FEED THE ANTS….TUPPENCE A BAG……TUPPENCE….TUPPENCE….OK, EVERYONE SING
ALONG!!!!
ANTS!!! Just the word makes some people’s skin crawl. I remember
watching a horror flick many years ago about ants invading a town. They ate
everything in their pathway including people. On that lovely note, I don’t
think we have any fear of being eaten by ants but they sure can do some major
harm to your home, food cupboards, your lawn and garden.
A couple of years ago, we found out we had carpenter ants and that they
were in the walls of our home. My husband found out that there was a spray that
would combat the issue and it did work. However, we were gagged out for days
and I was worried about our health and that of the cats as well. We also have
little ants that eat through the grouting and mortar of our brick and tile in
our home every year come warmer weather. What’s a person to do?! I was killing
piles of ants on a daily basis and knew that there had to be a better solution.
Then one day, I was talking to a friend about it and she said to use
cornmeal. Yup, simple, safe, edible cornmeal. I had some in my pantry and immediately
put it in the crevices between my back door and the tile where they had eaten
away the grouting. Then I put some near the brickwork on my front doorstep.
Guess what?! It worked! I did find a few
ants over the next couple of weeks that were in the throes of death but that
was it!! No chemicals choking us to death! At first, I felt a bit guilty about
the fact that the ants were eating the cornmeal and then it would expand in their
little tummies and then it would kill them. But then I remembered that the
wonderful, chemical spray caused them to die in a bad way too.
One day my daughter mentioned to me that my little grand-daughter went
through a fairly large nest of ants in our backyard. So out I went and looked
for the nest so I could put some cornmeal in and around it. I was shocked at
how many large nests I had in my backyard! I left some of the smaller ones alone
and only did the area that my grand-daughter would be playing in. I left the
really big ones out in our field alone as the woodpeckers like to feast on
these and it’s cool to watch them.
So here’s to a chemical-free solution to ants marching two by two
across your countertops. Oh, and if you get ants in your pants…….just add some
cornmeal!
