Starter Smallholders

Ten days of temperatures in the twenties and plenty of sun has finally kick started our vegetables. Most relieved of all are the herbs - especially basil and rosemary, which had been in a state of suspension, not really growing, although not unhealthy either. It has also brought the insects to life and, apart from the irritation of mosquitoes, has enlivened something that really likes basil, and leaves neat little rounded holes in the leaves. Not having any idea who the culprit is, we were mystified about possible solutions. So we went and asked.
Our local organic shop is run by a farmer and his wife, and we turned to them for advice. Apparently, we probably have flea beetles, and she recommended two organic solutions. The first was to go into a coniferous forest, find a stand of ledum palustre (wild rosemary?), which will be close to blueberries, make a solution from it (sorry, I am a bit vague on the details) and spray. The other option is to spray with water and sprinkle with fine wood ash.
No prizes for guessing which one we chose. Apart from the fact that we have no coniferous forest close by, neither of us is likely to recognise the herb (vaivarins in Latvian), unless it is the only one around and we took some to Riga to check. The ash treatment is simple, and we hope will be reasonably effective.