Dear Subscribers,

Last year some time, Dan came by to cut down two trees that were terminally ill and threatening the house. He noticed at the time that my roof had a lot of moss. The next time he came, he brought some moss products but when I read the labels and online MSDS, I nixed his idea and decided to conjure up something more environmentally friendly. I made a number of batches right before Christmas and we tried each on a different section of the roof, including the roof over the garage which is almost as big at the roof over the house since the house has two levels. He sprayed the mixtures on a very cold day in the dead of winter and about ten days later, someone who dropped by commented on the pervasive smell of cloves. Sensitive as I am, I ceased to notice the aroma after a couple of days, but this not being Sri Lanka, the scent must have seemed quite in keeping with the season.

Now, it's summer and we have had a chance to evaluate our results. Dan says the moss died right away. Over time, the moss blackens and crumbles . . . and I suppose the handwriting is on the wall about how the gutters are going to navigate to the top of the to do list.

Moss Results

Here are the finals: all concoctions appeared to work equally well. Each contained 1-2 oz. of clove oil and a biodegradable detergent with surfactants (to make the oil adhere) and another carrier. They were diluted in water and sprayed with the same sort of pump used to spread herbicides. Since all worked, there is no point in providing brand names, but suffice it to say, we used one of the eco conscious liquid dishwashing detergents with natural fragrances and an additional cleaner, also completely natural. The roof looks great and I am estimating that slightly less than 4 oz. of clove oil was used with 7 oz. of detergent and 11 oz. of other cleaners. A fourth bottle that I mixed up was not needed. The cost was less than that of the commercial products, worked easily and without the need of additional applications. Since the clove and other essential oils used as fragrances were completely natural and hexane-free as well as volatile, they would have been safe for plants even if they managed to make contact before vaporizing completely. I'm looking into getting a slightly less expensive clove oil, still pure but not therapeutic grade, for such external uses. The quality I used was the same as in my diffusing blend for serious aromatherapy.

Mosquito Repellents

So, while on the subject of oils, after a somewhat challenging gardening year, things are finally in full swing here, but so are the mosquitoes and other critters. I was being eaten alive until I decided to take my own medicine. I tried citronella in various forms: wearable aromatherapy "art" and application to my clothing.

Here is my personal assessment of the pros and cons. I hate things around my neck so I put the wearable carrier into a pocket. The smell is very intense but when coming back into the house, it can be placed in a box with a tight fitting lid. When I put a bit on my clothing (test first unless you are wearing things in the yard that can risk a spot or two), I felt much more protected, but then I wanted reprieve from the odor and the only way was to change clothes. The mosquitoes are so aggressive that they are biting through apparel, that is, until I put this on, but the problem is I don't actually like the smell very much. I could handle practically an indefinite amount of cinnamon oil or perhaps even myrrh, but citronella is not on my let's get intimate list. I suspect this is why it works!

Energy Follows Thought

Okay, I slipped up and have been lazy at times. Thursday, I was trying out a line trimmer and one of my ankles is a wreck. To give this a context, I spent time this week discussing various skin diseases with a student of Ayurveda who had sent videos from her university showing the progress during treatment, especially for psoriasis, but also for a number of other quite unsightly conditions. I looked at my ankle and thought to enroll as a patient. It is very, very red, incredibly itchy, and now has a raised area with an exudate that I decided to study a bit. It had dead parasites, methinks thanks to the Boswellia serrata I took before bed last night. However, most of the white blood cells were also dead which tells me something is very toxic, but localized (I hope).

I'm babbling about this because while it's not summer everywhere in the world, it is here and the citronella and parasite herbs have not been in high demand when realistically, this is exactly when they should be used, says I while desperately disciplining myself to avoid scratching. I know what some of you are thinking! You want to know whether this is going to be the nudge that makes me tackle Lyme disease or Morgellons. I did not see anything resembling a spirochete or the nanotechnologies that appear to be associated with Morgellon's. However, it doesn't mean that I am not thinking, studying, and raging inwardly about something. Can't say a thing yet about tomorrow, but today, my passion is more focused on general environmental issues and not the specific discomfort that has me sitting indoors on a crisp, spring-like day.

Food

I am, of course, always cogitating and reflecting, always trying to perfect my relationship to the environment as well as to learn. I awakened thinking of how much more effort continues to be needed to live in a biologically ethical manner. Then, a colleague sent me a link to the Alex Jones videos on food:

I have never forwarded a link to AJ because his style is so uncomfortable, but he makes big points swiftly in these videos even though he goofed up on Tom's of Maine. It was bought by Colgate-Palmolive in 2006 and then Sir Tom began reading infomercials on fluoride on the radio, very annoying to say the least.

You'd think by now that I would have found another drum to beat and that there would be some reprieve from my fanaticism over what we call food and medicine, but honestly, we can't stop until we have solved this biggest of all threats to survival.

Now, as another small reminder, I bought 8 ears of organic corn last week and gave another one to the cockatoos yesterday. They are enjoying it immensely, but they tossed all the corn in their seed mix onto the floor as they have been doing all along. They know the difference even if millions and millions of people do not.

Pet Parasites

People write all day long about how to administer parasite medication to their pets. Here is my quick answer. The birds are all different. Sky and Celeste like cinnamon and they will sometimes put the cinnamon sticks into their water and sometimes split them like feathers and wash themselves with them and sometimes just use them for beak exercise. However, Fiesta hates cinnamon, told the animal communicator it stinks and that he never will eat it, but he loves cardamom and chili peppers. Savika likes the herbal glycerites and will ingest them when put in her water. All of them seem fine, but I need to be more careful of myself!

Cats are more finicky than dogs, but they like the taste of some herbs and I always found they respond exceptionally well to astragalus, but it's more of an immune herb. I don't however see why they couldn't be coaxed to ingest parasiticides as well.

For horses, and lots of people have been writing about horses lately, the best solution is to have a wide mixture of herbs in the meadows. When I was a child, I would rush out at sunset to find the wishing star and wish for a horse, but the wish never came true. I have, however, fallen in love with some horse patients. What I learned from them is definitely worth sharing. To a very large extent, they are victims of the people world and their food is often dry, sometimes moldy. Their stables are sometimes less than pristine. In Nature, they would roam. One of my mentors was a handsome chap named Gallagher who craved the herbs so much that he licked between my fingers. What I noticed was that every day, he fussed a bit, couldn't wait to stick his nose into my "black bag" and what he loved one day, he skipped the next. For a while, I discussed the concept of a horse hospital built like a medicinal ranch. Lots of people leaped with the idea but I don't think it has manifested. Ideally, the place would have countless different types of herbs so that the horses could pick and choose and self-medicate.

Okay, I am going to recline with a book and hopefully, next time I stand up, it won't be such an effort.

Blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2010

Parasite Protocols for Children || Blood Parasites || Types of Parasites
Miniature Snakes || Fashions in Medicine || How Parasites Die || Spirochetes
Moss amd Mosquitoes || Mosquito Bites || Artemisia Annua || Wormwood || Bitter Taste

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