Vegan Momma

Today’s theme is “Happy“. Join in! or view more Photo Hunters.

My happy is Aiyana, my daughter, and our grapevine. We harvested our concord grapes earlier this week. She happily shows me the remaining grape that is in the palm of her hand.

In this picture I caught her mid happy dance. She was very excited about picking her concord grapes. She promptly ate them.

[tags]photography, Nikon D80, PhotoHunt, Happy, concord grapes, family, bonding, grapevine[/tags]

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Here Mommy!

Wow, is it Friday already? This week has been a blur. Earlier this week Aiyana, Mr Bentley (our Shih Tzu), and I packed our pails and headed out to the back part of our garden to pick the ripening grapes off the grapevine.

Grapevine

The deer that live in our woods have really enjoyed dining on these delightful treats. Perhaps they know I don’t mind them eating the grapes? There is enough to share. I do nothing to deter them from their late evening snacks.

Aiyana getting ready to feast on some grapes

It took a while to pick these fabulous grapes, and I have to admit we lingered. We enjoyed being outside, breathing the fresh air, and nibbling on the grapes when they enticed us to taste their tangy sweetness.

Grapes are high in antioxidants

We harvested a lot of grapes and still left plenty for the deer. You see the picture above? Those grapes were sitting in my kitchen sink. I couldn’t see the sinks bottom or sides. That’s a lot of grapes!

I rinsed them off and packed them away for later use. Aiyana and I have been snacking on them throughout the week and this weekend I’ll be making grape juice with some of them.

Natural Remedies For Pest Control
What makes this grapevine so special? This is a vine that wasn’t supposed to produce. It was plagued with a fungus this spring and my way of combating this problem was using natural methods.

I had my share of skeptics. “Opal that’s not going to work! “You need chemicals to effectively treat your garden.” I kept my mouth shut although inside I was laughing. I figured I would prove them wrong by just doing it. I continued to spray my beloved plants as they stood by giving inaccurate information about something they knew nothing about.

Many people are brainwashed into thinking the only way to effectively eliminate household pests, plant disease, or protect plants is to spray them with chemicals. Frequently these chemicals have been proven to cause harm to not only animals but people also.

I always questioned these chemicals even as a child. I thought if the chemicals can kill a bug almost instantly what effect can it possibly have on me or animals over time?

Since I’m all about protecting family and the environment I came up with an extremely effective way to combat the infestation. The grapevine, peach trees, blackberry vines, and our garden get sprayed with this solution.

A problem solved; my plants stayed *pest free* without one drop of chemical. I didn’t hear anything more from the naysayers although they happily sampled the produce. Amazing, right? No, not really.

There are safer and more natural methods ways to treat crops and pest effectively than the methods that are used by many within the farming industry. The toxic chemicals used are big business they don’t want you to know the truth.

Some of the businesses that make the products, along with a few within the media does an effective job of getting people worked up into a frenzy by talking about what will happen if a certain chemical isn’t used to treat crops. However, they fail to report that you can effectively treat crops using natural and safer means. I guess they don’t want us to know that part, right?

Guess what the same products I use on my plants are effective and safe ways to treat mosquitoes, flies, and other annoying insects that want to sample your tasty skin. :shock:

Interesting Grape Facts
Both black grapes and red grapes contain powerful antioxidants that help prevents the hardening of the arteries. They might help prevent cancer. They contain ellagic acid which has anti-cancer properties.

Something To Think About
I’m not going to win people over by telling them what *idiots* they are since they appear not to be concerned about the environment. They aren’t idiots. Let me clarify that I don’t think of people this way.  It’s something I heard recently about all environmentalist’s.

They might need to hear another side to the issue and perhaps they will change their mind. If I approach them with respect. Guess what you won’t impress me either if you smack a broad label on all environmentalist, or any other group. You’ll turn me off.

I believe you reach more people when you lead by example and show them alternative ways to address the issue effectively. Do you really need to insult an individual, or group, to get your point across? Treat others how you want to be treated.

[tags] natural pest repellent, environmentally friendly option, raw food, environmentalist, grapevine, family bonding [/tags]

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