Homesteader Depot

Tag: protecting your garden

  • 5 Great Uses for Cheesecloth in Your Garden

    5 Great Uses for Cheesecloth in Your Garden

    Cheesecloth is a very useful material. While it has its obvious uses in the kitchen, including cheese making and filtering various products, this fabric can also be used in your garden. One of the reasons why you can use it outdoors is the fact that it’s such a natural material that it can be composted. On top of this, you can use it more than once, turning your small investment into something that will stick around for a while. Here are some additional uses for cheesecloth – and all of them take place outdoors in your garden.

    Protect Your Plans

    Your young plants need protection from the elements. This means that they need to be covered, especially when they’re still in the seedling stage. If you don’t have the space to start your seeds indoors and need to place them outside (as long as your climate allows for it, of course), then you can create a small covered “house” for your plants. Leave them in the large planter, place some stakes in the four corners, and then drape your cheesecloth over it. The cheesecloth will protect those seedlings, while still allowing plenty of air, light, and water in.

    Scare Away Pests

    Did you know that you can keep pests out of your garden with cheesecloth? This is another great use for this material. All that you need is a pair of scissors, some small stakes, and a liquid that will keep squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and more at bay. Ammonia is a great example. You want to use something that won’t harm your plants. Just slice the cheesecloth into strips, dip them in the liquid, and then tie them to the stakes. Plant the stakes near the crops that you want to protect.  Check out: 5 Tricks for Keeping Animals Out of Your Garden

    Create Plant Food from Compost

    Cheesecloth can even help you create plant food from compost. How? All that you need is to grab a scoopful of compost from your bin. Place it in a square of cheesecloth and fold up the corners. Then, tie them closed with a piece of string. It’s like you’re making a tea bag – and that’s exactly what this is. Place your cheesecloth bag, with the compost in it, of course, into a watering can full of water. Let it steep for around half an hour, and then remove the bag. Pour the water, which is now mixed with nutrient-rich plant food, onto your plants. Voila! All-natural fertilizer.  Check out: Benefits of Compost Tea

    Tie Your Plants to Stakes

    If you have plants that waver in the wind, either because they’re too tall to support themselves or too young to stay up properly, you can use strips of cheesecloth to tie them into place. Some plants, especially those with thin, young stems, can droop over, causing damage. Thankfully, tying these plants to a support system, like a series of stakes or even a trellis, can give them the support that they need in order to remain healthy. Just make sure to not tie them to the stakes too tightly, as that can damage them as well.

    Start Your Seeds

    You can make a sprouter for beans or sprouts out of a simple canning jar and a piece of cheesecloth. Soak your bean seeds or sprouts overnight and then place them into the bottom of a canning jar. Take your canning jar and remove the metal lid, leaving behind only the band. Cut a small square of cheesecloth and fit it over the top of the jar, securing it into place with the band. Leave the jar in a sunny area, and keep removing and then adding more water every day, until you see the sprouts emerge.

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  • 5 Tricks for Keeping Animals out of Your Garden

    5 Tricks for Keeping Animals out of Your Garden

    There’s nothing worse than dealing with a pesky animal that got into your garden. Your fresh fruits and vegetables get chewed on. Entire rows of carrots go missing. The leaves on your trees and shrubbery have tooth marks on them. Yes, these animals can cause quite a bit of damage, both to your edible crops and your ornamental ones. Thankfully, we have some solutions for you.

    Fencing

    In most cases, a fence will keep these critters at bay. It will prevent many large types of wildlife from even getting near your garden. With that said, some, like raccoons, can scale metal chain link fencing, and others, such as moles and groundhogs, will tunnel under it. Fencing isn’t a perfect solution, but if you’re dealing with deer and their kinfolk, it works quite nicely.

    Related Article: Protecting the Garden From Animals

    Keep Outdoor Cats Away

    While outdoor cats are usually friendly and will come up to you for some head scratches, they’ll also use your garden as a litter box. This isn’t the type of fertilizer that you need. You can keep cats at bay with citrus scented items like sprays and fruit peels. They may still come up to you, but won’t leave deposits in your garden anymore. Other cat repellents include pipe tobacco, coffee grounds, mustard oil, citronella oil, lemongrass oil, and even lavender oil.

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    Hot Sauce Will Repel Deer and Raccoons

    There’s one thing that both deer and raccoons have in common – they hate the taste of hot sauce. (Oh, and they’ll go after the same plants, for the most part. That’s two points of commonality.) In order to repel these critters, you’ll have to make a concoction of water and hot sauce. Fill a spray bottle with water and drop in some hot sauce, powdered cayenne pepper, and even flakes of red pepper. Basically, every spicy substance that you find in your kitchen – dissolve them in the water. Then, spray your homemade pepper spray on your plants. The raccoons and deer won’t nibble on them anymore. If you use the spray on your edibles, just wash them well before eating them. You’ll also need to reapply your pepper spray after a rainstorm.

    Deter Moles with Mothballs

    Moles aren’t necessarily the type of pests who’ll end up eating all of your vegetables. You might find them nibbling on some greens, but for the most part, their damage takes place under the ground. They can destabilize your garden’s soil fairly quickly. Since moles tunnel, they can destroy entire root systems or leave your garden without enough depth. You’ll begin to see these sections collapse in on themselves as you begin to wonder why your plants aren’t thriving. Mothballs and some patience is the best solutions here. Why patience? Because you’ll need to figure out where the moles are coming from. You may have to hunt around your yard looking for the end of one of their tunnels. Once you find that entry point (or exit point, who knows with a mole), pour some mothballs into it. The moles will steer clear of that particular tunnel.

    Use the Aluminum Pie Plate Method

    The aluminum pie plate method is inexpensive and very effective. There’s a reason why gardeners have been practicing it for years. It involves punching holes at the tops of the pie plates and stringing twine through them. Use the twine to tie them to your fence. The wildlife will be deterred by their shininess and the light they reflect. The pie plates will also make some noise on windy days, which will help keep those critters away.

  • Animal Trapping for Dummies

    Animal Trapping for Dummies

    There are two main ways to get rid of those unwanted critters that are terrorizing your garden. You can either use a number of methods to repel them, or you can trap them. There are plenty of humane traps out there that will do the job nicely without harming the animal. These traps are a good solution if you have one or two animals that have been bothering you. Before you get started, check out this short guide to animal trapping. Everything will go much more smoothly once you understand the basics.

    Some Basic Rules to Follow

    When it comes to trapping live animals, there are some basic rules that you need to follow. Putting these in place will prevent injuries, both to you and the animal. Are you ready? Here they are:

    • Always call the experts once you’ve trapped a wild animal. Your local wildlife official or someone at a pest removal company will know the best way to deal with it.
    • Make sure that you hide any signs to humans. This means handling the traps as little as you possibly can to the point of wearing gloves when you carry it. If the trap smells like human, animals won’t go near it.
    • Ensure that the trap is the right size and shape for the animal that you’re attempting to capture.
    • Anchor the trap to the ground. Otherwise, the animal might be able to roll the entire thing over and pop the door open.
    • When baiting the trap, arrange a trail of tasty treats leading up to it. Place the last of these treats inside of the trap.
    • After you use the trap, clean it well with bleach. Wear gloves while doing this. Animal saliva can contain rabies, so even if you aren’t bitten, you still might get infected.
    • Check your traps every single day. The less time an animal suffers within one, the better off everything will be.
    • If you’re using live traps, put a piece of plywood under it. Otherwise, the animal might try to claw their way free, tearing up your grass in the process.

    Baiting the Trap

    Now that you know how to set up your trap, it’s time to learn the best types of bait to use. These depend on the animal that you’re trying to catch. Here’s a comprehensive break down:

    If you’re trying to catch squirrels and chipmunks, then go with something that they love: nuts and seeds. You can use whole nuts, rolled oats, piles of birdseed, and even spoonfuls of peanut butter. Also, only use metal traps when trying to catch these critters. They’ll chew right through wooden ones.

    Raccoons and opossums like cat food.  They’ll also eat marshmallows, corn, and sardines. Those tasty treats will draw them in. You really need to anchor your traps well when you’re trying to catch them since they’ll roll them over and try to escape.

    Speaking of sardines, skunks like them quite a bit. They like anything fishy, really, so use seafood flavored pet foods, bits of fish scraps, and even canned tuna as bait. You’ll need to cover the trap with a tarp, as skunks like dark places.

    Another common pest animal is the woodchuck. These creatures love things commonly found in gardens: apples, lettuce, beans, and carrots are some of their favorites. If you can find the entrance to their burrows, place the trap right near it. Otherwise, putting the trap near your garden will work well. You should only trap woodchucks in the summertime. They reproduce in the spring and hibernate in the fall.

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