Do you love nasturtiums like I do? Last year, I had lots of nasturtium seeds left over and no more room in the garden, so I started planting the seeds in the crevices of the stone walls surrounding our raised beds. And, like magic, a garden full of jeweled flowers!     -Badger Bill

Growing big carrots! After years and years of gardening, I finally learned the secret: carrots don't like obstacles in their path as they grow deep into the ground. So last year when I planted carrots, I spent a lot of time preparing the bed - taking out every little stone that I could find! It was well worth the effort! I had a bountiful carrot harvest. Of course, you need to give it the right nutrients as well!     -Badger Katie

Got a case of pesky pests? For aphids on your flowers, mix up a spray bottle of soapy water (all natural dish soap works great) and give the plant a good bubble bath - the aphids can't hold on! Or, you can find a few lady bugs and place them on the leaves of the plant (they'll eat the aphids right up).     -Badger Jen

...And a few from our trusty Facebook friends...

"Put red pepper flakes in your garden to keep groundhogs away."     -Jessica B.

"Plant peppermint to keep small rodents away...plus it smells great!"     -Katie C.

"Borage is a cool herb to plant - the leaves taste like cucumber in salad, and they help keep hornworms away...plus it's pretty.  Chamomile with cucumbers is a great companion plant - and as a bonus, you get tea."     -Jen S.

Recently you may have heard a lot about Badger and the Environmental Working Group's 2010 Sunscreen Guide, and you may be asking yourself: "what is all of this hullabaloo about?". 

The EWG is a non-profit consumer protection group that rates cosmetics and personal care products on safety and effectiveness, and then lists them in a Cosmetics Database for consumers to search.  The way that they do this is they look at all of the ingredients and ascribe each ingredient a safety rating from 0-10, which then translates to an overall product score of 0-10, with 0 being the safest (or best) score that a product can receive.  All of Badger's products are listed in the Safe Cosmetics Database, and all are at the "top of the charts" for safety and efficacy (and most are rated at 0).

Since 2007 the EWG has been releasing its Sunscreen Guide and the 2010 version, which was released last month, names Badger's sunscreens as some of the safest and most effective on the market. (We've been on the previous years lists, as well!) We've been mentioned everywhere from WebMD to MotherJones.com... and the list keeps growing!

Visit cosmeticsdatabase.com for more information on their methodology, and to see where your cosmetics and personal care products rate.  You can also search by company and by specific ingredients as well.