Spring is outdoor clean-up and wake-up time at the homestead. After a long Colorado winter our lawn, perennials, shrubs and trees need a refreshing   jump-start to really pop spring growth into overdrive.

We rely on Jerry Baker’s (America’s Master Gardener – www.jerrybaker.net) Backyard Problem Solver to assist in our spring cleanup.

Jerry’s recipes are, natural, inexpensive, and when applied correctly have a very noticeable “greening” effect. Best of all they are made from inexpensive household ingredients.

These lawn and garden solutions disinfect, hydrate and nourish all plants leaving behind   a revived, safe, non-toxic environment.

All-Season Clean-Up Tonic

1 cup baby shampoo

1 cup antiseptic mouthwash

1 cup Tobacco Tea (see recipe below)

Mix all ingredients in a 20 gallon hose-end with a golf ball (agitator).  Spray everything in your yard every 2 weeks throughout the growing season.

All-Season Green-Up Tonic

1 can of beer

1 cup of ammonia

1/2 cup liquid dish soap

1/2 cup liquid lawn food

1/2 cup corn syrup or molasses

Mix all ingredients in a bucket then fill a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer. Spray and saturate everything in your yard including your garden vegetables and fruit plants. Repeat every 3 weeks throughout growing season.

Tobacco Tea

1/2 handful of chewing tobacco

1 gallon of hot water

Wrap up the chewing tobacco in cheese cloth or old panty hose and soak in hot water until water turns dark brown. remove tobacco and pour liquid tea into a storable jug or container. Use whenever a tonic recipe calls for it.

Take another baby step to life’s independence – make your own lawn and garden solutions.