Look for a Safer Brand

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of SaferBrand. All opinions are 100% mine.

My daughter loves caterpillars - tent worms in particular. She has a handful that she collected last week and she keeps them in a cottage cheese container. They are her pets and she has them named, each one of them. On top of that, she gives them "a swim" by putting them in buckets of water. That part I don't mind so much....

We are in the midst of another bad tent worm year. They are everywhere, literally covering the bicycle trail and the roads. Last year, we had a terrible time with them. They covered the young trees in our yard.

My son decided that he could kill those worms easily by spraying them with Malathion Plus. What seemed like a good idea to him was not such a good idea for the trees, not to mention our cat and three dogs - and us! This product is a strong chemical compound containing Malathion and petroleum distillate. It smells strong too.

When I looked up petroleum distillate, I found this: "Petroleum distillates are hydrocarbon solvents produced from crude oil. These solvents include mineral spirits, kerosene, white spirits, naphtha, and Stoddard solvent." (Sage) Kerosene alone is a possible carcinogen.

Malathion is not so toxic, or so some say, unless you get it inside of you by ingesting it or absorbing it through the skin. Then it quickly results in malaoxon, which is very toxic. Acute exposure to Malathion can result in skin and eye irritation, cramps, nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating, seizures or even death. Now, I wonder what happens if you inhale it? I guess I really don't want to know.

 It turned out that the chemicals did kill the tent worms. In the process, they apparently killed most of the trees. One of our trees only has leaves on the bottom third of the branches. We and the dogs are fine - the cat has died.

This year, for health sake, it's either organic gardening or nothing. Safer Brand's EndALL insect spray is an organic solution to the caterpillar (and other garden/yard pests). It kills 45 different insects without the use of harsh chemicals that can harm you, your children, or your pets. It won't kill your trees either. Check it out and, at the same time, take a look at the other organic products Safer Brand carries.

Happy SAFER gardening!