Them! Again!

Yep..we are back battling the ants, again! As I said in the past, the hill is being overrun by ants..they are everywhere! There is not a safe place in the yard! I am truly beginning to think that this hill is one huge ant nest! Now, I am not one to go dump a bunch of chemicals around on the ground whether it be to fertilize the garden or to kill the pests. I try to by all means possible go a natural route, but sometimes circumstances call for desperate measures and this was one of those times. I needed something..anything..to rid my yard of these biting monsters!

Just when I had about resolved myself to buying some "proven" ant poison, I came across another natural remedy. I was searching the internet for a recipe using quinoa when I stumbled on a "surefire" method of removing ants! I was excited to say the least..no more ants meant no more bites. I would be able to go barefoot again! (Not that I had stopped..I just ended up with lots of ant bites!) This site said to use coffee grounds! Well, now...this was easy enough! I have a lot of coffee grounds! I was a bit dubious at first but then I thought of the compost pile where I usually empty the grounds. There were no ants in the compost pile..which I might add, seems a bit odd since there is a ready source of food stuffs in the bin. But no ants! Perhaps the daily dumping of coffee grounds chased the ants out of the area. I was hopeful! Now I just needed to invite the ants for a cup of coffee and maybe they would leave on good terms. I hoped for the best. The grounds were sprinkled (dumped!) on the first ant nest that I found..about three feet from the front steps! We shall see in a few days just how well this does..I am still doubtful but with a reasonable amount of hope thrown in for good measure! This is supposed to work in about three days..we shall see!

Speaking of ants..I have found two rather interesting things. One that fresh basil can take the itch out of a bite. It does absolutely nothing about preventing the bite in the first place but a good rubbing of a leaf on an ant or mosquito bite usually will cause it to stop itching. The second..dish soap will rid the kitchen of the tiny ants that invade hunting for food and water. A thin coating smeared on the counter top and sink will cause them to forage elsewhere. My first attempt at doing this was a huge mess! I only had green dish soap! My white sink and counters looked like a slime monster had blown up on them! This was not an appetizing sight to have in the kitchen so I promptly got some clear, biodegradable dish soap and the problem was solved! No more tiny ants marching in an endless trail around my kitchen! Plus..no toxic sprays slowly killing me! I have seen nary a one since the application of soap! Now if the coffee grounds work in the yard, I might be ant-free!