Spring is in full bloom, and with that, Spring and Summer gardening.  I love to grow my own fresh, organic tomatoes and basil for caprese salad and my homemade pasta dishes.  I also like to grow them without any pests.  I have a lovely creature who likes to dig up my in-ground plants. Be it a gopher, be it a mole, be it whatever, I WISH it would go away and leave my poor plants alone! Anywho, because of said creature, I must now resort to container gardening for all my herbs, fruit trees, fruits and veggies. Oh, well. But, hey, on the bright side, whenever we move I don’t have to dig everything up!  During my gardening journey, I’ve also discovered caterpillars love basil and tomatoes.  So, here are some tips I’ve found to be useful when it comes to tomatoes in containers.

Here is my “organic arsenal” against pests, as well as a few tips on flavorful, abundant tomatoes. In this container, I’m growing cherry tomatoes.  Organic basil plant, chili pepper flakes, epsom salt, egg shells, organic tomato plant, soil, large container.

I just LOVE fresh basil, and so do my kiddos… I’ll sometimes catch them piecing off leaves and eating them straight from the garden.

I start off by sprinkling epsom salts all around the plants. Epsom salt (aka magnesium sulfate) is an organic supplement for your soil. Without getting super scientific, I’ll simply explain… epsom salt enriches the soil by infusing it with essential nutrients the soil is lacking, thus strengthening the plants.  I simply mix the epsom salts and soil with my hands. Next comes the defense… Eggshells! I use eggshells as an organic pest repellant. Slugs and snails keep FAR FAR away when there are sharp shells in their path! Some people prefer to grind up their dried eggshells in a blender. I much prefer to just crush them up in my hands and sprinkle them on the soil. It seems to be a better deterrent in my experience.  Another step to keeping pests away is dried chili pepper flakes. But don’t accidentally mix this and touch your eyes! OUCH!

 The finished product… now let those tomatoes and basil grow without being bugged.