Simple and Natural Critter Ritters

Aphids are found on shrubs, potted plants, all garden plants and even trees. They can cause stunting, wilting, yellowing and eventually kill the plant. They insert their piercing mouth into the plant stem or leaves and proceed to suck the sap out of the plant and deposit honeydew, which attracts other insects.

Aphids generally appear in the fall.

They tend to transmit a number of diseases and are a serious threat to most gardens. If you use a high nitrogen fertilizer you will attract even more aphids.

Marigold Solution ~ Soak 15 mature diced up marigold plants in 5 pints of boiling water. Allow mixture to cool, then add 3 drops of liquid soap. Strain and spray on the affected areas. Make sure to spray the underneath sides of the leaves.

Oil Them Up ~ Mix 1 tablespoon of canola oil, add 3 drops of Ivory soap, add that to 1 quart of water and mix well. Put contents into a spray bottle and spray the plants from the top down and then from the bottom up making sure the underneath sides of the leaves are saturated.

Pepper Spray ~  1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce,  6 Cloves of Garlic,  1 Quart of warm tap water. Chop garlic up real fine, add tabasco sauce and the water. Let stand for 1 hour before straining it and placing it into a spray bottle. One teaspoon of cayenne pepper can be substituted for the tabasco sauce. 

Tobacco ~ Aphids love roses and can do a lot of damage. A good natural method is to bury a mixture of 1 cup tobacco (cigarettes are a good source, organic tobacco is better) mix with ½ cup of powdered garlic and 1 cup of compost mixed into the soil around the base of the bushes.

                                 Simple Tips To Help Your Pets

Fleas are usually brought into your home by your pet or visitor's pet. If you find one flea there is probably 100 more for everyone you find somewhere in your pets environment. Fleas can jump 150-200 times their body length and one pair of fleas can produce 250,00 more fleas or up to 1 trillion in a year! they are like little vampires and like warn-blooded hosts.

The most common flea is the "cat flea," which can be found on your dog. It is best to treat areas that fleas may frequent before you have a problem, because afterwards it is really hard to get rid of them.

The flea cycle is as follows: the flea jumps on your pet and has a warm blood meal. If your pet is not available, you are next. YUK! Once they have fed, they will mate and lay eggs (and they are not fussy where they lay them).

It will take 2-3 weeks to hatch the hundreds of eggs, which release small caterpillar-like (larvae) creatures, which feed on almost any organic matter they find. After it has fed, it spins a cocoon (pupae stage). When the flea is in the pupae stage it cannot be killed in the cocoon. No chemcal spray will penetrate the cocoon. When it hatches, you have more fleas! Treating your yard is one of the best methods of controlling the flea population. Professional help will be needed if you have a bad infestation.

One of the most common reasons your pets get fleas is they have dry, flaky skin, which makes it easier for the fleas to get a foothold and easier for them to obtain their meal of blood. If the animal gets aquainted with exercise they will not have as many fleas.

                           Simple and  Easy Recipes To Use On Your Pets

Basic Shampoo ~ 1/2 Cup Castile soap (grated), 2-1/2 Tbsp. of glycerin (from drug store), 3 drops of pine oil or any scent your pet likes, 2 Tbsp. of denatured alcohol, 1-1/2 Cups warm tap water. Place the soap and water in a double boiler and warm to melt the soap into the water, add glycerin and mix well. Remove pan from heat and allow mixture to cool. As it cools, add the alcohol and pine drops, mix well.

De-Burr-den Your Pet ~ If your pet gets burrs in their coat, apply a small amount of vegetable oil to the burr and allow it to remain for 5 minutes before combing it out. Sometimes if you crush the burr first with a pair of pliers it may quicken the removal.

Dog Spray ~ 1 Clove of garlic (crushed), 1 Small yellow onion (chopped fine), 1 Tsp. Tabasco Sauce, 1/2 Tsp. oil of peppermint, 1/2 Tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 Quart warm tap water. Place all ingredients in a large jar with a good lid and shake well. allow it to sit for 8 hours before placing it in a spray bottle. Spray you dogs favorite spot to dig in. The dog will dig no more, or sneeze a lot.

Earwax Remover ~ 1/2 Cup isopropyl alcohol, 10 Drops glycerin. Place ingredients in a small bottle, shake and mix well, then place a small amount (room temperature) on a cotton swab and clean your pets ears, very gently. Your pet will probably shake their head, which will help clean out the wax. Be careful to remove the swab if pet shakes their head to avoid damage to the eardrum.

Flea-Ade ~ Citrus oil is an excellent flea deterrent. slice up a lemon, score the skin to release more of the oil and then pour 1 cup of boiling water over the lemon, allow it to sit overnight. Use a clean sponge and sponge the lemon water on your pet to instantly kill the fleas. Its best to give your pet a bath afterwards or they will smell like lemonade. If you buy a citrus product be sure it has D-limonene in it, since this will also kill ticks.

Flea-A-Way Foods ~ Add a small amount of brewer's yeast, apple cidar vinegar or crushed garlic to your pets food, this will keep the fleas away. The garlic is questionable because he or she will smell garlicky for awhile. Brewer's yeast can be powdered on your pet and allowed to remain for 5-10 minutes before vacuuming the pet off.

Flea Collar ~ Do it yourself. Just soak a store bought leather collar in the lemon juice (citrus oil) solution. You can also use a piece of cloth with a velcro fastener. Most commercial flea collars use a pesticide, which are damaging to the enviroment.

Flea Eliminator in Pet's Bed ~ 1/2 Cup pennyroyal, 2 Tbsp. dried thyme, 2 Tbsp. dried wormwood, 2 Tbsp. dried rosemary. Place the herbs in a food processor and powder. Place the herbs inside your pets pillow/bed by opening up a seam, insert the powder and sew it back up making sure the podwer is evenly distributed. 

Flea Sores Ointment ~ 8 Ounces of lard, 4 Ounces of beeswax, 4 Ounces of rosin, 1/2 Ounce of carbolic acid. Place lard, beeswax and rosin in a double boiler and heat while stirring until melted, add the carbolic acid and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and allow the ointment to cool, then store in well-sealed container until needed.

Flea Powder ~ Powder 1/2 cup of the following herbs: wormwood, fennel, rue, and peppermint. Then dust your pet.

Mist Over Fleas ~ Daily spraying a fine mist prepared from Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap should do the trick. It needs to be done daily for the first week, then once a week for control for the next 4 weeks.

Paw-Chewing Cure ~ To cure a pet of paw chewing, paint the paw with a small amount of oil of cloves. This will stop them immediately from chewing and the look on their face is cute.

Pennyroyal Bath ~ Make a pot of pennyroyal tea, after it cools add it to your pets bathwater to eliminate fleas. Dreid pennyroyal works in your pets bedding to get rid of fleas also.

Pet's Bedding ~ To keep the fleas out of your pets bedding, sprinkle a few drops of lavender oil in their bed. Lavender oil can be purchased in most health food stores.

Sage ~ Fleas hate the odor of sage! Crush sage into a fine powder and rub it on your pets skin, allow it to remain 15-20 minutes before brushing it off or vacuuming it off if it is a big pet. Vacuuming a mini Chihuahuas is not a good idea or they may be staring out of the plastic dirt tank.  

Smelling Sweet Flea Shampoo ~ 1 Cup Castile Liquid soap, 1/8 Ounce of essential oil of pine, 1/8 Ounce of essential rose oil. Place all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake to mix well. Add the mixture to your pets bath water and the fleas will be quite unhappy.

Tea ~ A cup or two of cool peppermint tea added to your pets bath water will eliminate fleas very effectively.

Wash Those Fleas ~ Boil 1 quart of water, add 1 cup driend rosemary (you can use fresh). Cover the pot and allow mixture to steep intil it is cool. Use it to wash your pet, working it in. Make sure you rinse pet well.

                       Solutions To Slug And Snail Problems

The perferred meal for a slug is a succulent plant, their favorite...pansies. They feed different from any other insect in that they eat the leaf from the middle to the end, leaving you half a leaf. They do not like dry, cold weather or daylight and will hide under boards or debris. They feed at night and are easy to track since they leave a trail of slime.

Snails are hermaphrodites, which mean they contain both male and female sex organs and don not need another snail to mate. Snails are camable of producing over 300 eggs per day, which can lay dormant in the soil for up to 10 years.

Their breeding seasons are spring and fall. They love moisture and the dark, which is where they nest. Plain "cheap" beer attracts them and when they consume it, it has the ability to dry them out therefore killing them. Slugs and snails perfer a near beer and go crazy for Kingsbury Malt Beverage.

Barrier From The Sea ~ Kelp or dried seaweed will provide a barrier for slugs and snails while providing plants with an excellent source of trace minerals. Kelp is high in salt content, which the slugs and snails try to avoid at all cost.

Good For Plants-Bad For Snails ~ Alfalfa meal is a high nitrogen plant food. If sprinkled around plants it will supply the plant with nutrients and provide a barrier against slugs and snails. If you use alfalfa meal, make sure you do not water the plants for 244 hours after the treatment.

Hair ~ Hair can be used effectively to kill slugs and snails. Human or horse hair works great. The coarser the better. Scatter the hair around the areas the slugs and snails frequent and you can eliminate most of them. Horse hair especially will irritate their soft, moist skin to such a degree that they dehydrate themselves thrying to get rid of the hair that is clinging to them.

Happy Hour For Slugs and Snails ~ Mix 1 quart cheap beer, 1 teaspoon powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon white vinegar into wide jar lids or similar container and leave out in the garden. Baker's yeast may be substituted for the vinegar if you perfer. This mixture will kill off hundreds of slugs and snails in short order. The slugs will appreciate it if you put a tent over the beer so they will have some shade while they are dining.

Jungle Rain ~ 1-1/4 Tbsp. Brewer's yeast, 1 Quart very cheap beer, 1 Quart apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbsp. Jungle Rain, 1 Cup warm tap water, 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Place cheap beer and vinegar in a gallon bottle and shake. Add brewer's yeast and the water with the sugar dissolved, to the beer and vinegar solution and mix. Add the Jungle Rain, mix well and pour into small lids or holders that can easily be placed where snails hang out. This will attract every snail in the neighborhood and do them all in!

Mulch ~ If your mulch is high in oak leaves or seaweed it will stop the slugs and snails from coming into your garden.

Powder Them ~ Slugs and snails will not cross baby powder, flour or rock dust. Placing these powders around your plant beds will discourage them from entering.

Season Your Snails ~ Use a saltshaker and mix together 1 part iodized salt and 1 part cayenne pepper. Shake mixture on the slugs or snails to cause them to dehydrate and quietly pass away.

Shower Them ~ Shower them with ammonia. Fill a 1 quart bottle with warm tap water and add 1 Tbsp of household ammonia, then shake and spray the slugs and snails.

Never use poisons to get rid of slugs or snails. Most of the commercial poisons made to kill them will kill the birds if the birds eat them and can make your pet sick as well.