Fall is almost here and where did the summer go? Do we ask that question every year? Perhaps, but this summer just disappeared.
Now comes fall cleanup and preparation for the long, cold winter months ahead. Who wants to hear that? But there is something refreshing about cleaning up. I have spent the last few days doing odd jobs that relate to that – purging closets, recycling bottles, cans and other items, and eliminating crickets.
Do you have trouble getting rid of clothes you have grown out of? We have a large house and I seem to demote clothing from one closet to another. Yesterday I was in a purging mood, and I successfully eliminated many of the items I have not used or worn for years, and probably will not miss in the near future.
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Deciding to purge is one thing, and as Pat Katz writes in her book on getting your life organized, “finding out how and where to get rid of it is another.”
In our community, we are lucky to have a thrift store that will take our used clothing and items. Community social service groups also welcome these items for donation to their garage sales.
Family crisis centres, the Salvation Army and other relief organizations need these items. Second hand clothing stores offer to sell goods on consignment. Hospital auxiliary groups, community organizations, used bookstores and playschools and kindergartens may accept books and magazines.
Used appliance centres may come and get your old fridges, stoves and washing machines. Simplicity is the key to life, and it is a refreshing feeling when you rid your life of excess clutter.
Source: Getting it Together – How to Organize Your Work, Your Home and Yourself by Patricia Katz.
Bottle return
In every Canadian province, the beer industry manages the return, reuse and recycling of its bottles, cans and other beer related packaging. You can look this up at www.ec.gc.ca.
Usually twice a year, I take beer bottles to the liquor board store and other cans, bottles and jugs to the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres. SARCAN collects and recycles all nonrefillable ready-to-serve beverage containers, excluding milk containers, for deposit refund.
These containers include metal, plastic and glass packaging and juice boxes. Metal cans and plastic bottles up to 999 mL (four cups) and glass bottles up to 300 mL (nine ounces) are refunded 10 cents.
Metal cans and plastic bottles one litre (four cups) and more and glass bottles 301-999 mL (1.3 cups to four cups) are refunded 20 cents, and glass bottles one litre (four cups) and larger are refunded 40 cents. All sizes and other juice boxes and cartons are refunded five cents and refillable beer bottles are refunded four cents.
As of Feb. 1, Sarcan also accepts computers and televisions for recycling. Check www.sarcsarcan.ca.
Insect control
Crickets are a problem again this year. I put fly bait control around the inside walls of our garage to keep them from entering the house, and that works to kill crickets that get into the garage.
A few people I have talked to are using a product in an aerosol container that diffuses into the air, kills the crickets and is supposed to be safe to use, even in restaurants.
If you are looking for an environmentally friendly way to control insect and animal pests inside and out, Environment Canada provides suggestions. It said the best approach may be to alternate between or use a combination of the suggested controls in order to prevent insects from adapting to them.
- Most of us do not like spiders but these insects play a role in controlling other household pests.
- Fruit flies are attracted to light. One way to kill them is to pull the shades down on all your windows, leaving a small opening at the bottom of one window to let light in. You can also use a lamp as a source of light. The fruit flies will gather in the lighted area, making them an easy target.
- To get rid of crickets, mix some molasses and vanilla extract or lemon juice in water. Crickets are lured to this bait and they drown in it. Be sure to plug up any holes in the house where they are getting in.
- Aphids on outdoor plants attract ants. You can get rid of aphids by spraying the plants with soapy water. To prevent ants from getting into trees, wrap strips of cloth smeared with natural resin around the trunk.
To get rid of anthills, pour onto them boiling water, soapy water, salted water, or 350 mL (1.5 cups) of water mixed with 30 mL (two tablespoons) of boric acid. You can also sprinkle red pepper (not cayenne), eggshells, bone meal, talcum powder, wood ash, sulfur, blood meal, coffee grounds or diatomaceous earth on anthills. As well, tomato leaves or walnut tree leaves can be placed on top of the nest to repel ants.
To keep ants from moving into your house, plant pansies or herbs (mint, marjoram, lavender, fennel) around the house. Find out where the pests are entering, squeeze the juice of a lemon in these spots, and leave pieces of rind there.
To kill the ants, you can place a bait of boric acid and honey in infested areas. Fresh camphor or sage will keep them out of closets. Carpenter ants can be lured to a deadly bait of peanut butter and boric acid. They usually establish colonies in soft or rotting wood.
- Sticky flypaper is still a good way to catch houseflies and it is nontoxic. Electric insect traps are also effective. Attaching white paper towels to the middle of a screen door to resemble a butterfly may frighten flies away. A cold stream of air in the doorway like that created by an air conditioner keeps flies out of the house. Another way to repel them is to hang fresh hazel or tomato leaves, or marigold near the doorway, or to grow these plants nearby.
- Mosquitoes breed in damp areas where there is stagnant water. Drain wet areas around the house and grow savory and castor oil plants near the entrance to keep mosquitoes away. Do not wear perfume or wash your hair with scented shampoo if you are planning to spend the day outdoors and mosquitoes are out in full force. The smells of citronella and camphor repel these pests, so you could put some on your clothes or skin if you do not mind the smell.
Animal control
Cats and dogs become unwelcome pests when they damage property. To keep animals out of flower beds, plant fritillaria, ornamental garlic or onion bulbs. The odour will repel most animals, especially rodents. Red, black and cayenne pepper can be used to repel various animals, including raccoons, rabbits and dogs.
Mice cause havoc by feeding on plants under the snow, unseen. You can protect young trees by winding spiral protectors around them (available in retail stores), or stick sections of drainpipe into the ground near the trees. You can also wrap strips of cloth smeared with a mixture of natural resin and melted suet (ratio of 1:3) around the trunk.
Certain plants repel mice and keep them from nesting at the foot of trees, such as amaryllis, mint, lavender, daffodils, narcissus, hyacinth, catnip and spurge. A mulch of thuja bark, savory or oak leaves will keep mice away. Camphor and mothballs repel them as well. When you set out mousetraps use some anise oil to mask the human odour.
Moles are repelled by hyacinths and castor oil plants. To get rid of these pests, place garlic cloves in their nest, or stick an empty bottle in the entrance to the nest, right side up. The sound of the wind whistling in the bottle will prompt them to move elsewhere.
To keep rabbits away, sprinkle cayenne pepper or talcum powder on your plants, or spray them with a solution of 30 mL (two tablespoons) of epsom salts per litre (four cups) of water. Mothballs or dog hair scattered near plants will also keep them away.
Birds kill insect pests, but they sometimes eat berries and seedlings. Netting draped over plants or trees is the best protection from birds. Scarecrows, scattered onion slices, or brightly coloured rags or milk cartons hung from trees are effective as well. Although these tricks work for a while, birds quickly catch on to them.
Although expensive, a high fence around the garden is the best way to keep deer out. You can try growing castor oil plants or foxglove, or scatter dog or human hair near plants. Coat tree trunks with diluted human urine, or spray foliage with 15 to 30 mL (one or two tablespoons) of tabasco sauce dissolved in four litres (16 cups) of water. Small bars of Ivory soap hung from trees will repel deer for a while.
For more information, contact: Environment Canada Inquiry Centre, 105 McGill Street, 2nd Floor, Montréal, Que., H2Y 2E7, 514-496-6851 or 800-463-4311.
Barbara Sanderson is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
