Kitteh, Sorry, i've been busy.. I also been worried about you.. How you doing? When i was leaving my buddies house, jumping on the highway, the factory bordering the highway let off a big plum of pollution, my car was almost ate by it.. I didn't notice it during daytime, it's the dark sky that contrasts with the white smoke. My mother has artifical hips, knees, and shoulders. She was the first person to have a cement-less hip! The doctors kept her sedated on drugs, she also got sick on them(the new pills have harmful dyes in them, just like the carcinogenic food coloring they use now a days in every processed product).. Anyways, long story short, we were walking through a park, and found stinging nettle(this was when i first started foraging, didn't know too much). So i went and picked some nettle, instantly as soon as i touched it, it stung me, i jumped back like a pansy in shock.. My hand was tingling/numb the whole walk back, it was a strange feeling driving, almost like needles, fiberglass in the hands(it goes away in a few hours, you get used to it, the pain wont last long if you do it regularly). I got home and my hands felt so loose and, well, they just felt good. So the next walk, I took a few inches of top growth, cut that off, hold the stem, and rub softly on my moms neck/back(like Kalia said, you just need a few up and down motions, that will stong you a good dozen times). Ever since then, she swears by it, she says it does better than her pain pill. I was amazed, i thought it would do something(even just numb it temporarily like a bee sting), but the stinging nettle did much more. My mom would much rather take the stinging nettle than get sick on the harmful dyes in our "medicine", or the tylenol in it. Why the hell put fillers in medicine? That's a red flag right there.

Thank you Fetters. Really good post. Quite timely for us as DH has suggested putting in a garden pond. My first question was, "What about the mosquitoes?" I was intrigued by the mention of Lemon Eucalyptus. E maculata sounded somewhat familiar so I assumed we call it something else down here. I googled it and this is what I found. E maculata is known as Spotted Gum or Honey Gum (good for bees). E citriodora is known as Lemon-Scented Gum. And there is a hybrid E maculata citriodora. Recently these particular gums have been reclassified from Eucalyptus to Corymbia (useful to know in case the nurseries change the labels). I debated whether to mention the next bit. In some areas they are getting a reputation as an invasive weed. It's hard to know when such a reputation is truly warranted. (I have some birch trees, which are most definately not indigenous to my area, and I do get seedlings coming up, but after all these years my birches haven't taken over the nearby bushland. Or is that because they have no chance against the Patterson's Curse, which was once an introduced garden flower.) I suppose all I can say is do some research if you're thinking of planting one. Perhaps conditions in the areas of the US where they are grown are such that they are happy enough to grow okay but not so happy that they get out of control. And the good news is if you change your mind after you've planted one, it apparently makes really good timber. Hello OzOrganic. Sorry to hear about your landlord issue. Don't get me started on that subject. Hope you find a solution soon.

For my own good, I too try to prevent being bitten. Mosquitos as with fleas seem to prefer me over animals! I spray on "Skin So Soft" from Avon. My former boss gave me a bottle to try. They spray it on their horses to keep flies away. I just gave some to my grandson to spray on their dogs and he said it worked. It really does help me when I am out in the evening. I've also tied a sheet of Bounce on my pant loop when I go out to garden in the late afternoon and have not been bitten. If I recall correctly, P. Allen Smith said he uses sprigs of mint when he has a gathering outside in the evenings to keep mosquitos away.

I love the idea of using the hair conditioner for shaving legs. I need to try that one. My husband has used dryer sheets in his pockets when he is out camping and it does work to keep the mosquitoes away. Baby oil is great to remove the oil sludge from your skin that you sometimes get down at the beach (and most of us are avoiding many beaches along the Gulf for that very reason!) We found this out last summer when we were down by Corpus Christi and one of my boys had it on his legs. Brunettes - Use soy sauce as a rinse in your hair to enrich the natural color. Comb it through your hair and let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse. I need to add this list of helpful hints link to my favorites so I can pop back and refer to it later. Thanks everyone for posting these great ideas!