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By: Barbara Nadeem
Tomato, tomahto... no matter how you pronounce
it, the tomato is probabaly the most widely grown vegetable. The tomato
relative ease of culture is top choice by the home gardener because of its food
value and many uses.
Health benifits of Tomatoes:
One medium-sized tomato has only 35 calories. The
tomato is rich in vitamins C and A, and contains small amounts of the B
vitamins and potassium. Tomatoes are also very well known for their high
carotenoid content. Nine different carotenoids have been identified in
tomatoes, two of them are beta-carotene and lycopene. Carotenoids are thought
to have a number of health benefits, such as reducing the risk of developing
cancer, cardiovascular disease, and macular degeneration. There has been a lot
of medical and nutritional research on lycopene; incidentally, lycopene is
responsible for the red color in tomatoes. About 80 to 90% of lycopene consumed
by humans comes from tomatoes. Surprisingly enough, lycopene is absorbed better
from processed tomato products than from fresh tomatoes. Tomato plants are very
productive. When grown as staked plants, tomatoes require a relatively small
amount of space, yet are capable of producing 8 to 10 pounds or more of fruit
per plant. Some of the more compact tomato cultivars can be easily grown in
containers. Hence, gardeners who have limited space can still grow tomatoes.
Grab a pot, some soil and some tomato seeds and
start a tomato garden.. One thing about tomatoes is that garden pests enjoy the
fruits of our labors before we can... So
to deture some of these un invited guest pests here is a few organic recipes to
help aid in keeping your plants healther
and your harvest of your urban garden safe..
Organic Pest Control:
Tomato plants, as members of the nightshade
family, contain toxic compounds called alkaloids in their leaves. When the
leaves of tomato plants are chopped, they release their alkaloids. When the
alkaloids are suspended and diluted with water, they make an easy to use spray
that is toxic to aphids, but still safe around plants and humans.
What You'll Need:
1.
One to two cups of tomato
leaves
2. Two cups of water
3. A strainer or cheesecloth
4. Spray bottle
To make tomato leaf spray, simply soak one to two
cups of chopped tomato leaves in two cups of water. Let it steep overnight. To
make the spray, strain the leaves out of the liquid using cheesecloth or a fine
strainer. Add another one to two cups of water to the liquid and add it to a
spray bottle.
**********
Garlic Oil Spray
Organic gardeners have long relied on garlic as
part of their pest-fighting arsenal. Garlic contains sulfur, which, besides
being toxic to pests, is also an antibacterial and antifungal agent. The dish
soap in this mixture also breaks down the bodies of soft-bodied pests, such as
aphids.
What You'll Need:
1.
Three to four cloves of garlic
2.
Mineral oil
3.
Strainer or cheesecloth
4.
Liquid dish soap
5.
Water
6.
Spray bottle
To make garlic oil spray, mince or finely chop
three to four cloves of garlic, and add them to two teaspoons of mineral oil.
Let this mixture sit for 24 hours. Strain out the garlic pieces, and add the
remaining liquid to one pint of water. Add one teaspoon of liquid dish soap.
This mixture can be stored and diluted as needed. When you need to spray, use
two tablespoons of the mixture added to one pint of water in a spray bottle.
To use your garlic oil spray, first test by
spraying an inconspicuous part of the plant to see if your mixture harms it at
all. If there are no signs of yellowing or other leaf damage after a day or
two, it is safe to use. If there is leaf damage, dilute the mixture with more
water and try the test again. Once you have determined that it won't harm your
plant, spray the entire plant, paying special attention to the undersides of
leaves.
Warning: Garlic oil is a non-selective insecticide,
which means that it will kill beneficial insects (such as lady bugs, who are
natural predators of aphids) just as easily as it kills the bad guys. It's best
to keep as many beneficials around as possible. This spray should only be used
if you haven't seen any beneficial bugs in your garden. The tomato leaf recipe,
above, won't harm beneficials, so you should use that if you're lucky enough to
have some beneficials in your garden.
**********
you can also spray the plants with any of a
number of homemade insect deterrents. While this isn’t as effective as manually
removing them, it will kill quite a few bugs and won’t hurt the plants, the
environment, or you.
Some things to try:
Soapy water. Any biodegradable liquid soap will
do. Use about a ¼ cup of soap per gallon of water, and rinse the plants with
clean water an hour or so after you spray them so that the soap doesn’t burn
their leaves.
Oily water. Blend about a ¼ cup canola or olive
oil with one gallon of water and spray on plants. Remember to shake the spray
bottle frequently to keep things mixed up.
Hot pepper spray. To make your own, puree four or
five chili peppers with a gallon of water, strain, and spray. This is even more
effective if you let the puree age for a day or so before you strain and use
it.
**********
you can also spray the plants with any of a
number of homemade insect deterrents. While this isn’t as effective as manually
removing them, it will kill quite a few bugs and won’t hurt the plants, the
environment, or you. So get out the pots, get the soil and seeds and start
gardening.
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