By Doug Duff <funkypretzel@hotmail.com>
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/fossilflour19jun04.shtml
June 19, 2004

Could be Good for What Ails Ya!

This is a neat little story/article. Just ever so often we come across something that we all should know about and use, but it just kinda passes us by. This substance I'm telling you about is kinda like breathing; we partake in it, but seldom make much thought about it - till we're without it.

Over one hundred years ago this product was called "fossil flour". Today it is called "Diatomaceous Earth", DE for short. It isn't dirt or earth at all. It consists of the broken shells of tiny critters, called diatoms, that lived long ago and died in groups so massive they can be mined and bulldozed, mostly in areas that used to be lake beds.

These diatoms are (were) of vegetable origin and are little cells comprised of silicious covering of two pieces or halves. They are disintegrations from the hills, washed down and deposited on lake bottoms (or, what used to be lake bottoms).

They are very small. How small are they? Thanx for asking. They're so small that forty one thousand millions of them exist in every cubic inch of a solid into which they were formed. Of course, you will use them as finely ground dust.

O.K., what is it good for? Can it harm me or my pets? What about our ecology?

This product is harmless, just don't breathe the dust, of course, any dust is harmful to breathe. That's the only caution I know of to mention.

It has a great quality of killing insects, it will even kill the good ones too, so indiscriminate use is discouraged. Please keep it off flowers and places where honey bees will be. It kills insects by scratching their outer skeleton and causing them to dehydrate to death. When scattered on the plants, ground, ant mounds, etc., it becomes a teriffic source of insect control without harmful/dangerous chemicals.

It is non-poisonous to man and beast, and often included in cattle feed to kill parasites and prevent (or, greatly retard) maggot and fly formations in cattle droppings. I understand it is included in many of pre-mixed concoctions like some of our biscuit mixes, etc. It's totally harmless to eat. And, I understand that if you powder your dogs down with it, it works great for killing fleas.

I've saved the best for last. If you want to bucketize your own food; grains, legumes, etc., one cup of DE mixed in a bucket will kill any bugs that hatch out preventing them from polluting your food source. I understand that many farmers have it mixed right into their grain bins to keep their feed pure.

If you've studied the historical documents of Joseph as Governor of Egypt, he had collected food grains for seven years in preparation for seven years of nonproduction. According to history the local folks all did this too, only when they opened their supplies they were buggie and were barely good for chicken feed. Joseph's storage was pure and wholesome. Could it be he knew about "fossil flour". If I were a betting man, I'd say yes. History says the use of DE goes back about 5000 years. Hummm, interesting, huh?

Oh, yes, one more word of caution. DE is also used for swimming pool filters. Never use DE that has been heat treated/processed for anything but filters. Only use food grade DE.

Have fun, stay healthy, and eat right.

Doug Duff <doug@funkypretzel.com>

P.S. I think I'll make this product available on my PRODUCTS PAGE. Check it out.

Web posted at: http://funkypretzel.com/fossil_flour.htm

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