(DF) SPIDERS IN THE GARDEN ....natural pest control at it's finest

As you may have noticed from other posts, I REALLY don't like pesticides.  There are many reasons for my thoughts and feelings on this subject, but a deep appreciation of bugs eating my garden is certainly not one of them.  In fact, I find few things more disappointing than going to the garden and finding my beautiful veggies chewed up by bugs.  With that said, bugs are still more welcome than poison.  I will go deeper into my reasons in a future post, but for now, please trust that there are serious reasons.                                                                                                              
With the consideration of catching and smashing each and every one of the nasty little creatures by hand being less than practical, if not totally impossible, some help is needed.  This is where the spiders come in.  Yes, I did say SPIDERS. Spiders are wonderful creatures, which, with few exceptions, are harmless to humans.  They do, however, spend their lives eating relative large numbers of insects ....... insects that are not necessarily welcome guests in the garden.  Granted, spiders can't eat all the bugs that come into the garden, and they do also eat some of the beneficial insects that we would like to see more of. When you consider that pesticides don't quite kill all the bad bugs and the good ones are generally more susceptible to toxins than the pests, the spiders are certainly no worse.

Pesticides have not been used in my garden since long before I bought the place, and in the absence of toxins, bugs thrived.  At least they thrived at first.  With an ample food source, spiders soon began to come into the area.  These spiders are among a group known as wolf spiders because of their behavior of stalking their prey rather than trapping it in a web (they are also known as grass spiders).  After a few years without toxins and with the presence of plenty of food, the population of a couple of the smaller species of these spiders exploded.  As a direct result, the population of insects in the garden dropped.

The spiders in question come in several sizes ranging from a leg span of smaller than a dime to larger than the average tarantula and with a bit of color variation.  Most of the ones in my garden are small, the size of a dime or slightly larger and light colored (as shown in the picture above), though some are the darker variety.  They are seldom seen and are in fact a little hard to find during the day, but at night they are out in force.  To shine a bright flashlight on my garden at night reveals many pinpoints of light reflected from their eyes, showing that the night crew are on the job, taking care of the unwanted pests.

Thanks to these hungry predators, a garden at Daves farm is possible, and without killing off all the other creatures that are more welcome (or better yet, important to production).  Unlike pesticides, they don't kill off all the pollinators such as bees.  As evidenced by the other two pics, they also leave some of the other beneficial insects and small creatures in the garden (though you can't tell from this pic, the turtle is a baby, only the size of a quarter).  As an added bonus, they are entertaining to watch, if you are morbidly fascinated by predator/prey relationships.  Alright, I know that I am easily amused but it saves money on movie rental. 

Yes, there will be more bugs in the garden without pesticides, but I personally believe it is worth the difference in light of the dangers of pesticides.  I will go into the dangers of pesticides to humans and the environment soon, in a future post, but for now, please be kind to the spiders.  They are our garden friends.

PHARMACY FRIDAY - Saline Nasal Spray

Yes, it is still allergy season here, hard and heavy. Actually, they say that it is one of the absolute worst we have ever experienced. I have to firmly agree! Grocery stores are selling loads of fresh ginger and honey. And over-the-counter sinus medications are flying off the shelves. But the one item I hear everyone talking the most about getting to help relieve their noses and sinuses is the Saline Nasal Spray.

It's just salt water, right? That's what everyone, including doctors, says it is. That is what 'they' want you to believe. I may be mostly salt water, but there is so much more in that little squeeze bottle of salt and water. One ingredient is even listed as "not for human consumption." Now just how much more 'consumption' can you get than squirting something up your nose into your mucus membranes?!

A little over a month ago, in desperation to get relief for my sinuses and nose, I, too, purchased a bottle of this inexpensive, salty liquid, completely unaware that there was more to it than just salt and sterilized water. Not long after I used it, I had a bad reaction. I thought that was odd so I decided to look more closely at the ingredient list (I am a hopeless label reader).  Here is what I found it contained....

Benzalkonium Chloride

Disodium Phosphate

Phenylcarbinol

Monosodium Phosphate

Water

Benzalkonium Chloride - What is it and what does it do? It kills germs and is one of the effective ingredients in ...... Lysol! Let me tell you, I would NOT want to squirt Lysol up my nose! This ingredient is very dangerous. According to a Hazardous Data Sheet, Benzalkonium Chloride is corrosive to the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract. Even worse, they strongly warn not to ever let this stuff into the environment. And we are suppose to put it into our bodies?!
Wikipedia states that Benzalkonium chloride can cause death if taken internally. Now, when I was still in school, I learned in my science classes that one of the fastest ways to get a medication into our bodies is through our mucus membranes, primarily our nose!  Wikipedia also states that a solution of 10% or more is toxic to humans, yet it is the FIRST ingredient listed on the label! It can cause swelling in the nose, which appears it could actually worsen the problem that it was being used for. And the latest scientific evidence shows that it may even cause birth defects! Just the first ingredient alone is enough to make me toss this dangerous liquid out. But wait.... I can't. It should NEVER be entered into the environment. Oh, and be careful, it may be in your eye drops, too.

Disodium Phosphate -  this is formed by mixing together sodium hydroxide and phosphoric acid. It is used in the industrial industry as a corrosion inhibitor (remember, the first ingredient is corrosive). It is used as a pesticide. It is also used as an emulsifier and a preservative. See more here. It can cause irritation of the respiratory system. Now, in a nasal spray, that doesn't make sense!!!  In one breath they say it is safe in small amounts... then in the other they say that, in its pure form, it can be toxic. It is listed on my bottle as only the second ingredient, so there is a lot of it in there. This stuff is scary, and I never realized how many things it is used in! I am going to have to look closer at the ingredients in one of my blood pressure meds, since it is also used in medications designed for excess fluid elimination. Here is the data sheet. 

Phenylcarbinol - aka Benzyl Alcohol - It is used to kill bacteria and is a local anesthetic. It is oxidized rapidly in healthy people, but it isn't healthy people that are reaching for the Saline Nasal Sprays. The safety of this chemical is questionable, although it doesn't appear to be as harmful as the first two mentioned.  Here is more information from Wikipedia. Personally, I prefer NOT to squirt anything up my nose that is used as a paint, lacquer, epoxy solvent!

Monosodium Phosphate - It is an acid salt found in dental products used for its enamel restoring qualities...  huh, so why is it in my nasal spray? It is also known as a laxative. It can be hard on the kidneys. In combination with other sodium phosphates, it is used as a pH buffer, which would be my guess as to why it is in nasal spray. Still, it certainly doesn't sound very safe. It can also be irritating to the respiratory tract, which, in a nasal spray, doesn't make sense!! Here is some more information about it at Livestrong.

and, for the FINAL ingredient in my little $1 bottle of Saline Nasal Spray . . . . .

Water - No where on that bottle does it say that water has been sterilized, nor even purified or distilled. It just says 'water'. It could be directly out of the tap, which is NOT something you want to put up your nose!

So, there you have it! That is what all is in your little bottle of Saline Nasal Spray. I don't know about you, but I'm not sticking that stuff up my nose again! Visit here for a little more interesting reading on the subject.


So, what to do.... make your own! Here is the simple recipe given to my family by a trusted doctor:

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

8 oz. water (distilled or boiled - NOT tap)

Stir well until all is dissolved. Dissolves best if water is warm or hot. Let cool COMPLETELY before using! I have made it without the baking soda, but the baking soda helps with the pH of the solution. Personally, I prefer just 1/4 tsp. of baking soda, but the above is the doctor's actual recipe. 

And that little bottle I bought? It wasn't a total waste. It made a GREAT cleaner for my eye glasses!

(AF) Flea Market Finds

We've rolled around to the start of yet another flea market weekend and I haven't shown you the wonderful 'finds' we got last weekend. Last Friday was too cold, windy and with a threat of rain, so no one opened that day. As far as my sales went the rest of the weekend... Saturday's sales were so-so, and Sunday's were almost non-existent. But I DID get some really good deals! So I keep telling myself that the savings was worth going for.

I was sooo excited to find that 3-tier China serving plate! I have been, piece-by-piece, building that set as I find pieces at flea markets. I love roses and am setting that set aside for "girl time" occasions. It may be hard to see, but the dessert plates are the Golden Rhapsody (lily of the valley) Japan Porcelain. I have barely gotten started, but am trying to put together a set of them for mine and Dave's "Sunday Best & Special occasion" type meals. The brown 'pan' is clay and says something about Germany on the bottom. I have never seen one like it before but, I think it will be great to bake a round type of bread that I make in it. It has a tiny chip in the end of the handle, but not a problem for using. It is so unique and I fell in love with it. I do wish it could talk and tell me about its life! The tiny little bowl is thick, sturdy, and I could think of lots of uses for it. Then on the left, those 3 pieces are all part of a tea cup... one to use for brewing loose teas, which I really needed. I have 2 big bags of loose tea and it is such a hassle to try and get it all crammed into one of those mesh tea spoons. All of that together came to less than $5.

When Dave can't be there with me, I look around and tell him over the phone what new stuff is there. This time, when I told him about the manual meat slicer, he had to have it! He had been wanting one, it is really nice, and it was super cheap!

I spent a dollar on the items in the pic below. The bowl was half price. It is white glass, not sure if it is milk glass, but it is a great, small mixing bowl... good and solid. The coffee cups will be great for large hot chocolates. I am kind of nutty about coffee cups and have a never ending collection of them, seems I just keep adding to it, too. These were a quarter each. And I forgot to add in the nice China one that says "Sanka" across it that I got for a dime.

Here are two more pictures of the tea cup set so that you can see them better:

Now, I can't wait to bake Dave some bread in that wonderful clay pan and eat it together on our new little Vintage plates!

(AF) UNUSUAL ROCKS!

Here on Anna's Farm, I find the coolest, neatest, most unusual rocks. Finding them is the only thing that keeps the enormous harvest of rocks around here, that always surpasses my veggie harvests, from being a total annoyance and frustration.

I have searched high and low, hard and heavy, but have been unable to find out any information about these types of rocks.  I would really like to know something about them .... how they were formed, the history behind them, etc. So, if you recognize them, and/or know anything about them at all, we would greatly appreciate any information you could share with us.

 Above is one Dave and I found one day while on a walk in my woods. Isn't it interesting?!

 And here are some more very unusual ones:

By looking at it sideways, can you see the 2 eyes, nose and funky looking chin?

That last one looks like a juice/milk/syrup pitcher or gravy boat from the Flintstones! It even has a flat bottom and a pour spout!

Anyone know anything about any of these rocks? We would love to know! Thanks for taking the time to look at them.

TIGHTWAD TUESDAY - Stretching the Gardening Dollar

I had to run into our local retail store yesterday to purchase a 9-volt battery. The one in my soap making scale finally died and I just don't trust making soaps that I sell at market without measuring precisely. But oh, how I do wish there was some way to make those darned batteries last longer! Is there a precision scale that doesn't require batteries or electricity?

Okay, I am straying from my own topic. While I was in the store, I of course had to take a few minutes to see what new plants they might have gotten in in the garden section. I am on the search for a German Johnson tomato to try. They didn't have any, yet, but they did have the Bradley and the Mr. Stripey heirloom tomatoes. They look yummy and I really want to try them. I tried them last year, but our extreme heat and drought zapped them before they ever really got started, so I am going to try them again.

I also found a mini White Eggplant that looked interesting. I have yet to find an eggplant that I like, but they are so pretty that I still like growing them. I especially like the blooms.... they make a beautiful flower, even if you don't like the veggie that follows, and you can always find someone that wants the veggie part. But this one said that the skin stayed tender and it never got bitter. Wow! Those are the two things that I don't like about an eggplant. I like it when I first bite into one, but I don't like the toughness and I especially don't like the bitter whang. So I got one to try.

So.... how do I pick my plants, you might wonder? Of course, I want the most for my money ... so I fumble around all the plants to find the ones that have the most in them, especially the tomatoes as they are easiest to separate and promote new root growth.

I don't remember how much, exactly, the eggplants were, I think around $2.99. Yes, a bit much, but it is really getting too late to start them from seeds and I managed to find a pot that had 4 plants in it. So that is less than a dollar a plant, MUCH better than that price for just one annual plant! (I am hoping they separate easily. I have never tried to separate any before). Although that still sounds a bit pricey, if I can save the seeds from them (hoping they come back true), that will be the only time I purchase them. Since seeds for specialty plants run around that much, and these are already up and growing, I figure it is still a pretty good deal.

Then there were the two tomatoes. They were in the $1 plants (actually they said 98¢ but rang up at the register as $1). They were all one plant to a pot. But I was determined to find one with more than one plant, so I took my time, gently inspecting all the pots (I am sure those behind the surveillance cameras got a kick). There use to be several plants to EVERY pot, but the growers are much more careful about it now, snipping off all the excess plants (such a waste!!!) to be sure and keep those sales up, because people like me will only buy one if we can find one with several in it. Actually, I would still only buy one, but I prefer one with more if I can find it, stretching my dollar as far as it will go. And, as luck had it, I found what I was looking for on both tomatoes. Tucked away in the back, hiding up under all the larger leaves, was one of each of the two types of tomatoes with 4 plants each in them! Yea!!!

Those tomatoes look really close together and impossible to separate, but they aren't, really. You do have to separate them carefully, and you will lose some roots, but tomato plants put on new roots (further up the stem) fairly easily. As long as they have quite a bit of roots on them, it works great. Once they are separated out (may have to use a knife tip to gently help separate them), you remove any lower stems there might be (pinch them off), plant the the plants half-way or more up their stem leaving at least one leaf set above the ground, and new roots will form all along the buried portion of the stem, creating a very strong plant. So, with 4 plants in each $1 pot, that is only 25¢ per plant! I think that is pretty good!

But it gets even better. Those two tomato plants are heirlooms (Bradley and Mr. Stripey), meaning that any seeds from them will come back true. So if I can be sure to successfully save seeds from both of them (assuming the heat doesn't get them again), I will not have to purchase this variety of tomatoes again. I will have all the future tomatoes of these varieties for as long as I garden, for just $2. The plants are already up, growing good, and even better, their cost is much less than the price of a package of seeds. *whew... takes a breath*  So, where some people might see three plants sitting there in that pic, I see not only a full row, but many, many future rows full!  And to carry this one final step further, my savings will be even greater if, at some future date, I can swap seeds from these for seeds of varieties I don't have. What a wonderful bounty!!!