It is nearly November and my little vegetable plot is still providing cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and aubergines for the kitchen plus eggs from the hens.
Earlier this year I found a great way to keep my cauliflower, broccoli and potatoes pest free. Spray them once a month with the DIY organic pesticide. I found the following recipe on the internet, and at first I was a bit dubious but it works for me. I have added an ingredient because it is important to tweak a recipe and make it your own.
Recipe
Four chilli peppers.
One clove of garlic.
Half a pint of water
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 to 2 glasses of red wine.
Method
Step one
Chop up the chilli peppers and place them in an old jam jar or honey jar, we have plenty because for some reason Mrs Sensible washes jars and stores them in the cupboard. I think she is a secret hoarder.
Step two
Take a sip of the red wine, this is a very important part of the recipe and it is important to get it right, if you are not sure you have done this properly take another sip to be sure.
Step three
Chop up the garlic and place them in the jar with the chilli peppers.
Step four
Repeat step two but this time really savour the wine. It is impossible to add too much wine at this stage.
Step five
Add the olive oil and fill the jar with water. Leave for one week.
Final step
If you have used up all the wine well done, maybe you might want to add just a little bit more to the glass so that you can stand back and admire your jar of organic pesticide with a contented glow. If you did not use all the wine you really ought to change your wine supplier. I would recommend Marco Bellero.
Application
Strain the liquid into a spray bottle, be very careful not to spill any of the liquid on your hands or the work surface because you will stink of garlic and peppers for days.
This is the first year that I have attempted to grow vegetables. I love wandering down to the L’orto to see if there are any strawberries hiding under the leaves. I have been very lucky and everything I planted has grown. So much so that I have decided to go into wine production.
Planting my first wine tree
Englishman in Italy 
Your method of wine production looks very efficient! I bet you’re looking forward to just picking full bottles of wine off the tree next year!
By the way, does the organic pesticide produce spicy strawberries?
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It really work, I was amazed when I first tried it. The strawberries are fine I don’t spray them, they get eaten by whoever goes out and waters the veg patch.
I thought I would start the wine production on a small scale, maybe if it works I will expand it to include Grappa and Lemoncello. Mrs Sensible has decided I am mad…
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with those up-side-down wine bottles, your orto looks pretty drunk to me… 😉
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I was not sure whether to plant them upside down or the right way up. If they don’t grow I will have wasted 3 bottles of wine. but I have every faith in my soil.
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Ask around for some good concime di stalla… they’ll grow in no time (don’t tell anybody what you need the concime for though, imagine their faces… “ah l’inglese!”) 😉
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I had to ask Mrs Sensible for a translation for concime di stalla . 🙂 We had a delivery of Letame (Same stuff different name, same smell)
It arrived by tractor two weeks ago and I am still spreading and digging it in. I only ask for a bit not a mountain.
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same thing, same thing…. good old smelly steamy letame. Gosh you are well organised for your orto. Bet you have big tomatoes in the summer. Will have to wait for the summer posts…. 🙂
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It is Luiginas fault the old lady who lives next door. She comes out with her bastone and gives me lots of wonderful help and advice. It was her idea to order the Letame. She called a neighbour who keeps cows and next thing I know there is a brown pile steaming away.
I have been given strict instructions that it must be dug in before the winter… uffa
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uffa!
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or maybe I don’t see very well. I am the drunk one.. 🙂
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I didn’t realise the size of the pic I uploaded. If you click on it you can see that the bottles still have the wine in…..
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Great idea, your flavoring start on the stalk and on the vine as it is! the best and wisest madness you can get is when you develop it it in Italy. They will likely call you ” geniale! ” which does not mean you are a genius but that you are clever and witty.
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It is worth a try. You wait next year I will have a wine bottle tree
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Here I’ll have cowboys growing among the stalks of corn.
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Love the blog. I have added it to my Blogger’s Cafe which I am restarting. Have used a photo in the report: http://avbloggerscafay.blogspot.com.br/2012/10/two-travel-blogs.html
AV
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Thank you very much. I am glad you like the blog, for me writing the blog is just a bit of fun and I love the interaction between other bloggers.
I notice you have added http://adventureincroatia.wordpress.com to your blog, I think she is as mad as a hatter but don’t tell her.
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