With the gardening season in full swing we decided to take a look at how to naturally control pests and critters in and around your garden and home. Shake Away Rodent Repellent contains the natural scents of foxes and bobcats, creating the illusion that your home is a predator's lair. Mice, rats, moles, voles and shrews flee in terror, yet it's 100% natural and non-toxic, safe for plants, pets and the environment. Sprinkle down mole or vole holes, around garden perimeter, on a paper plate to keep mice out of the attic.

The recent International Organic Wine Expo - celebrated the emergence of more and more winemakers dedicating themselves not only to their own but to the well being of humanity by producing organic wines from grapes grown organically without the use of chemicals or pesticides. Over the next period of time, I shall be writing about a number of these people, each one manifesting passion for the work he is involved in. In Italy, the word Biologica is used instead of organic but in my stories I will use the word organic.

By Lisa K. McDivitt

Picture this commercial: it is a desert scene and the earth is scorching in the noontime sun. A blonde, beautiful, bronzed, woman crawls along the desert floor, parched and in search of water. She comes upon a bucket of well water and is about to take a drink when something in the distance catches her eye: an Evian bottle. She quickly abandons the full bucket of water and crawls to the Evian bottle glistening in the sun. She tips it to her lips, a single drop comes out, immediately quenching her thirst. The commercial's slogan: "Evian - superior water in every drop." But is it? Is one drop of Evian water superior over an entire bucket of ordinary tap water? What is bottled water, and why do so many women at the gym quench their thirst with the square Fiji containers while others with a reusable REI canteen? Is one of them getting healthier or safer water?

As the renowned chef of Table 8, Govind Armstrong is a chef's chef among the culinary masters of Los Angeles. Honing his skills with some of the world's top chefs, Armstrong started working at Spago at 13, during his summer vacations. Armstrong went on to work in such well known Los Angeles restaurants as City Restaurant, Hotel Bel-Air and Campanile. To increase his cooking experience, Armstrong made several trips to Europe working in kitchens from Spain to France with stints at the American Hotel in Amsterdam and the Excelsior at the Hotel de l'Europe.

Mollie Katzen's New Soups

Baby boomers and enlightened vegetarians will no doubt recognize Mollie Katzen's name. Author of classic cookbooks like the Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Katzen has been a pioneer in the natural and organic food world for 30 years.