As with all things in nature, there is a balance. Organic garden pest control doesn't upset that sensitive arrangement too much. Even if we practice organic gardening, pest control is necessary. Garden pests love the convenience of their favorite foods all being in the same place!

Follow up:

Exposure to pesticides has been linked to a long list of diseases and health problems: Parkinson’s Disease, infertility, cancer, birth defects, encephalitis, and lymphoma, just to name a few. Currently the law does not require companies to test lawn pesticides with the same standards as pesticides used on commercially-grown food. Many of these contain hidden "inert ingredients" that have never been tested for possible harm. The Center for Disease Control has documented cases of farmworker illness after exposure to pesticides.

In addition to the harm they can do to us humans, pesticides contaminate the air, water, soil, plants and animals around us. For example, many studies have proven that pesticides harm honeybees, butterflies, ladybugs (which eat lots of other pests) and fish, and that lawn chemicals seep into the water table.

Learning to combat pests without chemicals is a great way to help your health and to help the environment. It's not as difficult as it might seem, if you learn a few tricks of the trade.

An important thing to consider is that healthy organic soil is an easy way to reduce pests in the first place. Plants tend to thrive in an organically rich environment, which helps them fight off pests on their own. If you don't already have a compost bin at home, get one. Fill it with all your organic vegetable scraps and you won't need to go buying expensive organic compost from the store.

So how do we control pests without chemicals? There are many organic pest control methods that are highly effective, and can be prepared easily at home.

Garlic fire spray: There are many versions, but they all generally consist of any and all of the following:

Garlic, chilli peppers, soap, vegetable oil and water. A suggested starting recipe follows, but experiment with quantities:

* 2-3 crowns of garlic
* 6 large hot chilli peppers
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 dessert spoonful of organic liquid detergent
* 5 cups water (Use about 2 cups in the blender, and top up with the rest later)

Put the ingredients into a blender, then strain through muslin or similar. Pour what you need into a spray bottle for use and keep the rest in airtight jars, well labeled.

If you don't have a blender put a whole garlic bulb through a garlic press and let it sit in a glass jar with several ounces of mineral oil for a couple of days. Mix a few spoonfuls with organic dish washing liquid, hot pepper sauce and water in a spray bottle.

This stuff really stinks! Fortunately the smell dissipates quickly, once it's been sprayed around. This garlic fire mixture needs to be re-sprayed frequently, such as after rain and dew. It's best to spray every few days until there's no sign of pests. From then on about every week to 10 days for any eggs or larvae that may have hatched out.

Uses for this natural garden pest control are unlimited. The oil and dishwashing liquid in it make it stick to plants as well as suffocating pests such as scale and mealy bug. It will kill ants, aphids, caterpillars, grubs, bugs and just about anything small. Mind the ladybugs, they're your friends!

Spraying this mixture around the edge of your garden will also deter pets. Rabbits, gophers, woodchucks, racoons and other garden gate crashers will also be discouraged.

For more pest specific solutions you may want to try any of the following:

Ants: Cucumber peels on an ant route will make them go away.

Butterflies & Moths: To discourage butterflies, moths and grubs on green veggies simply spray with a molasses blend.

Mix one tablespoon of molasses with two pints of hot water. Then add a teaspoon of organic liquid detergent and put in a spray bottle. Spray the leaves, top and bottom about once a week. An alternative to the molasses spray is a blend of one part vinegar to three parts water. Add a teaspoon of organic liquid detergent and put in a spray bottle. Spray the leaves, top and bottom to kill off grubs and bugs.

Cats: Save your citrus peel, especially orange, and cut it up or run over a pile with the lawnmower. Scatter it around garden edges and keep topping up. Cats really dislike citrus.

Earwigs: If earwigs are eating your plants crumple some newspaper and put it into flower pots and leave them in the garden. The earwigs will hide in the paper once they're done eating. In the morning shake the paper out somewhere away from your plants.

Fleas: To deter fleas in your garden use diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it on your shoes and socks as you step into the garden. This way the fleas won't hitch a ride back inside with you. Diatomaceous earth consists of vast amounts of microscopic fossilized, broken down diatoms. It looks like flour and is harmless to animals and humans. It kills small insects and bugs by cutting into their surface, thus causing dehydration. It's often in farmers' stores as well as some health stores and garden centers. Pennyroyal (sometimes called stinking roger) grown near the door and in the garden gets rid of fleas.

Gophers: Encourage birds of prey by putting water bird baths in garden and keeping foliage around the garden edge down so the birds can spot any such rodents. Lay mesh around your garden edge at least 45cm (18") deep. Having a dog, or even a cat, in the garden during dawn and dusk at the same time as gophers get active will discourage them. Gophers and other burrowing creatures will avoid trespassing where there are family pets in sight. Spraying with "Garlic fire" mixture works but depending on size of garden it may be too big a task and too expensive to make enough. If you already have a few gopher holes, put the hose down them and flood their tunnels.

Mildew, moulds and fungi: Plants that are susceptible to mildew, such as peas, pumpkin, zucchini and cucumber can benefit from a milk spray. Use full-cream milk and spray every few days on the leaves until the mildew is under control. If the small white patches of mildew are just starting you should be able to catch it early and stop further spreading by using a diluted milk solution of equal parts water and milk. If the situation is out of control, either remove the affected leaves or the whole plant and destroy it.

"Damping off" is caused by fungi such as Phtophtora and Pythium. Seedlings like lettuce suddenly collapse with the rot. Soggy conditions, overcrowding or too much peat in the mix can be the cause. Try letting the soil dry out on the surface in-between waterings, and even sprinkling a layer of sand on the surface.

Sand and a dry surface will control "Fungus gnats." They are tiny little black midget type flies that crawl and fly around the surface of the soil. They lay their eggs and the larvae will damage seedlings by eating their roots.

Chamomile tea is a fungicide. Prepare a cup of chamomile tea and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Once cool it can be sprayed on the affected leaves, top and bottom. Cinnamon powder sprinkled around plants and on soil also controls fungus.

Possums: Mix natural camphor flakes or oil to a paste with something like Vaseline and rub around tree trunks, or put camphor in stocking leg or net bag and hang from a branch. If possums just love your garden and fruit and veggies, it may be worth your while to fence them out. Use strong chicken netting just around three feet, high supported on lengths of fencing wire that are curved outward at the top so the possums just get swung around when then try to climb up. Bury the netting eight inches in the ground. For fruit trees put a smooth, wide metal collar around the trunk to stop them climbing up.Keeping chickens nearby may also deter possums.

Red spider mites: Mix 4 tablespoons of organic dish washing liquid into one gallon of water. Spray plants weekly until mites are gone, then monthly to stop them from returning.

Scale: Mix 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil, 2 tablespoons baking soda and 1 tablespoon mild liquid soap in two gallons of water. Spray or wipe on plants once a week for 3 weeks or until gone.

Slugs & snails: Do a night patrol as for snails. The best time is dusk especially when it's damp or raining. Don't use your hand to pick them up — it's horrendous trying to get that sticky stuff off. Scoop them up with an old spoon, dump them in a bucket and scrape them out somewhere where they won't be a pest. Sprinkle crushed egg shells around vulnerable plants.

Slugs and snails will avoid crossing the sharp shells and it will also enrich your soil with calcium. Another dislike of snails is sand, which they do not like to cross. Put a band of fine sand around the garden base of plants. Put beer in a shallow pan in the garden to trap snails and slugs overnight. Vinegar in a shallow pan will do the same thing. Orange or grapefruit halves hollowed and turned upside down placed around the garden will also attract snails and slugs, which can then be removed.

Companion planting: Another important method for managing garden pests is companion planting. Some examples include planting garlic to deter flying insects, while mint and sage near cabbage will repel the cabbage fly.

Beneficial birds: Encourage native birds into you garden with bird houses, water baths and native flowering vegetation. They will eat many times their own weight in insects.

There are, of course, many other remedies but these solutions will give you a good start, while you perfect your own techniques!