Elementary, My Dear Watson, Eh?

Elementary, My Dear Watson, Eh?

For two and a half bucks, you too can be a detective, solving mysteries and sleuthing crimes. Crimes of agricultural and economic injustice that is; A Canadian Consumers Guide To Ingredients Which May Have Been Genetically Engineered: How To Be A Detective In Your Own Food System by Abra Brynne is available from Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
(aka Western SAWG), 3040 Continental Dr., Butte MT 59701.

Despite its unwieldy title and Canadian slant (for example, there's nothing about rBGH, which is banned in Canuck country) there's all kinds of info for us yanks, too.

Especially helpful are tips on "hidden" ingredients like enzymes and what-have-you that pop up more often than you'd suspect.

Bug Out!

It's the midst of the garden season, which means the midst of insect season.

Most of us (organic types included) still freak out and reach for something to bomb the bugs with rather than preventing them by rotations, timely plantings, diversified cropping, etc. So we're gonna review some of the most popular (and most toxic! Beware!) botanical insecticides currently in use.

Just 'cause it's "natural" don't mean it's safe to spray when your toddler is crawling around amongst the zinnias.

All of these break down in sunlight and exposure to air and moisture in varying lengths of time but are actually very toxic to insects while they last.

It stands to reason that you should avoid contact with your skin and especially avoid inhalation.

PYRETHRUM is the common name of the flower Chrysanthemum cineraiefiloium, commercially raised in Kenya.

A nervous system and paralytic poison, it is fast-acting, but many insects can build tolerances quickly, so use it sparingly. It breaks down rapidly in the environment (and in storage if not tightly covered).

Read the labels carefully! Pyrethrum is pure ground flower petals, pyrethrin is a natural extract of the flowers and pyrethroids are the synthetic version.

Also beware of liquid pyrethrum preps most of which contain PBOs (piperonyl butoxide), a petroleum derivative.

ROTENONE is a resinous compound derived from the roots of Lonchocarpus sp (South America) or Derris sp (Malaysia); is a stomach poison that works by affecting nerves and muscles.

Insects cease to feed then die soon after, extremely toxic to fish (originally used by many tribes-people rather than nets. Keep it away from ditches, river, streams, goldfish bowls etc). It is a very broad-spectrum insect killer.

One application can last for up to seven days. If ingested by humans, it's absorbed by the liver but inhaling large amounts is dangerous.

Tephrasis virginiana, a wildflower in the eastern states (Devil's Shoestring), contains rotenone in its roots as well.

RYANIA is hard to find alone. Not as toxic as the above two, but often combined with rotenone or sabadilla in pest products. Also a stomach poison and also from South America, it is derived from the stems of a shrub. Appears less harmful to humans than the other "big two" but can cause discomfort if ingested.

SABADILLA, ground seeds of Schoenocaulon officinale, is a lily from South and Central America.

Alkaloids work on insect nerve cells causing paralysis and death (those words kinda make you look at even natural pesticide use twice, don't they?).

Although it degrades rather quickly in sunlight and exposure to air, it's also broad-spectrum and toxic to all kinds of insects, especially to true bugs and beetles.

It's also extremely toxic to honeybees, so use it in the evenings only. Can be very irritating to human mucous membranes.

NEEM OIL is a relatively new one here in the west; derived from the tropical (mostly India) neem tree.

Most neem products list azadirachtin on the label. Don't freak out. This is the active ingredient extract that repels and/ or kills insects, fungus and mites. And bees. Be careful! Like the others above, this is a very powerful broad-spectrum killer (let's not mince words here, OK?).

Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a tricky one. A naturally-occur-ring bacteria that attacks all moth and butterfly larvae (caterpillars), Bt is raised in labs and is probably the first example of "germ warfare" among organic growers which makes it a little creepy. However, up until recently, there was little to no developed pest resistance.

But now that it is widely being bio-engineered directly into GMO crops (and consequently spread further than ever rather than used in very specific instances), some resistance is beginning to show up, principally in cotton bollworms.

This instance is particularly disturbing because organic cotton is almost impossible without Bt use.

In addition, Bt itself is increasingly being bio-engineered. According to OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) the following brands are currently thought to be GMO-free. For now. Agree WG, Britz, Clean Crop BT Suoir 15-50, Condor WT, Cutlass WT, Deliver, Dipel 2X, Dipel DF, Javelin WG, Ketch DF, Prolong, Xen Tari. New information is always becoming available.