Organic Garden Pest Control

Gardening is a bit tricky when you are not using any chemicals. I decided that if I was going to have a garden it must be organic. It requires quite a bit of weeding by going this way, and it also requires alternative insect control. This is how I stumbled upon food grade diatomaceous earth, otherwise knows as DE. Apparently this is the bees knees when it comes to killing bugs and the sort. It is safe enough to consume yourself, and you can put it on your animals, and even feed it to them. It gets rid of everything apparently.

Yesterday I spread it out around the garden. It is supposed to take a couple days or even a week to get rid of everything. Because it isn't a chemical it isn't going to be a instant fix. However, I will gladly wait because it is safe enough that I don't even have to wash it off of my vegetables before I eat them. This is a trade I will gladly make over the non-organic bug control. I will let you know in a few days how it is going with the bugs. I have read many reviews though, and I am pretty sure it is going to get rid of them.


Have you tried DE? Did it work for you?

Want to get good quality essential oils? Click here.

My (huge) garden.

I have a huge garden. It would be a large garden for anyone, but it is especially big considering the fact that it is my very first garden, I'm taking care of it mostly by myself, and I have a one year old that demands 97% of my time. What do I have planted in this huge garden you ask? Well let me just tell you...

Corn
Radishes
Beets
Carrots
Garlic
Onions
Tomatoes
Squash
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Peppers (banana, bell, hot)
Okra
Strawberries

I have several plants of everything. Most of the stuff has more then one row. That isn't including my herbs or flowers.

Oh, did I mention that it is 100% organic? Yeah, basically that means I have crazy amounts of grass and weeds growing in it and the only way to get rid of them is by pulling them or hoeing them. Our tiller is broken, the one we borrowed had to be returned to the owner (it didn't work right either, so it wasn't the best anyway) so I can't even get between the rows tilled to help knock back some of the weeds and grass. I have no idea what to do with 300 beets. I have radishes coming out my ears, and my poor squash is so big they are starting to break at the base. I know next year will be a lot better because not only will we have more time to plan and prep the ground, we will also have experience. My son will be a year older so that will maybe make things easier, and I will hopefully have a better idea of what I am doing. However, none does me any good today. Because today I have this beautiful garden that really needs some tender loving care, and I just can't seem to provide all it needs.

Incase you didn't know, we just moved into our house a month and a half ago. This is the reason I didn't have much time to prep and plan out my garden better, or get more reliable tiller.

Want to get good quality essential oils? Click here.

A real day, of real food.

Today was a normal day. We didn't go anywhere (which is more common then a day where we go into town), and it seems our sleep/eat routine was right about normal. So I decided today would be a good day to take note of what we eat to share with you. Breakfast and lunch and the snacks are for my 9 month old and myself. Dinner is for us and my husband.

Breakfast: we both had a fresh pear cut into chunks, oatmeal with a little coconut oil and maple syrup.

Snack: the little man had; homemade apple/pear pouch, homemade granola bar. I had; homemade granola bar.

Lunch: the little man had; carrots (sliced and boiled till soft), sweet potato (boiled chunks), leftover pork chop. I ate; leftover pork chop, and leftover quinoa.

Snack: the little man had; the rest of his fruit pouch, and a fresh apple (sliced and peeled). I had; a homemade granola bar and a couple homemade marshmallows.,

Dinner: stir-fry with whole grain noodles. The stir-fry consisted of...chicken breast, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, tomatoes, orange and yellow bell pepper, sweet potato, mushrooms, and yellow squash.

Evening snack: arrowroot cookie for the little man, and homemade pineapple ice cream for my husband and I.

Of course the little man breastfed throughout the day so this wasn't his only nourishment. This is a typical day of real food in our house. What do you eat?

Real food.

We have chosen to eat real food because that processed boxed/fast food junk simply isn't good for you. Never mind that it is expensive, isn't even tasty, and makes us feel bad. Real food that is made from wholesome healthy ingredients tastes so much better, cost less (once you get started and have some ingredients already on hand), and is SO very much healthier! It doesn't even take that long to prepare a good, healthy, homemade meal. In the photo is another reason we are choosing real food. If it doesn't break down, or mold, ect, then it isn't real food and we should not be eating it! We are still doing a very limited amount of processed things just because we don't have our garden up and going yet (like canned tomatoes from the store as opposed to ones I canned from my garden). Once we have our garden this spring, and our fruit trees start bearing fruit we will be buying even less at the store. In the mean time there is so much we can do to better our food. Right now when we go food shopping our motto is "if it has ingredients that we wouldn't use at home, can't pronounce, or don't know what it is exactly we do not buy it". This is a big step from just buying what looked good. In addition, we are not eating fast food. If it doesn't come from a locally owned, small chain, regular type diner/restaurant that uses mostly fresh ingredients then we just simply eat at home or bring food with us when we are out. These are our first steps to being healthier, less dependent on outside sources for food, and striving to live better. What are you doing to achieve this?