Natural Mosquito Repellants

FIRST…

• Don’t wear dark clothing as it will attract the buzzers.
• Don’t use fragrances especially floral fragrances.
• Don’t leave standing water around in birth baths etc.
• Don’t Garden during Dusk & Dawn : Mosquitoes are more active during dusk and dawn. Head inside for 30 minutes, just as the sun goes down, then back outside when it’s dark, for those starlit nights

Plants that repel mosquitos:

• Rosemary
• Ageratum
• Marigolds
• Catnip

Note plants will repel however it’s best when they are crushed and oils are used or even just taking a leaf and rubbing it on!!

Natural Mosquito Reciepe:

Use catnip oil to make a spray. Mix about a half-teaspoon of essential oil of catnip with 1 cup isopropyl alcohol and 1 cup water. Shake well and spray lightly on clothing, arms and legs. Do not use on children, pets or people sensitive to catnip.

· Brew a catnip and vinegar spritz. Crush 2 cups catnip leaves and add to 3 cups white or rice vinegar in a quart jar. Seal and store in dark cupboard. Shake every day for 2 weeks. Strain mixture into clean jar and refrigerate. Use as a light spritz on clothes, arms or legs. Some say the vinegar keeps the mosquitoes away, other say the catnip does the work.

Gather 2 cups catnip and 1 cup rosemary leaves. Crush the leaves by using a rolling pin or scrunching them with your hands. Put the leaves in a clean jar and cover with 2 cups unscented body care oil or vegetable glycerin. Store in a cool dark cupboard for 2 weeks. Shake the jar lightly every day. After 2 weeks, strain out the leaves and pour the oil into a clean jar. Refrigerate and use the catnip body oil as needed

Reipes from www.greenterrafirma.com

via BT Toronto Blogs » Frankie Flowers.

What to Compost?

I am so glad that the ground, and my compost pile, has finally thawed. Time to get back on track…

A well cared for compost pile will reward you with a nutrient-rich, earth-smelling conditioner you can add to planters, window boxes, flower beds, shrub borders – or any other landscape site. You will also be rewarded by knowing that by reducing, reusing and recycling your waste, you are helping to conserve our precious environment. Landscape Ontario

Wondering what to compost? Here is a list from the region of waterloo’s *Green Bin Program.

Acceptable Items
***	Baked goods – e.g. bread, cakes, cookies, dough, pies Butcher paper Butter & margarine Candy Cat litter Cereal Charcoal Coffee cups (PAPER, no lids) Coffee filters, grounds Corn cobs, husks Cotton balls Dairy products – e.g. cheese, sour cream, yogurt Dryer lint Dryer sheets Eggs, eggshells Facial tissues Feathers Fish, fish parts Flour bags Fruit Fur Grains & rice Gravy & sauces Grease, lards, fats Hair Herbs & spices Houseplant waste Jams & jellies Mayonnaise Meat, meat products, bones Muffin/baking cups (paper) Nail clippings	Nuts & shells Paper bags Paper fast food packaging Paper napkins Paper plates Parchment paper Pasta Peanut butter Pencil shavings Pet bedding, droppings Pizza Pizza boxes Play dough (homemade) Popsicle sticks Popcorn Popcorn bags (microwave) Salad & dressings Sawdust Shellfish Shredded paper Snack foods Sugar & sweetener packets Sugar & syrups Sugar bags Tea bags (except Lipton pyramid tea bags) Tissues Toothpicks (wood) Vacuum bags (no plastic) Vegetables - including waxed vegetables such as rutabaga Wood ashes (cold) Wood chips

Not Acceptable
Band-Aids Batteries, paint & other hazardous waste Biodegradable plastic bags Candles Chewing gum Cigarette butts & ashes Cleaning sponges Corks	Cutlery (metal, plastic) Dental floss/tape, toothbrushes Diapers Lipton Pyramid Tea (plastic mesh tea bag) Metal - anything in part or as a whole is made of metal of any kind)	Plastic - plastic bags, biodegradable plastic bags, plastic containers, plastic wrap, etc. Sanitary products – (personal) Textiles Water softener salt	Wax Waxed paper Wood, treated wood Recyclables – place in blue box Yard Waste – compost in back yard, set out during seasonal pickup, bring to transfer station

* The Green Bin Program was introduced to select areas of the Waterloo region as a way to save compostable materials from the landfills, and then transport the scraps to Thorold, as kitchener doesnt have the facilities to process the materials.

What? what facilities? Why not teach people how to compost in their OWN yard. Why use money to truck somewhere else, and then bring back? I would rather use this special airated bin to collect MY own kitchen scraps, and then use in MY own yard.

Even if you dont have a beautiful green bin you should continue to compost the traditional way… with a box bin or pile in a shady corner of the yard. Here are some solutions to some problems you may run into.

SYMPTOMS	PROBLEM	SOLUTION
The compost has a bad odour	Not enough air, or too wet	Turn it
The centre of the pile is dry	Not enough water	Moisten materials while turning the pile
The compost is damp and warm in the middle but nowhere else	Too small	Collect more material and mix the old ingredients into a new pile
The heap is damp and sweet-smelling but still will not heat up	Lack of nitrogen	Mix in a nitrogen source (fresh grass clippings, fresh manure, bloodmeal, or commercial fertilizer high in nitrogen

Outdoor Composters are available at no charge at the following locations:

• Waterloo Landfill, Administration Building, 925 Erb St. W., Gate 1, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Cambridge Landfill, 201 Savage Dr., Monday – Saturday, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
• Elmira Transfer Station, end of Howard Ave., Tuesday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

* One composting unit per household *

Fleamarket ideas for outdoors

The sun is shining… the weather is warmer… and i am feeling myself drawn to the yard. It needs a lot of cleanup, but it also could use a few special touches.

Light Fixture Vase :: diyideas.com

Old Heating Vent Rack :: diyideas.com

Tin Can Lanterns :: diyideas.com

i know i have posted about lanterns like this before, but these ones with colour strike my fancy this year. ooh if only more cans were painted this way still.

Fencing turned into a Trellis :: diyideas.com

Outdoor Chandellier :: diyideas.com

Flagman Table :: Instructables

Pizza Sauce Planters :: Happy Sleepy

This creative gardener even offers instructions on how to create your own wall garden. I’m on a personal mission to collect large cans, although i think mine will be the jumbo coffee cans, and i am going to leave them in their original colours. I like to mix it up

Refrigerator Storage :: RococoPop

i love this simple idea too. and take my word for it.. if the fridge still has a seal on it, things inside will stay relatively cool. Boy do i miss by old old fridge.

Make it yourself Garden Soil

We can see that nature does an excellent job regenerating itself as soon as you step foot into the forest. The squirrels dont scurry around pushing the fertilizer sticks around the plant, so why do we think its nessisary. it’s a natural regrowth, and if you pay attention to commons sense anyone can do it. (besides its frugal, and think of all the money you will save if your just reusing what you have)

how can you recreate this in your backyard?

Choose a composting container

You can make or buy your compost bin as both work relatively the same. You will need to rotate the materials with either a pitch fork or a mechanism built in. and you will need holes in the sides to helps airate the soil. As you are harvesting your new soil you will need both warmth and moisture. make sure you construct your container where there is plenty of sun, and a lid to protect from heavy rainfalls. Its also important to place the container in a location that you can easily and willingly get to. The very back of the yard amongst the wild overgrowth is not a good choice, especially if you are not willing to truck your materials out there if the weather is unpleasant. This is exactly where my bin resides, and i will be moving it closer to the house asap.

my personal favorites:

a tumbler from Natural Collection removes the need to get in there and mix it up yourself

Homemade wine barrel composting bin

Build nutrient rich soil with a combination of carbon and nitrogen.

Yes it sounds like a lot of work, and not organic at all but its easy.. carbon is found in shredded newspapers, cardboard and straw. nitrogen is something all plants contain, so you are essentially growing plants from plants.

Nitrogen (green)

• Barnyard manure
• Coffee grounds
• Flowers
• Fruit & vegetable trimmings
• Grass clippings
• Green leaves
• Sod
• Weeds

Carbon (brown)

• Ash – small amounts
• Bread
• Coffee filters
• Dry leaves
• Eggshells
• Hair
• Lint
• Paper with no ink,small amounts
• Sawdust
• Straw
• Tea leaves with bags
• Wood shavings

Basically, feed your soil with items that are safe and healthy for yourself. Avoid any materials treated with chemicals.

Before these items reach your compost pile you will need to help the process by breaking it all into smaller bits. For the food scraps we collect them in a stainless steel bucket, and every few days use a fancy-smancy handheld chopper. For the paper, i collect all my daughters scrap paper clippings in a basket at the back door.

Do NOT compost

• Bones
• Butter
• Cat litter
• Cheese
• Chicken
• Diapers
• Diseased plants
• Dog or cat feces
• Fish
• Greasy foods
• Invasive weeds
• Lard
• Meat
• Milk products
• Oils
• Peanut butter
• Salad dressing
• Sour cream
• Unchopped woodywaste
• Vegetable oil

Follow this recipe to create a balance.

Brown stuff 50-70% + Green stuff 30-50% + Black stuff 0-5% (Dirt, Old compost) + Water (Damp sponge consistency) + Air (Open sided bin, turning pile)

alway cover the ‘green’ materials with brown, as they are the source of the odor in your compost pile, and if they are clumped too much together they just rot. which is bad. this can kill your composts nutrients.

some handy troubleshooting tips from lawrence recycles:

The heap is wet + smells like rotten eggs.	Not enough air. Pile too wet.	Turn it, add coarse, dry wastes such as straw or shredded newspaper.
The center is dry + contains tough, woody wastes.	Not enough water in pile. Too woody.	Turn and moisten; add fresh green wastes; chop or shred.
The heap is damp + warm right in the middle, but nowhere else.	Pile is too small Too dry.	Collect more material and mix into a new pile, moisten.
The heap is damp + sweet-smelling, but will not heat up.	Lack of nitrogen in pile. Compost is done!	Mix in fresh grass clippings or nitrogen fertilizer.

Use homegrown soil in your garden

there are many different ways to add this new soil to your gardens.

If you are planting new seeds, dig your hole, drop the new dirt (the deep black soil you made from your compost bin) in the bottom of the hole. This will give the roots direct access to the nutrients. drop in the seeds or plant. cover with loose soil. and top with a man made mulch of woodchips, dried grass clippings or straw.

If your plants have already started to grow you can add a heaping of the black soil around the roots of the plants. You can also dig a small trench close to the plant, and drop in the gunk right from the kitchen compost bin.

about that mulch i mentioned…

You can and should protect your seedlings with a light layer of mulch. its like a protective barrier so nothing harmful gets in, and it deters weed from growing. If you are starting a fall garden especially, this layer will help keep the soil warm as the more bacteria that grows the more heat it produces. dont ask why… i cant explain.

I know your thinking its too late to start all this, but its never too late. just before the first snowfall i throw a few layers on the garden, to tide it over til the spring thaw. a layer of compost, layer of grass clippings, and then the leaves from the lawn of which i have a huuge excess that im completely willing to share.

i can make that!

image originally from d-visionwhat i imagine is a hole drilled into the center of an old china dish to fit a metal pipe with screw ridges on the bottom, and a bolt. to hold the plate on.the top… could the pipe have a hook? or have a small hole drilled through the top, so you can tie this to a treebranch with twine?or a combonation of this…from Pid.sewhere two plates hang at different levels, creating ‘balconies’ for the birdies. although i do love this idea alone. Its a long rubber cord (to prevent slipping from branch) with glass weights on the ends.another garden creation that could potentially be made from recycled materials is this hanging flower pot…from Schatzcould you have someone … skilled in glass, or at least will use the right tool for the job… drill four holes in say an old vase.. or fancy wine glass. i know i have some crystal wine glasses that are just too fancy for me. Cut off the stems of the glasses too… perhaps that same skilled glassworker? me. i would do my best to smash it off. then file it so its not a deadly pointed edge. or leave it… wineglasses hanging in the kitchen window could look really neat, with the sun shining through the crystal decorations all three photos originally found on notcot.org

save water idea

While reading through these ideas for reusing everyday materials i had a brilliant idea!! I dont have pictures to use to explain, but i will try my best to recreate the picture in my head.

the main idea: save rainwater

personal issue with current methods: the great big huge ugly rainbarrels are a safty hazard to have around your children and small animals. if anyone falls in … you know. and the stench of sitting water not to mention the bugs that nest on that water.

stinky. dangerous. bug breeding ground.

my idea: cut just the bottom off 1 litre pop bottles (or use a wine bottle–much fancier, but also much harder to do) leave the caps screwed on if plastic, or cork it. dont use the metal as i assume its not good to be burried in the ground. shucks theres the next step… invert the bottle with the open end up, and bury neck into garden. if you bury it deep enough the neck should help hold the bottle upright.

this end will be inserted into the ground (not a pot)

why: these bottles will catch the rain water allowing the water to be used to water the garden on hot days. Smaller amount of water means it will be emptied more often thus minimal bug breeding

and … this is the fun one… if you use coloured wine bottles, think of how beautiful they will be (sans the label) when they catch the rays of the sun. Place along the edge of a walkway or scatter throughout the garden.

i wonder if you could insert a tealight (in the glass bottles) at night for some extra fancy lighting?? Oh wow… i am way to excited to try this! come-on snow…melt already!!