Mosquitos – please leave me alone!
I’m not sure if I have ever heard of this before, but other than the first bites of the summer season, mosquito bites don’t last longer than a hour with me. Why? I believe I got bit up so much as a young child from the age of 5 or 6 upwards that I gave myself allergy shots from the mosquitos themselves. In any case, I hate the buzzing in my ears and even my eyes, even if I don’t mind the bites.
I find that the Off-like insect repellents literally leave me out of breath, so I have been searching for something natural that repels mosquitos. I want to have an enjoyable time picking wild berries. I do believe I have found something.
Mosquitos seem to like berry plants. Is is it for the shade the wide and long berry leaves provide them from the sweltering sun, or is it that they can actually drink some of the berry juice themselves? Come to think of it I don’t recall seeing any mosquito sucking a berry, but they do seem to come out of no where the minute I pick my first berry off of the vine. They attack buzzing the ears or even coming straight for the eyes.
I have heard of a lady, while in Mexico, who used only an oil made of equal parts of rosemary, rue and wormwood and slept without mosquito nets and rarely was bitten. Don’t have any of that, at the moment. However, I have read about mints or even using catnip as a repellent.
I invariably sprayed myself with a catnip mixture as I was spraying my Wild Evening Primrose to keep the Japanese beetles off. (BTW what works great is any mixture including a few drops of oil of oregano. The Japanese beetles won’t be back until it washes off in the next rain!) So I ventured into the woods and the mosquitos did not even blink, they just attacked. Time to read up some more–or back to the drawing board.
Two days later, I made myself some chamomile tea, without the sugar. I let it cool down and then dabbed on everywhere I would be exposed-my neck, my arms, my face, and my legs. I even poured some into a 1.5 oz plastic container.
I went to pick the berries and… nothing. Were the mosquitos on vacation? I can honestly say I had my first enjoyable berry picking time ever. No mosquitos!
After about 15 minutes into my hiking in the woods, I started to sweat-it was probably 84 degrees outside. Then some mosquitos came. So I got my spare bottle out and dabbed the chamomile tea on the areas around my face and neck where I had been sweating. Again, no mosquitos.
I know at Valli Produce, a local grocers, I should be able to buy dried chamomile flowers. I plan to put those into a oil base and let sit in the sun. Perhaps then I can make a chamomile oil, impervious to sweat droplets and I will have solved the problem of those annoying mosquitos!! Time will be the answer to that question.
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Where have all the shrimp gone?
Look and listen:
You can look at the information provided many ways. Remember our great emblem the Bald Eagle was threatened due to DDT causing the egg shells to be thin and so the birds became very scarce? It took some 20 years for the to make a comeback? Now, finally it is not unusual to see Bald Eagles at least a couple of times a year for the average river-goer. Do we have 20 years to get over being poisoned? Listen to the above video for the explanation of this remark?
If you have a bad air haze –isn’t that another word for toxic — is hanging over some coastal cities along the gulf, shouldn’t the EPA call a spade a spade. Now, what is to prevent that bad air from entering into plants, especially our vegetables that we have come to know and love? Yes, yes, I know plants take in CO 2 and give off O 2. But don’t be fooled. Chemicals can come and go with both the carbon dioxide as well as the oxygen.
Lastly, there is a simple –or, rather, complex– problem of the fish. Ocean fish and seafood is supposed to be relatively safe. How about fish that are now bumping into the sides of boats? Isn’t that fish poisoning in reverse?
Wake up folks. If not enough is being done, then demand it be done or make your elected officials responsible. Elections are coming in the fall.
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It Pays To Listen
Just had our local garden club –member garden walk. We met afterwards and discussed going to conventions and local happenings and such and…I listened. Here is some of what I gleaned from our lengthy conversations.
Ball Seed outside of Chicago is trying something out this year. They are opening their gardens up to the public on all the Saturday’s in August. The time is from 9 am to 12 noon. The cost is free of charge.
Here is the location: Ball Seed Co. Private Company, Headquarters Location 622 Town Rd., West Chicago, IL 60185, United States USA (800)234-0370, (630)231-3500, USA (630)231-3605 . If for any reason these are not correct phone numbers, leave me a comment and I will get that corrected.
Did you know that in Arizona they pot a single clump of Creepy Charly and charge 5 dollars for it? How about Queen Anne’s lace being outlawed in Iowa?
Continuing on: one gardener has found the Florabunda roses to be the easiest to grow.
Do you find aphids are feeding on your rose leaves put banana peels at the base of the rose bush. Why? When I find out I will tell you or you can tell me, by leaving a comment, then we will all know.
What is the best way to get rid of creeping charlie and yet do it safely for young children and pets? The answer may surprise you! Simply by pulling them with the hands or using a rake creeping charly may be effectively and safely controlled.
Do you want your climbing roses to scale a chimney? Throw spent coffee grounds at the feet of your roses. Better yet throw spent coffee grounds on the base of all your plants. Don’t drimk coffee anymore? No matter. When you go to your local diner ask them for a cup of coffee grounds as a start. One member gets a 5 gallon bucket of coffee grounds from a local restaurant.
My camera needs a new battery in order to transfer the pics to my computer. Hence, this Lady’s Mantle picture will have to do, for now.
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-alchemilla-mollis-thriller–rimagefree251108-resi2299992
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