Don’t bug me: herbs that keep the hordes at bay
Being eaten alive by insects? These natural remedies do the trick, says Cinead McTernan
Last Sunday, my son and I were spending an afternoon with our friends in a wild flower meadow in the beautiful Somerset countryside. It was utterly idyllic – a walk followed by den building, wood gathering and cooking on an open fire. That was until I was stung on my leg by a horsefly. The persistent stinging sensation was bad enough, but then a huge lump appeared around an angry-looking bite the size of a 50p coin (and I’m talking the old version).
Later that night, I was woken by an awful urge to scratch my leg and it felt uncomfortably hot and swollen. Unable to find a tube of insect bite cream in the bathroom cabinet, I resorted to using a leaf of one of my aloe houseplants in the hope it might provide some relief.
While I might not have a wellstocked first aid tin, I always have a leaf in the fridge to treat burns or bumps. Splitting a section in half, I rubbed the cool, soothing “gel” on my leg. I did this several times during Monday and by Tuesday morning the swelling had completely disappeared, a dull red mark the only sign that I had been bitten. This, too, had vanished by Thursday.
I’ve long considered aloe to be something of a miracle cure-all because of its antioxidant and antibacterial properties, but I’m now completely evangelical about this spiky houseplant. Never before has a mosquito (let alone horsefly) bite caused so little discomfort or disfigurement. I urge you to take a leaf or three on holiday and don’t bother with anything else to soothe bites and stings.
This led me to think about making my own insect repellent because, as my granny used to say, prevention is
always better than cure. After a year or so spent researching my current book, Grow Your Own Botanicals, my small urban plot is filled with herbs, including billowing lavender and catnip plants, containers of mint and bee balm as well as colourful marigolds and exotic lemon grass.
These plants, among others, can be used to make sprays to repel biting insects, as well as remedies to tackle pests such as clothes moths, houseflies, and bugs – even fleas and ticks. The recipes are simple to follow and, more importantly, are free of nasties that are probably best not smothered on skin or sprayed in the home.
In other words, you can now enjoy a bug-free existence as well as peace of mind because you’re using ingredients that won’t harm you or the planet. Happy summer days!
MOSQUITOES AND OTHER BITERS
For years, to keep bugs at bay when we’re outside, I’ve used this remedy: fresh slices of lemon and lime combined with rosemary sprigs, a few drops of citronella oil and a floating candle in jars filled with water. Looking ahead to our holiday in Spain next month, I’ve also decided to prepare a homemade insect repellent balm that can be used on the skin.
I found a simple recipe in John Lust’s The Herb Book; it calls for calendula oil (half-fill a heatproof jar with dried marigold flowers, top up with sunflower oil and heat over a bain-marie for a couple of hours. Strain and leave to cool). Mix six drops of the oil with 1oz of beeswax and, using a bain-marie again, heat until the wax has melted. Pour into small pots and leave to cool. Add peppermint or lemongrass oil (made in the same way) for a more intense scent; rub the balm on ankles and wrists.
If you prefer a spray, pick and dry sprigs of sage, mint, thyme, rosemary and lavender. (To dry herbs, either use a dehydrator, lay them on a wire rack in a dry spot out of direct sunshine, or hang sprigs upside down until dry.) Combine a tablespoon of each with 400ml of cider vinegar in a bottle and leave in a dark, cool place for two weeks, shaking daily. To use, fill a spritzer bottle with a 50:50 mix of the concentrate and distilled water (boiled and left to cool). Keep in the fridge for up to a week.
If you’re happy using essential oils, you can add citronella to this. Alternatively, steep 100g of freshly chopped basil in 100ml of boiled water and leave to cool. Strain and then add 100ml of vodka and it’s ready to use.
CLOTHES MOTHS
While mosquitoes are an issue in hot places, back at home it’s clothes moths that keep me awake at night. I wouldn’t like to guess how many of our woollen jumpers have fallen prey to their hungry larvae.
While there’s no substitute for keeping the house as dust-free as possible, a female moth will always find somewhere to lay her eggs. Strongly scented herbs such as rosemary, thyme, lavender and mint (which I’ve read also deter mice), work a treat. Dried and scattered about the place in homemade sachets (either a square of muslin or a coffee filter tied with an elastic band), these herbs repel moths for up to six months or until their fragrance fades.
A simple combination of a few sprigs of lavender, lemon grass and a slice of lemon simmered in 500ml of water for 15 minutes then left to cool and transferred into a spray bottle also helps to keep them at bay.
CARROT FLIES & OTHER BUGS
If you grow fruit and vegetables and are bothered by either carrot flies or caterpillars, try using garlic and basil or chilli to create a tonic that deters pests. Rather than kill them, its pungent odour is so unpleasant that critters look elsewhere to snack or lay eggs. As the ingredients are natural, the spray won’t harm beneficial insects and so helps to maintain the garden ecosystem.
Take two heads of garlic and two handfuls of basil and buzz them up in a food processor. Add to 500ml of water and boil in a saucepan. Leave to infuse and cool overnight and transfer into a spray bottle. Add a squirt or two of biodegradable dishwashing liquid and you’re ready to spray on infected plants.
Alternatively, substitute garlic cloves with six large chillies or two tablespoons of hot chilli powder and a tablespoon of vegetable oil and prepare in the same way. Use straight away or, alternatively, store in the fridge for up to a week.