I visited one of my favorite sites this morning and found out TBW is now giving me tips on the kind of candles I should light in the house. I might say at first glance that the tips SOMETIMES EXHAUST me, ....but that would be with a great big grin on my face because TBW's tips are so crucial to the safety of the environment; I am now, just recently, endeavoring to embrace them as much as possible - and I am seeing positive results!
We are now using Sal Suds in the kitchen, a recommended non-toxic, plant friendly, germ unfriendly, product for all kinds of cleaning projects. My spouse used it on the outside windows last week and it worked beautifully to clean the windows and added to the fact we can now see outside the windows (well, they weren't that bad) I was comfortable in knowing that no harm was befalling the vegetation beneath the windows.
Last evening as I was watering my window boxes full of gorgeous petunias and assorted annuals - blooming profusely with the assistance of "worm castings" with NO Miracle-Grow or such feeding junk - I noticed that lots of little aphids had decided to move in. At the same time, my neighbor called out to me that her petunias were loaded with aphids. I advised her, on solid advice I had received (ahem, TBW at work again), that I/we should blast our petunias with a strong sprayer stream from our, water only, garden hoses.
So, after issuing that advice the only task left for me to do was to take said sprayer and blast away!....which I did. I felt like I was ending the summer for my flowers; they were certain, I'm sure, that a tropical storm had just blown into SE Washington - but they are fully revived this a.m. and I'll check this evening to see if the aphids have truly taken a hike.
A word about the "worm castings," I purchased these recently in the Rosa Gallica Shop in Spokane and have been amazed to see that my annuals are continuing to bloom with no artificial fertilizer added. TBW has a whole article on the site http://rosagallica.blogspot.com that gives you the dreadful word on what artificial garden fertilizers actually do to plant roots versus the benefits of "worm castings" and/or live worms added to your flowering containers.
And lastly, I am not going to retell TBW's warning on candles other than pure beeswax or soy candles here, but I highly recommend that you visit the site and read for yourself how much better you and your dinner guests will feel the next time you dine with beeswax or soy candles on your table.
You can see that I am excited about living in new ways to save the environment for my grandchildren (and great-grandchildren yet unborn:)and am thrilled to receive helpful tips from my friend at http://rosagallica.blogspot.com
And lastly, the beautiful spider photo has been heartlessly, without permission, stolen from a geezer dude acquaintance of whom I had no knowledge of his photography skills until yesterday.....the spider is, no doubt, imploring me to cease the quarterly exterminator's spider spray that goes around the outside perimeter of my house. I'm not sure I can give up that poison - yet!!
Labels: Gardening
Dear Sunrise,
ReplyDeleteThank you for mentioning my blog.
I too become overwhelmed at the amount of information available these days with regard to living safer and taking care of the environment. Whew! But thank goodness it is becoming easier to find.
Just to let you know, there are no synthetic chemicals that really work against spiders. Instead, use orange oil based responses. There is one called Orange Guard that kills spiders (it melts their skeletons.) It can be applied all around the perimeter of your house and will not harm plants or soil (they actually will benefit from it), children will not be at risk, and beloved pets will not run the risk of exposure to toxic chemicals while sniffing around the yard.
Go to www.dirtdoctor.com for more info. Check out his "library" setting for all kinds of safe responses for everything.
Bluebird Mountain makes a non toxic sticky trap for indoor protection from spiders. It really works!
Import some lady bugs or lacewings for your window boxes. Repeat feed with the Worm Castings several times this summer.
Thanks again for sending others to my environmental blog! I hope they will find it helpful.
Am greatly enjoying reading your entries.
Fondly,
TBW
Dear Sister,
ReplyDeleteHave you fed your planters on a very regular basis? This is critical as we wash out the nutrients in watering so often. Fish emulsion and more worm castings. If you feel you have to, add some nitrogen. It isn't going to do that much harm since you are only adding it to planters.
Good luck.