cigarette butts and aspirin in the garden

effies garden

Effie is always looking for new methods to improve her produce. One day, when she was at the florist, she asked why the roses looked so healthy, and was told they had put aspirin in the water. So Effie tried aspirin on her tomatoes the following year, and noticed that they started looking healthier: the leaves were stronger and lush in colour, and the tomatoes stayed longer on their stalks. Effie decided to sprinkle crushed aspirin on all the vegetables in her garden. She has been doing this for a couple of years now.

Effie uses 12 crushed aspirins to make a powder, and sprinkles it over an area of 25 square metres of soil. Then she plants her vegetables and waters them well. After a couple of weeks, she crushes another 12 aspirins, but this time she dilutes the powder with 10 litres of water and waters her plants with the solution each week.

Another method Effie uses on her vegetables involves cigarette butts. She collects used butts from friends and neighbours and puts them into the ground at the base of the vegetables. The butts expand and the soft filters capture water, keeping moisture in the soil. Effie believes this is why her soil is so soft and moist.