Proactive Society

It seems that a lot of people are telling us what is wrong with society and the world in general.  The Middle East is gradually blowing its people into hundreds of different bits, oil companies are polluting the atmosphere by burning of 'unwanted' gas, big companies are fouling up our food chain and the environment is on the verge of collapse.  All in all, it seems that the little guys can't do much.

I disagree.

Yes, there is not much we little guys can do to change what is going on in the Middle East or to stop the oil companies caring more for bucks than for the world their children are going to have to live in but we can much a difference to the environment.  What is more it can be done really easily and has a really nice profit which kicks back to the doer.

For example, Colony Collapse Syndrome i.e. the truly alarming rate by which our bee population is dying (no bees= no food= no us).  This is not helped by the pesticides that some farmers are spraying on their fields, however an even great threat is the pesticides people are using in their gardens.  What is more some people don't even realise that if you spray pesticides when the flowers are open the pesticide gets into the pollen and nectar, which the bee then takes back to the hive and makes into honey, which is harvested and you then eat when you buy a jar of honey from the shop.  Would you drink the stuff that's in the pesticide bottle?  No?  Why then are you willing to eat it when you eat the honey?

What is more some people think that a lawn should just be green, no daisies, no dandelions, no clover.  In short, nothing for a starving bee to eat.  So out comes the weed killer and that will kill a bee just as fast as pesticide.  One I much prefer a lawn that has daisies and clover, it is much prettier.  Two the best way to kill a dandelion without weedkiller is to pluck off every flower head before it can seed.  You keep doing that, it will keep trying to flower until it exhausts itself to death.  So, if you have children whom you worry about because they seem to spend all of their time in front of the TV, then you have the perfect way to kill two worries with one stone.  An offer of five pence per dandelion head every day is a brilliant way to kill off the dandelions in your lawn, get your children to spend more time out of doors and they can start learning the value of money by earning it in the bargain as well.

Now that leaves you with the problem as to what to do about the pests, the aphids, the black fly, the mildew bug.  If you have a rhubarb plant then your problem is solved.  Simply that the leaves, boil them in a litre of fluid for every two hundred grams of rhubarb leaf, strain off, put the liquid in a spray bottle and spray on the plants.  It will only kill the bugs present and leaves behind no nasty chemicals that will kill the bees or get into the honey.  What is more, contrary to popular belief the pulp that is left of the leaves can be added to the compost heap with no ill effects.  However, do not eat it under any circumstance.

If you don't have a rhubarb plant, then buy one, plant it in a shady corner, leave it alone for a year, letting the dead leaves rot back into the soil and then the second year you have your supply of pesticide waiting to be picked.  The stalks of the rhubarb also makes very nice, if rather tart, stewed fruit.  So you have a plant that is pesticide and dessert in one.

Hey up, there's an idea for some farmer who is trying to diversify to maximise profit.  You'd need a low lying, wet field, preferably well shaded by trees but you could plant a crop of rhubarb, harvest it and make your own pesticide.  If it worked well enough, you could even sell it to people to make some more profit.  That's worth thinking about, don't you think?