Wow, great info. Those grain moths can be a serious pain. I better put some up preventatively to prevent the outbreak I had last year. Any idea how long the bay leaves are potent for?

You can always just store your dried staples in Mason jars. It also has the side benefit of being aesthetically pleasing.

Other plants include chives, garlic, marigolds, and mums. When I was very young, I chugged a gallon of fertilizer that was made from fish stock. My horrified mother realized then that pesticides were an unnecessary evil, and from then on all horticulture involved finding natural solutions to bug problems. Hence, why I still love spiders to this day, and threaten to shoot people for harrassing any in my home.

I don't know the official name of it, but there is a local (southeast US) tree known as the china-berry tree. It has hard cherry-sized fruit that is yellow in color and has a rumpled texture. The berries are poisonous, but the leaves are great for pest control. You don't want to mix them in with food, but little bags (I use old panty hose) of the leaves tucked in around the pantry keep away insects and other "vermin." Replace them when they loose their smell. I spent half my childhood crawling around in these trees, so I see no reason why this isn't safe, but maybe that's just a side effect of the brain damage they might have caused : ) So, your milage may very. No warantees expressed or implied, and I refuse to be held liable for your actions, whatever they may be.