WHAT IS DIATOMACEOUS EARTH (DE)? AND HOW DO I USE IT?
Diatomaceous earth has a ton of different uses but first let's answer the question of what is diatomaceous earth? The simple answer is that it's fossilized algae ground into a powder.
When this natural material is ground into a powder it is great protection for your plants and your animals. DE will kill pest like potato beats, cabbage worms and will clear out parasites in animals and in us.
I sprinkle DE over my plants at the first sign of something munching on them. The way DE kills these pests is Death By A Thousand Cuts. At a microscopic level DE is very sharp and jagged. So when the soft-bodied insects come in contact with it it cuts them up and they die of dehydration.
Our egg laying chickens get DE at least once a month as a preventative. The chickens I will be processing get DE in their food for the last two weeks. Same with the Hogs. You can also give it to your house pets and eat it yourself. But I would recommend buying the food grade Diatomaceous Earth for all scenarios.
One thing to be cautious about when using DIATOMACEOUS EARTH is to not breathe in the fine powder. DE is mostly silica and breathing in silica is not good. So either wear a mask or make sure your face is up wind of where you're putting the DE.
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Great post. We are planning to use it this year, so it was a well timed post!
"death by 1000 cuts!" i love it!!!! steller info!!! we use DE over here in our food forest too. subbed you on YT also!!!!! thank you!!!!! re steemed!
Thank you. I enjoy your page and your YouTube channel.
thank YOU....i really appreciate that!
It is also good for adding to dried grains for storage. We buy a food grade so we can also use it for that. It is actually good for your gut to consume some so we dont try to clean it out when we grind our grains for making bread.
Thank you good tip!
Great stuff. Diatomaceous earth is technically fossilized diatoms (algae), not plants. I put this stuff around the perimeter of the house to keep crawling buggers out.
Thank you. You're right.
We use DE around our house too! It's actually time to give some to the dogs now that I think about it. Thanks for the awesome article and the reminder of some of DE's uses.
Thank you! My dogs won't eat it if it's just in the regular food. I have to mix it in something like eggs and then feed them the eggs. Lol
Oh yeah, totally. We mix it with something yummy. They'll just eat around it if I try to put it on their food. I once put it in their water and they were like....Lady, are you crazy? You just put dirt in our bowl!!!
I love DE! I use it all over too. In the garden and even in the house, pests do not like it at all. Great stuff!
Thank you. It's not the greatest tasting stuff. LOL
I drink it once in awhile. I’m not sure if it’s helping with anything. Its not the greatest tasting but just down it and you’ll be alright.
Great post! I also use diatomaceous earth for a variety of things.
It's a very useful substance.
This post has been featured in the @offgrid-online - Weekly Review Curation - Thank you for sharing your knowledge and personal experience with DE.
Thank you @offgrid-online!!
I use DE on a regular basis too. Yeah its great stuff! I take it to avoid parasites, chilate my internals and for overall good health. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
We used to give it to our cats too, to rid them of fleas - A great alternative to 'Front-Line' style de-flea treatments.