6-1-12

Here is a recipe to make a

 nontoxic insecticidal soap spray 

for your garden.

This is from MotherEarthNews.

This insect spray is economical and environmentally safe for indoors or in the garden. You can use it for soft bodied insects, such as aphids, and for little sugar ants.

To make the insecticidal soap spray, shave one quarter of a bar of Fels-Naptha laundry soap (about 1 inch) into 1 quart of heated water and stir until dissolved. This will be your insecticidal soap concentrate. Put the soap solution into a labeled jar.

To use the soap spray, put 1 teaspoon of concentrate per quart into a sprayer. This insecticidal soap is a contact poison, so spray it directly onto the insects you want to eliminate from your home, garden or orchard. For additional killing power, add one-quarter cup of rubbing alcohol per quart.

 I have read that you can spray your flowers
and veggies in the evening and it will
stay wet for a little while
so that any bugs like slugs that touch it will die.
I might try this on my hostas and veggies.
You can also use it on rose leaves.
Fels-Naptha runs about $1.29 at Kroger or Meijer.

I did a break down of how cheap this is to make
compared to store bought insecticidal soap.
It will cost .32 cents (1/4 bar of soap).
It makes 1 concentrated quart and then you use 
1 teaspoon mixed with another quart of water (4 cups).
There are 192 teaspoons in a quart.
So this will make 192 quarts for .32 cents!!!
To buy 24 ounces of insecticidal soap
from Menards will cost you $5 to $6.00.
This isn't even a quart for ONE bottle.
A quart is 32 ounces. 


You could also use this Fels Naptha spray
on clothing to get stains out,
to clean stains on carpet,
use it on shower walls,
spray on bug bites or poison ivy,
use it to clean paint brushes,
clean greasy & dirty hands.

Spring and Fall Lawn Tonic

*1 cup of fels soap solution 1 flat beer, 4 ounces of liquid dish soap, household ammonia and a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer. 

(*Fels soap solution is made by shaving 1/2 bar of Fels Naptha Soap into a quart of very hot water to dissolve. Add 4 ounces of liquid dish soap as an emulsifier. You can store the solution until needed. Shake well before use.) 

Mix the 1 cup Fels solution, 1 can of beer in the sprayer. Fill the remainder of sprayer with ammonia. For spring and fall garden spraying, add 2 oz of molasses.

------------------------------------------------------




9:00 - 9:30am


It's the first of the month and
I got all the bills done up and
in the mailbox.
No extra house payment this month.
I paid off one doctor bill.  
I still have a crap load of doctor bills to pay.
Time to tighten the belt up another notch.
I was told there won't be another large
bonus til August.  

Now that the kids are home for the Summer
I need to figure out some cheap lunches and snacks.
So far they have been eating peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches.
I need to go to Aldis sometime and
stock up on some cheap fresh fruits and veggies for snacks.

Got a graduation & party to go to this weekend.
Might take the car instead of the truck
to save on gas.   That would be out of the norm
as we usually travel with our family in the truck
since it's roomier.
Oh well, everyone will have to be cramped
to save money.  
I wish the car was roomier so we could
take it to Michigan.
To put $20 in the truck only gives
us about a quarter tank.
Tony puts $20 in his car and runs back
and forth all week to work.




-------------------------------------------




12:00pm  


Two weeks and 1 day til our Michigan trip.