Winning the War Against Spider Mites

When we first bought our house three years ago, we fell in love with the previous owner's front yard flower bed that was full of marigolds. So naturally, every Spring we would plant marigold seeds in hopes of recreating the same lush flowerbed that the previous owner had maintained.

This worked out well, until mid-summer arrived with its hot and dry weather. We started noticing that some of our marigold flowers were completely covered in thickly spun spider webs, a problem that was rapidly spreading. After doing some research, we found out that the problem we had was spider mites.

Our first thought was to spray a spider mite-specific pesticide on our flowerbed to rid of the problem, but we realized that this could potentially harm any butterflies that we were hoping to attract, so we immediately scratched that idea. A friend of ours suggested spraying soapy water on the plants (concentrating on the underside of the foliage where the spider mites hide) and this worked out okay...but not great.

Then I received an issue of Backyard Living (I could do a post on this magazine alone, it's that good!) and in their reader tips section, someone posted the following recipe for repelling aphids -and more importantly, spider mites- and so far, it has really worked wonders for us:

Mix 1/3 cup cooking oil and 1 teaspoon baking soda in a jar; keep covered until needed. Combine 2 teaspoons of mixture with 1 cup of water in a sprayer. Test on a few leaves before spraying the whole plant.

I'd love to hear any non-chemical suggestions you might have for battling the war against spider mites or any other garden pests. Feel free to leave me comments on this post!

Food Friday: Ice Cream Sandwich Sheet Cake

My husband and I are going to a friend’s house this weekend for a BBQ, and I have volunteered to bring a dessert. Since the weather is still a little on the warm side (mid-80s), I thought a simple ice cream sandwich sheet cake would make the perfect end-of-summer treat!

Ingredients:

Ice cream sandwiches
1 container of Cool Whip, softened
Carmel ice cream topping
Your choice of topping (nuts, crushed candy bar, chocolate chips, etc)

Directions:

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan with ice cream sandwiches. (You may need to cut some in half to make them fit).

Spread a layer of softened Cool Whip on top of the ice cream sandwiches. Drizzle carmel over the Cool Whip. Sprinkle toppings over cake.

Store in freezer until ready to serve.

WFMW: Vinegar Household Cleaner

Hello World! So this is my first post and first time participating in Works-for-Me Wednesday! Big day for me, huh?

Let's get two things out on the table right now: 1) I hate spending money on household cleaners. 2) I hate that chemical smell that household cleaners have.

My alternative: I clean with distilled white vinegar. It's cheap and very effective. (I still suffer with an unpleasant smell when I clean, but at least I know it's chemical-free!)

For an all-purpose cleaner, I pour 2-cups distilled white vinegar and 2-cups water into a spray bottle.

Out of curiosity, I googled what other things you can do with vinegar and I found this helpful website. Here are just a few of the tips that it mentioned:

Make your own scouring cleanser by combining 1/4 cup baking soda with 1 tablespoon liquid detergent. Add just enough white distilled vinegar to give it a thick but creamy texture.

Clean the microwave by mixing 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and 1/2 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Bring it to a rolling boil inside the microwave. Baked-on food will be loosened, and odors will disappear. Wipe clean.

Clean the shelves and walls of the refrigerator with a half-and-half solution of water and white distilled vinegar.

Remove soap buildup and odors from the dishwasher by pouring a cup of white distilled vinegar inside the empty machine and running it through a whole cycle. Do monthly.

Cleaning made easy and with less chemicals...that's what works for me!