Not even sure where to start looking for this.

My girlfriend (unwisely) left the garden in my hands, which means now
that most of the flowers have dissapeared to be replaced by things of
a tastier nature. In particular I've got chilli plants and plum
tomatoes currently flowering (I'm in the southern hemisphere, so we've
just rolled into spring).

There's a bit of spinach, a few garlic bulbs and some watermelon seeds
that seem to have sprouted of their own accord.

(As a aside, how can you tell when garlic is ready to pull?)

I've spotted the odd snail around the place as well as small black
flying things (they may be fruit flies, but I honestly don't know.).

I am looking for pointers as to what I should spread or spray around
the place to reduce the chance of losing my "crop" to disease or
insects. I don't want to hit everything with "Round-up", so I am
looking for household tricks, "old wives tales" or something I can
mixup without rubber gloves and a government permit.

(I drink a lot of tea, so if the leaves are good for anything (other
than composting!) that could be handy.)



Thanks for any advice.

Matt