Mosquitoes suck, literally. Ticks get under my skin. And don't even get me started on black flies, noseeums and chiggers. My skin crawls at the thought of being bug food when I retreat to backwoods New Hampshire next week. If the chemistry in this recipe DIY insect repellent is right, those pesky buggers won't know I'm on the menu at all.

Thanks to Skincare Natural News for this "light, lemony-scented" all natural bug-off blend. Thirty-six drops is all it takes and you're there.

First mix:

6 drops of catnip essential oil

8 drops of bergamot FCF essential oil

5 drops of citronella essential oil (it doesn't hurt to burn a few citronella candles to ward off skeeters, too)

4 drops of pennyroyal essential oil (Caution: the oil of the pennyroyal plant, aka tickweed and mosquito plant, as with all essential oils, is NOT safe to take internally. Do not ingest it.)

12 drops of lemon eucalyptus essential oil (if you can't find a lemon-eucalyptus blend, simply make your own by adding lemon juice or lemon oil to eucalyptus oil)

(Photo credit:JuanChristophe, flickr)

"You become responsible forever for what you have tamed."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I am not alone in being unable to enumerate the ways in which my life has been enriched by the pets that I have had the privilege of fostering.

Animals, of the pet persuasion, provide an awesome opportunity to build loving kindness and compassion in humanity. They become devoted to us on such a fundamental level and it is important to return that devotion with a healthy, clean environment and lots of loving care.

Here are some great ways to green up after and love your pet:

1. Whenever possible, support one of the many humane animal shelters across the country, by adopting a pet who really needs a home.  The Humane Society has a lot of useful information on pet adoption. Petfinder can also be a great online resource.
2. For the sake of your local environs it is so important to contain your cat or dog for their own safety. This also ensures that they do not have a negative impact on the well being of your neighbors, neighborhood and local wildlife. Protect birds and other wildlife from unattended roaming animals in your neighborhood.
3. Feed your pet a natural, healthy diet. This is so important in prolonging the life of any pet. As the saying goes "you are what you eat" and we have seen very recently the heartbreaking effects of bad food on pet longevity.
4. Buy Fluffy or Rover fewer and more high quality, environmentally friendly pet toys.
5. Think before hanging a poison collar on your pet, they can have devastating negative effects. Try an alternative pet pest control product.
6. Clean up after your dog and cat with biodegradable poop bags. This is especially important in protecting healthy water table viability.
7. We all like clean sheets and a healthy, clean living environment. Pets deserve and need the same thing, they are often sensitive and have allergies to airborne and contact pathogens. Keep your pet's living areas, bedding and toys clean, clean, clean!

Remember that pets provide wonderful support, emotionally and physically, and they even have their own social networking sites like dogster and catster. Love your pets, love yourself and have an ever so beautiful day!

(Photo credit:purplbutrfly on flickr)

I went grocery shopping today at our local food co-op and came home with two heavy bags of organic produce and a pocket full of pamphlets. Can't help myself. When people put printed matter in front of me, I'm compelled to read it. Maybe there's a twelve step program or something.

"Hi, I'm Frank and I'm a compulsive reader."

"Hi Frank!"

I couldn't ignore a glossy write-up titled "All About Organic Foods." I felt a little short-changed. The pamphlet was not "all about," but mostly about about retailers of organic food. Yet it had a list headed "The Dirty Dozen Produce Items: Most Contaminated with Pesticides." Here they are:

1. Strawberries
2. Bell peppers
3. Red raspberries
4. Peaches
5. Nectarines
6. Celery
7. Apples
8. Spinach
9. Cherries
10. Grapes (imported)
11. Pears
12. Potatoes

So I'm thinking "What about parsnips? And turnips?" I could abstain from parsnips and turnips. Strawberries, peaches, and raspberries are another matter. No way will I give up the good stuff. So the solution, obviously, is "buy organic." (Remember the name of the pamphlet!) And whether or not your produce is organic, wash it! But especially wash it if it's not organic and it's on the dirty dozen list.

Let's pick on peaches. One study found 45 pesticides on peaches. Check it out, here's the list:

2 4-d, Acephate, Allethrin, Azinphos methyl, Benomyl, Captan, Carbaryl, Chlorothalonil, Chlorpropham, Cypermethrin, DCPA, DDT, Diazinon, Dicloran, Dicofol, Dimethoate, Diphenylamine (DPA), Endosulfans, Fenbuconazole, Fenbutatin oxide, Fenvalerate, Fludioxonil, Formetanate hydrochloride, Imazalil, Iprodione, Lindane (BHC gamma), Malathion, Metalaxyl, Methamidophos, Methidathion, Methomyl, Mevinphos Total, Myclobutanil, Norflurazon, O-Phenylphenol, Parathion ethyl, Permethrin Total, Phosmet, Piperonyl butoxide, Pirimicarb, Propargite, Propiconazole, Tebuconazole, Thiabendazole, Triadimefon.

Is that ridiculous? I don't even know what most of those are, but 2 4-d stands out. 2 4-d (or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, as the organic chemists call it) was the primary ingredient in Agent Orange, a defoliant used from 1961 through 1971 in Vietnam. It's not good for children and other living things. I think it's worth paying a premium for produce that doesn't come contaminated with Agent Orange. Do you agree?

(Photo credit:WordRidden, Flickr)

The bees will be breathing a little easier if the proposed new regulations governing pesticides are adopted by the EU Parliament next month.

Herbicide, fungicide, insecticide, algicide, molluscicides, acaricides, and rat poison: what do they have in common? They all fall under the general label of "pesticide." You knew that. You probably also have a sense that not only will a lot of them kill the bees, but they can also mess YOU up.

Soon Europeans will have less to fear in this regard. Twenty-two chemicals that can trigger cancer or cause neural, hormonal or genetic damage will be banned. New product offerings from the pesticide manufacturers will be more carefully screened. The whole toxic tort thing will be turned on its head. Instead of suing to recover damages after the fact, the public wil be protected before the poisons are sprayed on the crops, before they drift downwind and settle on Fido's dogfood, before they soak into the water table and poison the drinking water, before more bee colonies collapse. Manufacturers will be required to prove that new pesticide compounds won't harm the bees before they can offer them for sale and use.

Agriculture will need to adjust. Already there have been warnings that the UK won't be able to grow broccoli and cauliflower competitively. Imagine that, less broccoli. I may shed one tiny tear for the broccoli lovers; and, of course, I'll shed another one for the lawyers who lose that lucrative toxic tort market.

Continue reading Poison peddlers suffer EU setback ›

(Photo credit:Kevin Krejci, Flickr)

For tens of millions of years, before the first green plant appeared, mushrooms ruled the earth. They were the vanguard species that led life from the sea to the land. In the sunless winters of the great extinctions caused by asteroid impacts, fungi were one of the life forms that held on and thrived.

Paul Stamets knows mushrooms, and he says they know us. I'm not sure where to file that claim regarding mycelial sentience, but I'm sold on his modest proposals for saving the planet. Toxic waste? Let the mushrooms eat it. Insect infestations? Don't use pesticides to wipe them out. Use mushrooms, nature's own insecticide!

Observations of dark matter far out in the galaxy are reflected in images of mycelia. The information-carrying abilities of the human neural net and the complexity of the internet are echoed in the form and functions of mycelia. Stamets is a mushroom evangelist with a story to tell about fungal potential. Antibiotics? There's a 'shroom here that kills e. coli. Are you troubled by small pox or another viral threat? The solution to the problem—rare mushrooms—can be found in the old growth forests' floors. There are agaricoid mushrooms that can be used to make flu vaccine. Mushrooms can be bred to convert cellulose to ethanol. Mycelia may even be the answer to global warming. They absorb CO₂ and use it to produce oxalic acid, so the forest floor becomes one big carbon sink!

Mushrooms, mycelia, are at the root of biodiversity in the forest and we need them for the good they can do. But, regardless of what Stamets thinks—and I'll take his word for it that they're sentient—I refuse to believe that mushrooms invented the Internet.

(Photo credit: Adam Kinney, Flickr)