Month: November 2013

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Companion Planting For Pest Control

Ten easy companion planting tips
Companion planting for chemical free pesticides and organic sustainability is a huge subject that can take years to master; however, there are a few easy things you can do in your own garden right now to make use of this intriguing method of gardening.
1. Protect carrots by planting them with leeks to repel both carrot and onion flies. They won’t even lay their eggs and your yield will increase tremendously.
2. Growing radishes or kohlrabi? Plant them with lettuce to repel earth flies that hate the smell of lettuce and make them take flight.
3. Aphids will injure almost all plants, causing headaches for gardeners everywhere. To repel aphids, plant nasturiums around broccoli and bunches of chives among sunflowers and tomatoes to discourage infestations.
4. Ladybugs are natural enemies to aphids and are excellent for use in organic pest management. Order ladybugs in bulk online or buy them from gardening centers. If you’re wondering how to improve your garden and reduce the aphid population, this is one of the most effective methods of doing so.
5. Asparagus and tomatoes complement one another and improve the vigor of both plants. Place a row of asparagus between two rows of tomato plants.
6. Beans and potatoes work in concert for organic pest control. Planting bush beans with potatoes in alternating rows protects the spuds from the Colorado potato beetle and the beans from the Mexican bean beetle.
7. Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables belonging to the cabbage family do well when companion planted with celery, dill, peppermint, sage and rosemary; as well as potatoes, onions and beets.
8. Repel moles around a vegetable garden with a border of castor beans; mice with a border of daffodils; and yarrow makes a wonderful boarder for an herb garden as it encourages the growth of essential oils in the herbs.
9. Remember that companion planting for pest control includes keeping those cute little rabbits out of the garden. Onions repel rabbits and can be inter-planted with peas, beans, lettuce and cabbage.
10. If your garden attracts raccoons, plant corn and pumpkins together so that the large pumpkin leaves grow around the base of the corn stalks. Cayenne pepper sprinkled on the corn silk will also act as a deterrent.
http://www.naturalnews.com/035853_companion_planting_garden_vegetables.html#

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Improve Your Child's Reading Ability – Athena School Gets Results

My two grand children go to the Athena School in Newtown, Sydney.
My granddaughter, Shianne, reads at nearly three years above her age as tested for comprehension.
So she actually understands what she reads.
If you know any one who has a child not at or above their reading age, the staff at Athena can help!
(Click on the image to enlarge the text to readable size.)
Athena School Reading Results

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Grain Free Pizza – A Delicious Substitute For The Traditional Pizza Base!

Grain Free Pizza - A Delicious Substitute For The Traditional Pizza Base!
Turn 3 cups of cauliflower to a rice consistency in a blender. Mix cauliflower in a bowl with 3/4 cup almond flour, 3 organic eggs, oregano and salt & pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and pre cook at 200°C (approx. 390F) for 20 minutes. Add your favourite toppings, pop bake in the oven for 10 minutes & enjoy. For more recipe inspiration: http://www.pinterest.com/foodmattersfilm
http://www.pinterest.com/foodmattersfilm

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Secure Australia

When foreign interests control our wealth creating assets, the benefits of those assets no longer stay in Australia. Our tax laws favour foreign owned interests. They pay only 10% withholding tax on declared profits, many of which are siphoned off shore. The decisions are made off shore, the profits go off shore, and this puts our jobs, skills and reinvestment at risk.
Many of the countries buying our land, do not even allow their own citizens to buy land, and yet we are proposing to allow control of these assets in competition with our owned. > How are we going to pay off our national debt if we do not control the assets which will feed us, and future generations.
>How can we take advantage of the Asian opportunities if we do not own and control the assets in our own country.
>Successive government have ignored the plight of our farmers and the decline of on farm income and their rising debt.
>They have ignored consequences of policies which have allowed the control of every major food commodity, except rice, beyond the farm gate to be controlled by foreign interests.
>They have signed free trade agreements with countries that do not meet our standards while our exports still bear tariffs.
TIME TO WAKE UP AUSTRALIA! – This is our country, these are our people and this is our future!
We are not saying no to foreign investment but we should retain controlling interest of 51% to ensure our majority control ownership and transparency of the transactions and the decisions that are made here. What we have currently is not investment, it is takeover and Australia will not benefit.
A country that cannot water itself, feed itself, secure its energy, transport and infrastructure, which ignores the skills of its own people and their knowledge of our land puts our future at risk. The new parliament should be representing our long term interests and get Australians and Australian assets working for Australia again.
Sign this petition to show your support and this will be forwarded to every politician in the Senate, lower and upper house in all parties and we urge you to get your friends and family to sign it as well.
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/australian-government-say-no-to-the-sale-of-our-assets-till-we-have-a-national-interest-test-2