And Now, How To Protect Your Garden

I've found a safe and effective way to spray my garden veggies for bugs! While I'm no expert I'm giving tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, yellow crooked neck squash, pumpkins and strawberries a go for this year. After googling and reading recipe after recipe, here's one that I made up myself that uses ordinary household items and repels multiple pests. It's safe for the garden and non-toxic to those of us who'll be eating those vegetables as well:

GARDEN BUG CONTROL SPRAY-
1C. Water
1T. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Garlic Clove
1-2 Dashes of Hot Pepper Sauce
like Tapatia
1T. Biodegradable Liquid Soap (preferably)
or Dish Soap

Liquefy all ing. in blender except liquid soap. Strain through a cloth, if necessary. Pour into spray bottle, add dish soap, cap and shake just to mix in. Allow bubbles to dissipate, and fill the rest of the way with water, to make 32 oz.

Try spraying a little on each variety of plant and wait for 2-3 days to make sure it will not damage the plant. (My plants are fine.) Spray in the early morning or late in the evening, when temperatures are at their coolest to keep leaves from burning. Spray onto both sides of the leaves. Repeat every week or as often as needed. If you get the leaves wet when watering you'll need to respray.
I know it's early in the gardening season but we've had ours for 3 or 4 weeks out there and so far it's working on those pesky little critters!

Here are the resources I used:
ehow home, GardenMandy, and Recycle your day

PS. The Garlic will also prevent that destructive mold from appearing on the squash.
PS. Again. I found out that sprinkling corn starch around the garden repels hornworms.

Here's to growing a great garden!

Edible Flowers?

Yes! There is a long list of them! You do have to be careful about gathering them yourself. Some flowers can be confused with others that could be harmful. But if you know your plants and want to harvest them yourself for use in salads , as garnishes
or in the water, select them from plants that are not near the roadside or anywhere where they may be subjected to auto exhaust or other toxins. Plants from the florist are treated and are not suitable for eating. Also, find out what they taste like first, and when you find ones you like, you could include them in your garden! Hmmmmm, do I see another blog post on the horizon?

Picture and Info Source here

Water

H2O. It's at the very foundation of the pyramid. Everyone requires it. But the water that's available to most of us has had chemicals added to it in order to make it pure. What does that mean?

Logic tells us that if chlorine - a toxic poison - is put in there to kill harmful bacteria, that even in small amounts, it's probably not too good for us either!

Then there's synthetic flourine or flouride. Flouride is a waste product of aluminum and is toxic. Too much fouride causes the teeth to turn a mottled brown. It also contributes to alzheimer's. Paul Bragg's book on Water is an eyeopener!
I figure that anything we can do to make an improvement on our health is valuable. Bragg advises investing in a water distiller. We have chosen to go with an on-the-counter purifier. We had an Amway E-Spring but wanted to find a smaller, less expensive but still high quality unit that would remove not only the chlorine and flouride but much more, and we went with the Aquasana; our water is not just better tasting but cleaner, too!
Bottled water has the drawback of leaching plastic from the bottle. When I take water with me, I refill the bottle from the purifier so the water is fresh.
And if you're going to infuse your water with oranges, strawberries, cucumbers, or edible flowers, etc., you'll want to be sure to wash them. :) Here's to your health!

Picture and Info Source here