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Environmental Friendly Garlic
Our reliance on plastics and other throwaway materials, the endless stockpiling of refuse and waste materials, and the use of chemicals for everything from washing floors to fueling rockets, is literally endangering the existence of our planet. We can wage war for the earth's survival in tiny ways in our own homes and daily lives with the products we buy, with the packaging we insist on, and the compounds we choose for what seem to be the most simple of tasks. Take insect repellents, for example. There is no question that those products we use around our homes contribute to pollution. The U.S. and other nations have phased out DDT because of health horrors it can cause. But instead of seeking natural alternatives, the pros have gone out in search of "safe" chemicals. The new pesticides are organophosphorous compounds and the Journal of the American Medical Association has stated that while they don't stay in the environment (or the human body) as long as DDT, they're more poisonous.

In its small way, The Stinkin Rose can help you avoid exposure to these horrid compounds. While no one claims that it can solve the pollution crisis, every little bit helps. Garlic is a great natural insecticide, capable of ridding houses, gardens, lawns, farms, pets and trees of pests without the harshness and toxicity of chemicals. Garlic, quite simply kills bugs. Mosquitoes, including those caring yellow fever and encephalitis, drop dead in its presence. Along the way it doesn't hurt people, the soil, the water or the air. (As long as you like the aroma)

David Greenstock, vice chairman of the Henry Doubleday Research Association in England, has produced a garlic emulsion that kills malarial mosquitoes that have developed immunity to DDT. Here are some "kill" figures to show how garlic solvents work against other pests: 87% of fireworm infestion 83% of cockchafer larvae 91% of mole crickets 83% of grey field slugs 95% of onion fly larvae 98% of cabbage white caterpillars. Now while garlic kills bugs dead, it is completely safe and harmless to livestock, wildlife and birds. If anything, veterinarians believe garlic improves the health of animals. Well isn't that a surprise.

For these reasons, it is standard practice for organic gardeners to border their plantings with rows of garlic and spray their crops with a garlic solution. The same should go for you at home, if you are growing just a few herbs or tomatoes, or are raising a more extensive veggie garden, plant some garlic in among your crops, horticulturists recommend. It will repel the pests and leave you with something else tasty to eat at the end of the growing season instead of a heightened risk of cancer some time in the future, which is a real threat from some chemical sprays.

The way it works is simple: The same mechanisms in garlic that kill germs in people also seem to hit insects hard and keep them away from plants. Some researchers say garlic can inhibit protein synthesis in larvae, killing them. Others say it interferes with their breathing process. All I know is that since I became a member of the Stinkin Rose Club, I can count how many mosquito bites I've had in the last seven years, on my fingers. Boy just think of the money I saved on "Off".

Here is David Greenstock's formula for a safe bug spray as reported by L J Harris, publisher of Aris Books: Take 3oz of chopped garlic and let soak in 2tsp of mineral oil for about 24 hours. Then add a pint of water in which 1/4oz of oil-based soap (Palmolive) has been dissolved, and stir well. Strain liquid through fine gauze and store in glass container to prevent a reaction with metals. Use it in a dilution of one part solution to 20 parts of water to begin with, then one to 100 thereafter. Apply to plants as spray.