Vinegar Fridays

Ants, ants
everywhere!
On the walls
and on the chairs.
Ants are here
and ants are there.
Pesky ants are
everywhere!

The sunshine and warm temps in Western PA have been wonderful....The winter, a harsh labor delivering spring at last. But with the spring comes the arrival of insects. Bees are trying to find homes inside of our metal patio furniture...dozens and dozens of bees. And ants are invading our home. It seems as though every time I turn around there's another one crawling up the wall, across the ceiling, on the kitchen counters, on the floor.....I'm so not enjoying this.

What to do? What to do?

Well, I came across some natural remedies for this problem (imagine that?) and I'm going to put them to the test TODAY!! Here is my suggestion for you to try if you're facing the same onslaught of pests:

Vinegar! Of course, it's Vinegar Friday. Pour some undiluted distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle and spritz it around where you think the ants are entering your home. If you still have ants, look for different entry points. Adding a smidgen of honey to the vinegar can make this even more effective, but be careful not to add more than a drop.

Of course, it's common sense to make sure you don't have any open containers of food that are attracting ants. If you have kids or a spouse who likes to snack while sitting on the couch, lift up the cushions and the couch itself and vacuum up any crumbs. You don't want the ants thinking you've left treats just for them!

By the way, distilled white vinegar works well to keep the fruit flies away as well. Just set out a small bowl of it in an inconspicous place.

Back to the ants: In order to eliminate the ants altogether, you'll have to take more drastic steps. Supposedly, when an ant eats dry grits and then drinks water, the grits act like sponges and kill the ants. So sprinkle some dry grits around.

The next suggestion has a downside to it because it involves Borax. You must use Borax sparingly because of its toxicity to pets and little ones if it's used in high doses. Just add 1/8 teaspoon of it to some sugar and put it somewhere to attract the ants. They'll eat it and die.

Seems cruel, doesn't it? However, ants can be very destructive to homes and porches. You want to protect your property. But you don't need to use commercial products that can be harmful to the environment to do so. So grab a spray bottle of distilled white vinegar and spray away! Starting off with this easy, eco-friendly step could be the solution to your problem. I'm heading downstairs to give it a try.

Keeping it green,

Hana