With an increasing awareness of the overuse of chemicals in our society its nice to know there are a few easy replacements that cause no ill health and allow you to reuse or repurpose everyday products. Here are a few examples to get you motivated.
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Egg Shells: these little treasures are calcium carbonate, with nurseries sell as lime, so crush them and throw them around the garden to add calcium to the soil but also improve the pH.
Epsom salts: most folk have a box of this in the bathroom cupboard, also known as magnesium sulphate, add a small amount to water and you can correct most magnesium deficiencies in plants.
Legumes: these plants are leguminous, meaning they have a productive relationship with a fungi in the ground called rhizobium which allows the plant to extract nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in the nodules on their roots in the soil. So planting a packet of pea or bean seeds not only returns a wonderful crop of homegrown produce but also when the plant is finished producing may be dug into the soil as an organic fertiliser.
Coffee grounds: it seems like we all drink coffee now, every day and many of us more than once a day. Depending on your coffee machine, some of you will be left with the nice smelling, annoying remnants of the coffee beans in the form of a black grit. The most wonderful thing about this byproduct is that snails and slugs find it very toxic. It does also make the soil acidic so spread with caution, perhaps around the edge of the vegetable patch, a distance from the plants. Coffee grounds also contain a small amount of nitrogen, so add them to you compost as an added bonus.
Milk: is often mentioned as a great fungicide. This is not completely accurate, it will not clear up an existing fungal problem, but it will prevent it spreading further. The fatty acids in milk, sprayed on unaffected leaves close by will prevent the spread of the fungus.
Baking Soda: works as a mild fungicide that controls powdery mildew and blackspot. A teaspoon in a litre of water and sprayed over the plant should do the job. I have also heard that it may be used as a simple pH tester, mix it with damp soil, if it starts to bubble then you know your soil is acidic. I haven't tried this but it may be interesting to see a result.
Liquid soap: is wonderful mixed with a little warm water to treat scale on your plants. Make sure you purchase a biodegradable, low phosphorous type. A few tablespoons mixed with vegetable oil makes white oil concentrate, a splash mixed with a litre of water in a spray bottle with deal with your aphids and scale. Liquid soap in very low concentrates, diluted, may also be used as a soil wetting agent, allowing better water infiltration to your soils.
Salt and vinegar: is a great herbicide when diluted in water and added to a spray bottle. Vinegar on its own will lower soil pH and also helps deter ants or alternatively works well as a cleaner for your tools such as your secateurs. Asparagus love a small amount of salt, but proceed with caution.
Wood ash: is very alkaline and may be used increase the pH of soil. It contains potassium which roses love, but overuse can cause the soil to become hydrophobic (water repellant) so use with caution. A handful per square meter in usually sufficient.
Obviously, what works for some doesn't for others, but hey, its worth a try, especially if the alternative is to throw the product out.
