Much Ado about Lyme Disease
By the Invisible Gardener

Steps to organic and natural controls of Ticks and Lyme Disease:

Dont let them find you!

1.. wear proper clothing that protect you when going outside to work or play or hiking or camping. Tick season is usually right after the first spring rains when the earth is warm at night. Tick season can last through the summer and into the fall in most places. Wear log pants, long sleeve shirt, and long cotton socks. Tie your pant legs with a string or rubber band to prevent them from climbing in from your pant legs. Do the same with your long sleeve cotton white shirt. Button down your sleeves and collars if possible. Avoid dark clothing to reduce heat build up plus darker colors are less attractive then white to ticks. Wash your clothing with any Natural Castile Peppermint soap to increase effectiveness as repellent. You can also use the soap to spray around pants, whole body just before going out if you have suspicions of there being a tick infestation in the area you are working or playing in. Using any Natural Peppermint/Lavendder Castile soap or OTKO Orange Oil  or Galic Oil added to water at 5 tablespoons per quart water and misted on clothing will last quickly a few hours at repelling ticks. Citronella Oil or any natural essential oil, when added to water (2 drops per quart water) and when sprayed on clothing will also be effective against ticks. You can also use garden grade Diatomaceous Earth by either adding 1 tablespoon per quart water and misting clothing and or area or by simply dusting DE on pants before going out. You can also dust DE in the area you are going to be in. This will kill and repel ticks for a short period of time. Pure pyrethrum powder can also be used as a dust on pants to avoid getting them on you. De and or Pyrethrum can also be dusted on your dog before going outside or on a walk etc. More on DE later.

2.. Use only natural sprayers to control:

Dr. Bronners Peppermint or Lavender soap is an effective natral tool for this purpose. Start off by bathing with it; this removes all odors which ticks are attracted to. Carbon dioxide given off by humans as well as other body odors only work to attract ticks and other blood sucking creatures. By using the Dr. Bronners they will smell only the peppermint and not you! You also should wash your clothing with Dr. Bronners soap to increase the peppermint odor the clothing will give off. Use it to wash your hair, allowing the foam to sit for a few minutes. Dogs will love this too. Take a bottle of D Bronners Peppermint soap with you (it’s a concentrate and will last a long time) when ever you go camping, hiking etc. Take along a quart sprayer or even smaller. By adding water and Dr. Bronners you can mist yourself regularly as well as your camping area to increase effectiveness of peppermint or lavender as repellent. Planting peppermint around garden, lawns will help repellent ticks. Dr. Bronners soaps are environmental safe (you can use it in a stream!), use it to brush your teach or as a shampoo. The ticks will not find you! Learn to spray your camp site with either a liquid DE / Dr. Bronners soap mixture. OTKO or Citra Solve are also effective repellents of ticks/fleas. Use 1 tablespoon per quart water. Spray areas you are working or playing in. Avoid contact with skin and or eyes.

Dont Mind Garlic? If you dont mind the smell of garlic, you can use garic concentrate such as Garlic Barrier or make your own and then spray yourself and the areas. Garlic is toxic to fles, ticks, as well as mosquitoes etc.

Garden grade DE can be added to the Dr. Bronners soap to increase its long term effectiveness. De and or soap will kill the tick on contact. DE can be dusted lightly around your pants before going out. The DE will last you all day or you can re apply. DE can also be dusted around campsite or on trails, dust your dog before going out. One handful is enough for a dog. Start at top of neck, behind head and thoroughly dust coat. Allow to stay on dog as it will not harm him. Avoid getting into eyes, wash with water if you do get on eyes. Use a collar. You can either get an electronic flea collar for yourself and attach to ankle or get an herbal flea collar instead. Either will work to keep ticks and fleas off you and your dog. Avoid chemical flea collars.

3...Be careful what you eat:

Eating garlic during camping, hiking, outside work is also an effective way of repellent ticks from attaching themselves to you and your animals. Another way to use garlic is to put a small piece in your shoe before you go outside to work, hike etc. The garlic will be absorbed by your body and given off through your pores effectively repelling ticks fleas, etc. Of course you maybe putting your friends at risk (they will stay away from you) as well as your fellow hiker but you will get used to it. Planting a garlic barrier around your property will also work in the long run as an effective tick repellent. Feeding your animals garlic as well will protect them too. Another way to protect your animals from tick attacks is to use these new flea control methods that you place a drop on the back of their neck which provides 30 days of flea protection. This also works for ticks! Ask your veterinarian. Brewers yeast is another effective food supplement you can use for yourself and for your pets as an effective flea/ tick repellent.

4...Proper tick removal:

If you find a tick, proper removal is very important as improper removal often leaves the head imbedded in the flesh which will cause infection and possibility getting Lyme disease. Using the proper tweezers is important. Try Uncle Bills Sliver Gripper or his Tick Removal Kit which comes with tweezers, magnifying lens, alcohol wipes, two plastic bags for keeping the suspected tick for later identification and a tick identification card. Always make sure you have completely removed all of the tick including the head. Application of hot golden seal tea directly on the infected area will help to heal faster. Vit C will also increase your return to health and reduce infection.  Take 4,000 units per day for a week. Echinacea and Golden Seal mixture taken internally will help you fight off any infection or disease. Vita E taken internally and applied to bite will also reduce infections and reduce your chances of getting Lyme disease

A few things to remember:

1....Ticks will always be around

2... Deer will, and should, always be around.

3...Lyme disease is a reflection of a weakening human immunity systems.

4...Make yourself as healthy as possible

5...Make your animals as healthy as possible

6...Reduce stress in your lives.

7...Drink pure water

8...Breathe pure air

9...Eat pure food

Enjoy!
Yours Organically of course,
Andrew Lopez
The Invisible Gardener
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