Archive for the 'Outdoors' Category

May 7, 2008 | Outdoors, Being Green, Shopping

I just found an awesome tool to get kids excited about earth, the cycle of life, and where food comes from. Check out these awesome toys from HSP Nature Toys:

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April 7, 2008 | Outdoors, Being Green

Even the mere thought of a mosquito bite makes my skin itch! I haven’t stopped scratching since I sat down!

When somebody wrote in asking about natural insect repellents for their children it made me realize that I had no idea what I would be using as a bug repellent for MY OWN kid! The pursuit of a safe and natural repellent began! (more…)

March 28, 2008 | Outdoors, Being Green

Here at Broomhuggers we love to find new ways to use things that would normally get thrown away! Kathy just wrote a great post on what to do with your left over bacon grease to dispose of it and a reader asked if you could use bacon grease to make seed balls for the birds. Asked and answered!!!

Recipe #1 (more…)

February 2, 2008 | Outdoors, Organics

What do you do to control bugs and little critters on your vegetable garden? Are you ready for this? (Drum roll please…) Rhubarb!

Rhubarb leaf tea, that is. Next time you buy some rhubarb to make your fantastic strawberry-rhubarb pie, don’t discard the leaves. (more…)

January 13, 2008 | Outdoors, Health, Lifestyle

Of all the places to come across a fascinating, well-thought out argument, I was surprised to see one in “Drive” - the Subaru magazine. It talks about how the way children see and experience nature has changed drastically within the space of a few decades.

“Well-meaning public school systems, media, and parents are effectively scaring children straight out of the woods and fields.”

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December 11, 2007 | Outdoors, Health, Organics, Pregnancy

The December issue of Environmental Health Perspectives has an interesting article that links childhood cancers - Acute Leukemia and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma - to the mother’s use of or exposure to pesticides and insecticides during pregnancy.

It’s based on a study done in France that looked at non-agricultural families. This is the first study to test the effects of pesticides and insecticides used in domestic situations, and it found startling results. Even moms who only used pesticides or insecticides once during their pregnancy have children with increased rates of leukemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In fact, the rate increases two-fold. That’s right, children whose mothers used insecticides inside or outside the home during pregnancy were twice as likely to develop hematopoietic cancers.

What qualifies as pesticides or insecticides? Any chemical-based application of insecticide to rid the home, pets, or garden of crawling or flying pests, any herbicidal ‘weed-killer,’ or any fungicide to get rid of mold. The conclusion therein is that pregnant mommies avoid such products both during the pregnancy and preferably while nursing an infant as well. We might draw similar conclusions that if those chemicals are harmful to the developing fetus, they might also cause due harm on anyone with a suppressed immune system - the elderly, children, or the infirm.

Just another reason to take steps toward the organic side of life.

Note: When I googled hematopoietic cancers, I also came across studies linking these specific cancers to pregnant mommies’ use of chemical hair dyes, consumption of aspartame sweetener, and exposure to ethylene oxide (a sterilizing agent).

July 11, 2007 | Outdoors, Lifestyle

When you have kids around, or just when you’re concerned about things like, oh, the balance of the ecosystem, there’s a little thing inside you that gets irked by the thought of pesticides. Did you know that you can spray or drop some pure vinegar on your weeds and it’ll kill most of them? You can buy the regular vinegar or the organic - I’ve found them to be virtually indistinguishable (except that the organic is, oh, about 3 times the price).

It works really well for those annoying little shoots that come up in the seams of your sidewalk or driveway. Regular household vinegar is 5% strength, and some of the heartier weeds may need a stronger vinegar. But until you’re ready to distill your own, go ahead and try the white vinegar in your pantry on those pesky weeds. Remember, in a drought you want to do all you can to pamper your plants - and that means zapping weeds before they can zap your plants!

Note: I’m far from being a green thumb, but this is one thing that works for me in my garden.� For more Works for Me tips, head over to Rocks in My Dryer!

July 4, 2007 | Reviews, Outdoors, Shopping, Lifestyle

Lots of areas in the US are experiencing severe drought right now, and many are exercising water restrictions. Here’s a nifty idea to salvage those trees and plants without draining your municipal water supply.

Landscape USA sells Aqua Cones -6 for $12.99. They screw on to the top of 2-liter soda bottles, and you insert the cone into the ground. They give water directly to the roots, where it’s most needed. That way water isn’t wasted on leaves or in places where it will quickly evaporate.

The truly green-minded will save ‘waste’ water from the tap - from washing dishes, or from waiting for the water to warm up.