

The start of my garden earlier this summer.

My mom and dad were here recently for a visit and my mom (the greenest of all the green thumbs I know - yes, clearly it did not rub off much on me) was sharing some helpful gardening hints.  She's been my go-to for all things plant all my life and I was saying that several of the plants just weren't looking great and either had a some kind of aphid or mildew from all the rain or both.  

What my tomatoes looked like recently.

She looked at the plants and then came back in and asked if I had any baking soda and where was my dish washing liquid.  Huh?  What do either of those have to do with my garden?!  She grabbed a spray bottle we had sitting on the counter (filled with water to mist  my now dead orchid - to the people that say, "Orchids aren't hard to grow.  They're really very easy," I say . . . bullish!t) put in a teaspoon of baking soda and a couple of drops of dish washing soap and filled it up with water from the tap (maybe THAT'S the problem - for those of you that don't know the water saga, you can read about it here) and shook it up.  Then we proceeded to go outside and spray my cucumber zucchini, tomato and jalapeño pepper plants (the sweet potatoes seem to be going like gangbusters and are unharmed) with the stuff in the bottle.  

And you know what?  It worked!  I can't say my plants look spring fresh, but I'm pretty certain it saved my zucchini, tomato and peppers from dying.  The cucumber?  Well, I think it was too far gone by the time we got to it and it succumbed to the moisture. But good to know that for Powdery Mildew (yup - that's an actual 'thing') this is a great homemade remedy.  

Once she got home, my mom sent me an email saying she'd forgotten to tell me that to get rid of the bugs, mix the same mixture but add 1 Tbsp of cooking oil to the mix.  Then she added some helpful hints like: cover the leaves with the spray but don't do it in the heat of the day under direct sunlight and make sure the plants were watered well the day before so you don't end up washing the mixture off just after you've put it on.  

So, go spray up your tomatoes (unless you're in Colorado today where they were expecting snow today.  WTH???) so you can ensure you'll get a few more homegrown tomatoes squeezed out of these last few days of summer.  Don't forget to make your Wholesmith (craft) Cocktail tonight and share with us (this week's recipe is on her FB page). And enjoy this song. It's one of my all time favorites! So true! 
And you're welcome.