December 31, 2008 · Filed under conservation, diy, Environmental Detox, Home and Garden · Tagged chemicals, diy, eco, ecology, gardening, green, homemade, how to, insecticides, insects, natural, non toxic, plants, recipes, repellents, safe
Non toxic bug controls: Easy DIY!
Ever since I first heard that you can kill garden pests with soap, I have been experimenting with different kinds of homemade soap sprays. I have found that they all work to some degree, some better than others, some better on certain bugs and not so good on others.
My soap sprays are non toxic and easy to make. But I also have a litany of other bug killing techniques that do the trick. Some involve herbs, many don’t. All of them can be made at home with easy to obtain ingredients. All of them work beautifully.
Today I’ll tell you about a few of them that have worked for me and are easy to work with. All of these tried and true methods are good for the environment, safe for the kids or the pets and will rid your garden of plant eating bugs without destroying the foliage, the bees, the birds or the butterflies. You’ve heard of some of them, of course. I’m just hoping that maybe there’s one or two you haven’t heard of that can help you out today.
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September 26, 2008 · Filed under diy, Environmental Detox, Home and Garden · Tagged diy, eco, green, herbs, home, homemade, how to, insecticides, insects, natural, non toxic, recipes, safe
These are natural and herb based recipes for insect repellents. They are non toxic and safe, they work most of the time, and they don’t kill the pests but simply keep them away. I got into the ideas of repellents when I found out I was allergic to mites, roaches and fleas. When you step on these bugs or kill them and leave them in the carpet or under the cabinets they decompose and their remains end up in the air. When I breathe this in I get very sick.
So I wanted to keep them away and not have everyone in the household crushing the critters and leaving them for me to breathe in. The repellents have worked really well in most cases although you do have to perhaps do second and third treatments. You also should refresh any standing repellents that are left in place for long periods. Just add more herbs or oils every so often over time. So here are the recipes you can diy and see if they help you, too.
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August 17, 2008 · Filed under diy, Environmental Detox, herbs, Home and Garden, Natural Remedies · Tagged bugs, chemicals, diy, eco, gardening, green, herbs, homemade, how to, insects, natural, non toxic, recipes
Here is a list of ideas to help you get rid of bugs. Even the cleanest house is not immune from an infestation, especially in this hot, rainy weather. After every rain here in Florida I find the house running with ants, Palmetto bugs and silverfish. They seem to rush inside to avoid being flooded out of their natural habitat, which is more often than not the mulch beds in the yard.
I hate spraying around the house with deadly killers, although they do work really well. I have 5 cats and the idea of poisoning of them terrifies me. Also, the bugs seem to focus on our kitchen area above all other rooms in the house and this means spraying around our dishes and cooking utensils. This is just not a good idea and, again, it terrifies me. The last thing we want is a trip to the ER. So I am always eager to hear about new green ideas to get rid of pesty bugs. Here are a few new ones I cornered online and in some books I’ve read:
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Harmony Green 