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Natural Tick Repellents and Easy Tick Control Tips

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TICKS – Everything you will read about avoiding or repelling ticks will have the word DEET in it. From the CDC to the EPA, they all recommend using DEET to protect yourself and those you love from blood-sucking ticks. Instead, I'd like to discuss Natural Tick Repellents, tick control, and tips to avoid getting bit. We also include recipes for tick repellents for humans and dogs made with essential oils, and how to remove a tick safely.

Natural tick repellent [Read more…] about Natural Tick Repellents and Easy Tick Control Tips

Queen Anne’s Lace – Butterfly Host Plant and Blueberry Protector

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queen anne's lace blossom

Today's featured weed is Queen Anne's Lace, Daucus Carota

Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota) is a biennial and is also known as Wild Carrot, Bird's Nest Weed, Bee's Nest, Devils Plague, garden carrot, Bird's Nest Root, Lace Flower, Rantipole, Herbe a dinde and Yarkuki. In some states it is designated as a noxious weed. Known as 野胡萝卜 in china.

The World Carrot Museum states that the name “‘Herbe a dinde' derives from its use as a feed for young turkeys – dinde.”  (Personally, I'd never heard of that name before. Maybe it's a UK thing?)   The Woodrow Wilson Foundation Leadership Programs for Teachers cites the origin of the name as follows:  “Queen Anne’s Lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, an expert lace maker. When she pricked her finger with a needle, a single drop of blood fell into the lace, thus the dark purple floret in the center of the flower.”
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Lavender – How to Grow It and Use It for Food, Medicine and More

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Harvested lavender

I tried to grow lavender as one of the first herbs I planted in my garden – and promptly killed it. Since then I learned to pay attention to what the plants need instead of where they'd look nice in the yard. In this post I'll share easy tips for helping your lavender plants to thrive, and some of my favorite lavender uses. It's a great garden plant for bees, and has a rich history of use as food and medicine. [Read more…] about Lavender – How to Grow It and Use It for Food, Medicine and More

How to Infuse Herbs in Oil, Water, Vinegar, Alcohol or Honey

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Red clover infusion

Looking for creative, easy ways to use homegrown herbs, or maybe you've tried some herb flavored oils or herbal vinegars and wondered about making your own? In this post we'll cover how to infuse herbs in oils, vinegars, alcohols and honey. With just a few simple steps, you can make your own delicious flavored cooking oils, such as garlic olive oil, quickly and inexpensively. [Read more…] about How to Infuse Herbs in Oil, Water, Vinegar, Alcohol or Honey

Prickly Wild Lettuce – Garden Lettuce’s Wild Cousin – Weekly Weeder #24

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Prickly Wild lettuce - Lactuca Serriola - also known as opium lettuce. Range and identification, uses for food and medicine, organic controls.

Today’s featured plant is Prickly Wild Lettuce, Lactuca serriola.

Prickly Wild Lettuce is also known as opium lettuce, wild lettuce, wild opium, horse thistle, China lettuce and prickly lettuce. Its medicinal properties are similar to Lactuca virosa, which is also known as wild lettuce. [Read more…] about Prickly Wild Lettuce – Garden Lettuce's Wild Cousin – Weekly Weeder #24

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