Many of us love fragrant and juicy oranges, but when we peel them, we throw away the orange peel. However, it should be remembered that not only tasty pulp pleases our taste and contributes to maintaining he alth. The peel of this fruit is no less useful. There are a lot of areas of human activity where the use of orange peels is possible. The peel of this citrus fruit is most often used in cooking, winemaking and cosmetology. Many housewives use it not only for cooking delicious meals, but also for environmentally friendly house cleaning.
In this article, we will not delve into the secrets of confectioners, cooks, winemakers and cosmetologists, but consider the use of orange peels in the garden, horticulture and floriculture.
Orange peel
We have all heard about the vitamins and minerals found in an orange, but few people know that its peel (outer colored layer)contains more vitamins than the pulp, and it also contains essential oils and pectin substances. All this contributes to the fact that the use of orange peels is becoming more and more popular. It is worth noting that they can be used not only fresh, but also dried and crushed. Maintaining your he alth with these orange fruits, you can stock up on dried orange peels throughout our long winter to use during the summer season.
Store for future use
It would seem that it could be easier - I peeled and ate an orange, dried its crusts. But everything is not so simple. Modern fruits, including citrus fruits, are heavily treated with a variety of chemicals, both during the growing process and during transportation and storage. Therefore, before you prepare and start using orange peels, you must thoroughly rinse this fruit, and then pour boiling water over it.
Only after that you can peel the orange with a special knife or peeler. The removed “skin” is dried for two to three days at room temperature. Some housewives recommend drying the peel in the oven or using a vegetable dryer, and only then grind it. You can try to do this with an old coffee grinder or a mechanical meat grinder. The resulting mass is placed in a clean and dry container, preferably with a tight-fitting lid.
Saving indoor flowers
Plants grown in an apartment are prone to diseases and pests. Quite often, flowers are simply destroyed by various mites and aphids. Fresh or pre-stored orange peels will help in saving green "pets". The use for flowers is quite simple: 200 g of orange peel should be poured with a liter of water at room temperature. We remove the container with the solution for five days in a dark place. After this period, we filter the solution, and squeeze the crusts. Mix ½ cup of infusion with 2-2.5 liters of water and add about a teaspoon of "green" or simply sour soap. Plant leaves can be washed or sprayed with the resulting solution on both sides. It is better to repeat this treatment in a week.
Fluffy "pests"
Many flower growers and gardeners are faced with the fact that cats and cats are very partial to young seedlings, and to indoor flowers, as they say, no, no, and “pull their paws.”
Therefore, the following use of orange peels is advisable: spread them on the windowsill next to flowers or seedling boxes. Cats will not come close to them - they do not like the orange smell very much and tend to avoid places with just such an “ambre”. Experiments have shown that orange-scented deodorants and air fresheners are much weaker.
Another problem is the discrepancy between the cat and your ideas about the place of the toilet. Therefore, you can mix fresh and finely ground orange peel and coffee grounds, and then apply around the place chosen by the animal. It may not help the first time, but after twothree applications your pet will stop going to this place.
Garden chores
After saving home flowers and seedlings, with the beginning of the summer season, we take out the orange peels accumulated over the autumn-winter season to the garden. Their use in horticulture can be very diverse. First of all, an infusion on the peel of oranges is used to control insect pests such as spider mites, thrips and aphids. To prepare it, you need to grind the crusts from a couple of oranges and pour 1 liter of warm water.
Then remove the container with the product for a week in a dark room. After seven days, a little liquid soap is added to the resulting composition and filtered. Then the plants affected by insects are treated. It is worth remembering that against aphids and thrips, treatment is carried out two to three times, and against spider mites - 5-6 times at weekly intervals.
Choosing the ants away
Quite a lot of trouble in the garden is delivered by ant colonies, which will help in the fight against orange peels. Their use in the country is quite simple: grind the peel of two or three oranges in a blender with a glass of warm water. The resulting puree is applied to the paths laid by the ants in the beds. By dissolving the crushed powder in more water, the resulting composition can be poured over anthills. The only problem is that the insects will most likely move their home to another place.
Protect flowerbeds
The use of orange peels in the garden and in the garden is not limited to insect control. Someflowers planted in the front garden or in the flower bed enjoy increased attention from felines from all over the area. To save your plantings from intruders, arrange orange peels in flowers especially loved by cats.
You can rub the leaves of plants with fresh peel - then the cats will bypass the flower beds and flower beds. The method is effective, only the crusts will have to be changed after rains or watering. A home remedy, a mixture of crushed rinds and coffee grounds, can help with this as well.
Other features
At the beginning of the summer season, when it is still cold in the house, orange peels will help to make a fire in the stove. Application in gardening will occur a little later, but orange peel is simply irreplaceable as kindling. It burns longer and better than paper due to the presence of essential oils.
In addition, when burning, a very pleasant smell is released, thanks to which it immediately becomes warmer and more comfortable in a still cold room. You can simply spread orange peels around the house - the musty smell will disappear, and it will be useful for the respiratory system, because the phytoncides secreted by the zest inhibit various pathogens.
Orange peel will come in handy later, when mosquitoes and midges appear. If you are not allergic to citrus fruits, then you can simply wipe open areas of the body with fresh orange peel -the smell left on your skin will repel insects.
