Under Your Toes ~ Organic Lawns, Safe Beaches / #87 July 25, 2007

Home Spa Lady's
Tips of the Week
Issue # 87 - July 24, 2007
Publisher: Marilee Tolen RN
mailto:marilee777@aol.com
http://www.HomeSpaLady.com
http://www.HomeSpaLady.com/blog (Blog)
Home Spa Lady (TM)

Circulation: 1741

=====================================

Make Every Day A Spa Day!

=====================================

Please forward this e-newsletter to anyone you know who is
interested in natural health, wellness, healing, and beauty based
on principles of energy, consciousness, spirituality, personal
empowerment, delicious whole foods, cleansing and detoxification
of the body and mind, and having a heck of a good time!


================================
In This Issue
================================

1. Under Your Toes ~ Organic Lawns, Safe Beaches

2. How To Make Compost Tea for Your Garden

3. Essential Oil Tip: Natural Herbicides

4. Success Tip: Abraham Lincoln

5. Recipe of the Week: Dandelion Greens

6. HSL's Joke or Cute Quote of the Week


================================================
1. Under Your Toes ~ Organic Lawns, Safe Beaches
================================================

I love going barefoot, especially in the summer.

Summertime is an invitation for all of us to connect our
uncovered feet with our favorite terrain.

Whether it's using our toes to pull up blades of grass or
wiggling our feet in sandy beaches - there is a pleasurable,
intimate, and healthy connection that we make with the earth. . .
unless it's tainted with unhealthy bacteria or chemicals.

It is not easy to know where to safely put our bare feet, except
in our own controlled environment like our back yards.

Public places are especially difficult to know unless they have
the good sense to let people know if the area has been treated
with something or if the area is unsafe.

Beaches can have high levels of undesirable bacteria (usually e.
coli) and we might not know it until it is closed down by the
municipality. Water can be unsafe for swimming and unnatural
bacteria can affect the shore line and the sand.

Many lawns and public grassy areas can be loaded with chemicals
to kill weeds and make the grass grow greener and thicker.
Sometimes we are forewarned with little white flags bearing the
universal NO symbol over icons of pets and children. In other
words - "the chemicals placed on the lawn are harmful".

I am much more aware of this now that I have my dog Prin whom I
walk in neighborhoods and parks. I appreciate those little white
flags because I know when to stay away. I love seeing grassy
areas that have weeds and clover where I know I can safely let
Prin and my bared feet run loose.

I've been reading about organic lawn care. Although I have a
natural lawn care service that is pesticide and chemical free, I
know from my experience with essential oils and eating cultured
foods that there are a variety of ways that we can "let nature
take care of nature".

At the Young Living Farms out in Mona, Utah, where acres and
acres of organic farming abound, we can witness goats eating
weeds. There is a secret recipe of essential oils specifically
for killing bugs and weeds which is called the "ho, ho, ho"
formula. If any of you HSL readers out there who are YL fanatics
like me know what is in this formula - please email me. I
actually don't think it is a secret recipe - I believe YL would
be very open to sharing this - but for some reason it has picked
up that reputation.

Now most of us aren't about to go out and buy goats, but we might
consider composting (compost is a mixture of varying decaying
organic substances used for fertilizing soil
(http://www.howtocompost.org).

Organic landscapers and professional lawn care companies who are
using natural mixtures of compost teas and potions of good
bacteria are "sprouting up" in various areas.

A 2004 survey from the National Gardening Association showed that
5% of us are using organic means for fertilizers, and weed and
insect control. They expect that number to double to 10% by 2009.


Tips for organic lawn care:

--Let your grass grow higher (3 " blades)

--Twice a year mow low (2 ")

--Leave grass clippings on lawn

--Water between 12 midnight and 8 am every few days

--Weed control:
----Over-seed the lawn in the spring
----Pull weeds by hand, or use a fish-tail weeder;
----Spot-treat weeds with an equal mix of vinegar and water
----Re-seed bare areas where weeds have been pulled.

--Attract or purchase natural enemies:
----Lure birds with sunflowers and zinnias
----Buy ladybugs at a garden supply store
----Get a toad for your garden

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/26ofte


Tips to help keep our beaches clean:

--Report pollution sources

--Be a responsible beachgoer - bring trashbags

--Don't feed the birds or other animals

--Don't empty waste in water if boating


CDC State Healthy Swimming Information in the United States
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/state.htm


===========================================
2. How To Make Compost Tea for Your Garden
===========================================

by Yvonne Perry

Would you like to give your garden a boost of natural fertilizer?

Here's a way to make your own by using garden clippings and
leftovers from your kitchen.

I enjoy taking a cup of tea or coffee outside to my "thinking"
spot as my 5-year-old grandson calls it, and enjoy the beauty of
nature around me.

I noticed that some of my plants look like they could use a
boost, perhaps some fertilizer, but I'm not into putting
chemicals into my body or my garden.

I found a great natural recipe for compost tea that I'd like to
share with you. It takes a few weeks to prepare, but you'll only
need a few organic ingredients. If you have a compost pile, you
won't have to buy a thing to get started.

Composting is a great way to get rid of your meatless kitchen
scraps, and provide natural nourishment for all your plants. Use
grass clippings, leaves, plant material, and any uncooked scraps
from the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.

Compost Tea

½ Cup Epsom Salt (optional)
5 gallons of non-chlorinated water (rainwater is perfect)
5 pounds of compost (stinging nettle or alfalfa meal may be
substituted)

--Mix all ingredients in a large container, then cover with a lid
and let it ferment for about 1-3 weeks, stirring everyday (it
will smell bad).

--Once it stops bubbling it's ready to use.

--Strain the tea into plastic or glass jugs and store in a cool
place.

When ready to use, you must dilute the tea!

--Add 1 cup of tea to 10 cups of water.

--Drench the soil around your plants. Your flowers will love this
natural boost of energy from Mother Nature and you will enjoy
knowing that you are being environmentally responsible.

Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer and the owner of Write On!
Creative Writing Services based in Nashville, Tennessee. She and
her team of ghostwriters service clients all over the globe by
offering quality writing on a variety of topics at an affordable
price. If you need a brochure, web text, business document,
resume, bio, article or book, visit http://www.yvonneperry.net.


=========================================
3. Essential Oil Tip: Natural Herbicides
=========================================

Cinnamon, clove, and thyme are natural herbicides.

Check out the research and read more about natural "weed science"
at http://tinyurl.com/yvbsqp

Order your essential oils from your Young Living
distributor or by going to http://tinyurl.com/aenfp


================================
4. Success Tip: Abraham Lincoln
================================

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like
to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

~ Abraham Lincoln


=======================================
5.Recipe of the Week: Dandelion Greens
=======================================

Dandelion greens are cooked with chopped onion, minced garlic,
chile pepper, then topped with grated Parmesan cheese.

--1 pound dandelion greens
--1/2 cup chopped onion
--1 clove garlic, minced
--1 whole small dried hot chile pepper, seeds removed, crushed
--1/4 cup cooking oil
--salt and pepper
--Parmesan cheese

--Discard dandelion green roots; wash greens well in salted
water.

--Cut leaves into 2-inch pieces. Cook greens uncovered in small
amount of salted water until tender, about 10 minutes.

--Sauté onion, garlic, and chile pepper in oil.

--Drain greens; add to onion garlic mixture.

--Taste dandelion greens and season with salt and pepper.

--Serve dandelion greens with grated Parmesan cheese.


=========================================
7. HSL's Joke or Cute Quote of the Week
=========================================

Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer
is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible
exception of a moose singing "Embraceable You" in spats.

- Woody Allen


----------------------------------------------------------------

Where to Meet, Hear, or Learn with Home Spa Lady:

----------------------------------------------------------------

August 6, 13, 20, 27 F'REE Teleseminar Series

"Eight Steps to Kickstart Your Practice"

Pilot Program with Marilee

F'ree Four Week Teleseminar Series

More info and to register: http://tinyurl.com/2735qf


-----------------------------------------------