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**Grendelmort**

My Grandpa taught me this many years ago and he always had a large garden that produced massive amounts of of beautiful produce ! It also not only keeps the bugs away but seems to keep birds and ground critters out (rabbits, squirrels ect ...).
Spray your garden with it once a month.

What you need

2 plugs of Redman chewing tobacco
1/2 cup of molasses
1 gallon of boiling water
handful (1 cup?) of wood stove or fireplace ashes
bucket
cheese cloth or wire mesh
2 gallon pump sprayer (you can get one at a garden center for about 20 bucks)

Break up plugs of chewing tobacco and put in bucket along with ashes, pour in 1 gallon of boiling water and add molasses and let everything set for about a week in you shed or garage. Strain with cheese cloth or wire mesh.

Take pump sprayer and add 1/2 cup of the "tea" and 2 12 ounce beers. Fill the rest with water and use sprayer and spray plants in your garden.

You can use a spray bottle also, just use 2 tablespoons of the "tea" and about 1/4 of a beer, fill the rest with water.

**Geogal**

I was gonna say tobacco!
Well known for it!
Heartflowers

**Clever Trevor**

nettles......
Stick em in a bucket, cover with water stick a brick on em so they sink and leave for a few weeks.....
Dilute with water and fill your spray bottle....
Also have many other uses....

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/sting...000275.htm

**Grendelmort**

Also it's important that it's "wood ashes" only - don't use anything out of a burn barrel or pile where plastic or anything else like that has been burned.

If you are having a had time getting ashes, just go get a bag of the wood chips that you use to smoke stuff on your grill, dump a bunch on some aluminum foil, poke holes in it and fire up the grill (go ahead and cook something while you are at it) - the wood chips will burn inside the foil.

**Grendelmort**

Clever Trevor Wrote:

nettles......
Stick em in a bucket, cover with water stick a brick on em so they sink and leave for a few weeks.....
Dilute with water and fill your spray bottle....
Also have many other uses....

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/sting...000275.htm

Haven't heard that one - thanks Heartflowers

**Clever Trevor**

Grendelmort Wrote:

Clever Trevor Wrote:
nettles......
Stick em in a bucket, cover with water stick a brick on em so they sink and leave for a few weeks.....
Dilute with water and fill your spray bottle....
Also have many other uses....

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/sting...000275.htm

Haven't heard that one - thanks

I have an abundance of them in my garden, along with dandelions and couch grass....
Nasty horrible bloody weeds, killin my back I tell ya..... Tissue

**Grendelmort**

The nettles don't really grow around where I live, you might find a few down along the creek. I got a good laugh the other day because I saw a big box store garden center actually selling dandelions for 2 bucks a plant as "edible greens" - hell, you can furnish a whole salad bar with what grows wild in my yard !

**Clever Trevor**

Maybe we should start an 'alternative' food restaurant.... chuckle

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 67579 04-14-2012 11:43 PM

Grendelmort Wrote:

My Grandpa taught me this many years ago and he always had a large garden that produced massive amounts of of beautiful produce ! It also not only keeps the bugs away but seems to keep birds and ground critters out (rabbits, squirrels ect ...).
Spray your garden with it once a month.

What you need

2 plugs of Redman chewing tobacco
1/2 cup of molasses
1 gallon of boiling water
handful (1 cup?) of wood stove or fireplace ashes
bucket
cheese cloth or wire mesh
2 gallon pump sprayer (you can get one at a garden center for about 20 bucks)

Break up plugs of chewing tobacco and put in bucket along with ashes, pour in 1 gallon of boiling water and add molasses and let everything set for about a week in you shed or garage. Strain with cheese cloth or wire mesh.

Take pump sprayer and add 1/2 cup of the "tea" and 2 12 ounce beers. Fill the rest with water and use sprayer and spray plants in your garden.

You can use a spray bottle also, just use 2 tablespoons of the "tea" and about 1/4 of a beer, fill the rest with water.

I would be hesitant to use this on any plant from the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers). The tobacco in the recipe could be tainted by tobacco mosaic virus, which is transmittable to all plants in the nightshade family.

A better option for plants in that family would be a neem oil based homemade concoction.

Cool recipe though, thanks for sharing!

**Looky** · **Looky** PRO-NAPPER User ID: 90053 04-14-2012 11:51 PM **Posts: 8,716**

Ty for sharing .. I have been using something close, but this looks like it should work better.

**Astrochik**

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 90113 04-15-2012 12:00 AM

Interesting formula. Conceivably the water, because it's boiling, would break down any virii. Molasses contains sulfur components. I wonder if the wood ashes are to adjust the pH?

**Grendelmort**

LoP Guest Wrote:

I would be hesitant to use this on any plant from the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers). The tobacco in the recipe could be tainted by tobacco mosaic virus, which is transmittable to all plants in the nightshade family.

A better option for plants in that family would be a neem oil based homemade concoction.

Cool recipe though, thanks for sharing!

I have used this for years and have had no problems.

**74894** lop guest User ID: 74894 04-15-2012 12:10 AM

....not to mention the bees and all the other beneficial insects :-(

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 67579 04-15-2012 12:16 AM

Grendelmort Wrote:

LoP Guest Wrote:
I would be hesitant to use this on any plant from the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers). The tobacco in the recipe could be tainted by tobacco mosaic virus, which is transmittable to all plants in the nightshade family.

A better option for plants in that family would be a neem oil based homemade concoction.

Cool recipe though, thanks for sharing!

I have used this for years and have had no problems.

That's great! Good to know that you have not had any issues. The wisdom from our elders is so important to maintain and share. Heartflowers