Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Some would say chemical fabric oftener isn't strictly sustainable for barns 
or animals, hence slightly off topic.  It does cause severe reactions in some 
people, perhaps animals also.

The organic alternative is what they once called strewing herbs, used to 
repel vermin and cover smells.  At one time a board was placed at the base of 
a door to hold back the herbs and grasses from slipping out the door, and 
this was called the "thresh-hold".

A couple places to look for starters
http://www.eng-villages.co.uk/herbs.html
http://www.moplants.com/strewingherbs.php

I expect someone else can be more specific on which herbs are most insect 
repellent. Also a good  topic for our Old Ways Living list at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OWL-OldWaysLiving/

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------
The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our 
most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its 
renewal is our only hope.
   - Wendell Berry

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 3/28/2006 at 8:40 AM Gwen Giffen wrote:

>Someone in a goat forum I belong to has recommended spraying fabric
>softener
>around the barn to repel flies, ticks, mites and every other bug under the
>sun. They claim they have tried all other organic and home remedy routes,
>and nothing else has worked so well. They went on to say that some golf
>courses even hand out fabric softener sheets to golfers to use for insect
>repellant. Since there has been a recent discussion in this forum
>concerning
>such "home remedies," I wondered if anyone knew the scientific basis of
>fabric softener working?
>
>I don't have a bottle of Downy sitting on my shelf, but I do have some
>cheap
>"Members Mark tm" sheets I've been using - mainly because I can stand the
>smell of them. Ingredients state: "Softening agents (cationic and nonionic
>types), and fragrance, in a nonwoven sheet." [note how incredibly
>informative...what fiber is in the sheets??? Which agents are they
>impregnated with???] I never gave it much thought before. But having been
>a
>textiles and clothing major through my junior year in college, and knowing
>about the petroleum base of polymer fibers and thus some laundering agents
>designed to detatch petrol-based dirt from petrol-based fabrics (like
>disolves like), and knowing that many insect repellants are also
>petrol-based, I am very curious as to how, exactly, fabric softeners work
>to
>repel insects. Does anyone know?
>
>If flies, ticks and mites don't like it, should we? Some rusty wheels have
>started turning up there....
>
>Gwen