Citronella: Nature’s Bug Repellent

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; – Psalm 104:14

It has been rather wet and humid here the last few days, and the weather is getting warmer. Our gardens have many plants popping up including potatoes, lettuce, kale, cantaloupe, cucumber, yellow moon and star watermelon (one of our heirloom favorites pictured left), squash, echinacea, and stevia. For us, this is such an exciting time. We love to watch nature awake and blossom.

Of course, there are some things that I do not enjoy about spring. Soon the “bad bug” mosquitoes come around. Fortunately, we have plenty of toads in our pond that love flying insects. By the way, their chorus after rain is so amusing! Surely, they help to keep the mosquito population in check. But still, there are always enough around to drive us batty in the evening. This is when citronella is our hero!

Citronella is a grass that is grown in Indonesia. Its oil is commonly used as a bug repellent. Have you ever used a citronella candle? When it burns, the oil enters the air and will repel bugs at night. This was always a staple for our family camping trips when I was a child. Then there was the stinky bug spray with which we covered ourselves. Not pleasant, but better than mosquito bites!

The essential oil of citronella is a wonderful alternative to commercial, chemical-laden bug repellent sprays. I was so happy to discover this several years ago and immediately made up a bottle of natural bug repellent for my family. After all, gardening with the children in the evening was so pleasant until the mosquitoes hatched! It worked great for us, so I started sharing with other family members and friends. They loved it as well. Today, we sell it to our customers who, we are delighted to say, share in our enthusiasm.