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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Mother Nature?s Pesticides
  • Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:40:17 -0700

Paul, natural pesticides abound in nature, although Momma Nature probly doesn't think of them as such. Natural evolution selects characteristics in both plants and animals that favor propagation success. For instance, extreme body odor would tend to repel potential mates and so has been diminished although not eliminated in humans. So, too, in plants, those scents and colors that attract pollinators tend to be rewarded and so the plant propagates. To reach propagation maturity, however, the plant must ward off or withstand the many animals that would devour or hurt it before propagation. Think cacti and thorns. Natural pesticides produce smells that ward off the bad guys.

James noted plants of the nightshade family. That includes potatoes. From Wikipedia: "Potatoes naturally produce solanine and chaconine, a related glycoalkaloid, as a defense mechanism against insects, disease, and predators." Yet we eat lots of potatoes, apparently with impunity, so long as an excess is not ingested.


On Jun 12, 2007, at 10:28 AM, TradingPostPaul wrote:


And just what toxic natural pesticides are they talking about? Can't name
them, can they. The idea that natural substances in ordinary food plants
are toxic in a typical person's diet is beyond silliness.






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