Thursday, June 26, 2008

It's that time again.


Like clockwork after all of the rain and flooding we had - swarms descending the moment you breathe or move or step outside. My yard is covered in lemon balm, we have netting on our gazebo, and there is no standing water (and the bird bath gets refreshed & a vegetable based mosquito spray daily) - yet we cannot step outside without being devoured. We went out to pick veggies quickly from our garden for dinner (forget about watering anything - too many mosquitoes!) and were swarmed. I had the fan blowing and a spray bottle of water mixed with a heavy dose of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and sprayed every mosquito I saw as the boys played on the deck a bit, but we were still forced inside. Eek!


Time for this again::




Bzzz, Bzzz!: Mosquitoes in Your Backyard by Nancy Loewen











Well, maybe that and some full body netting!


Note: I received emails asking about good natural repellents. Here are just a few:

Repel Lemon Eucalyptus
Bite Blocker
Bug Ban
Herbal Armor

We also plan to make some special candles for outside using our beeswax - citronella is a known repellent, but there are also other oils such as geranium, thyme, clove, and eucalyptus which would make great bug candles!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

here too. they are vicious aren't they. i found a great product online called All Terrain Herbal Armor Insect Repellent. It smells incredible (according to the boys)and works great and it's all herbal!

Lizz said...

Us too!

Lisa Anne said...

Yuck! We are safe from mosquitoes at the moment, but we have these terrible flies that leave huge welts wherever they bite, they do not itch but they really hurt!

I use "Green Ban" when things get too buggy.

The Unusual Farmchick said...

You guys have been so busy! So much excitement going on. I am searching the libraries for the I LOVE DIRT book. I know my little dirt lovers would so enjoy it. I have read so many great reviews/recommendations.
I have 2 packets of the sun print paper which are about 8 years old. I wonder if they would still work after all this time. I found them in a box bottom of items bought from when Panda was a wee babe. Now is the right age for all 3 to enjoy the fun as your boys enjoyed.

Anet said...

Those pests!!! That's horrible that you can't even get outside. grrrr.... It seem just lately we are getting swarmed with them. My Noah is allergic to their bites, he swells up really bad. They seem to hang out by our side door and like to fly in when we go in and out. I have some lemon balm on the other side of the house. Maybe I'll try to pot some and place it by the door.

Jodi Anderson said...

I just took the dog for a walk around the yard and could not believe how buggy it is ... not just mosquitoes, but all sorts of annoying little things landing on my face. Yesterday, I think that Luna (the dog, an Akita) got a mosquito bite on her, um, butt hole. Poor thing. It's driving her crazy.

Ahhh, a gazebo sounds nice!

denise said...

Thanks for the bug spray rec's...I added them to a few others in the post since I had a bunch of emails asking about what to use. :)

Anet - we put a big fan near our back door and blow ourselves off before coming in...and I do think lemon balm helps -- I have massive bushes of it down the sides of the deck and in front--but this year is quite unusual, I think. And they are just swarming up from the grass! Ick.

Jodi - we have those gnats too. Tons of them. And the big damselflies. And the smaller flies. That rain must have revived every species of insect to ever have existed in our soil! :) Since the doves moved in we cannot actually close all 4 sides of our gazebo netting (the nest is INSIDE the gazebo) so not getting much relief right at the moment. But it is nice and shady.

Farmchick - will be interesting to see if they still work! They were in a dark place, so... :)

tiff said...

what a fantastic photo of those oh-so-lovely mosquitoes...we have just moved into the black fly season...to go along with our mosquitoes...ugh!

i can't imagine the mosquitoes you guys are getting after all that rain and flooding...yikes!

Mama Randa Morning Glory said...

Mosquitos were that bad at our house last summer. We couldn't play outside in our yard at all. For some strange reason, they are not so bad this year. I have no idea why. What I REALLY hate is when the "Mosquito Abatement" trucks come by in the middle of the night, not even giving you a chance to close your windows, fumigating the neighborhood with their toxic cocktails of chemicals which do NOTHING other than ensure that the next generation of mosquitos are stronger.

Elisheva Hannah Levin said...

Ugh! The State Bird of Minnesota is one of the things that I do not miss about the Midwest!

Mosquitoes? We don't have them in any numbers out here. The last time I got a bite? In the midwest in 2004. :)

FiveGreenAcres said...

Oh, we are just filthy with them too. They're just horrible, taking all of our desire to even go outside. I see that the guineas eat them, so I'm excited to get them out of the coop and stationed in our back yard. If it works, I'll send one your way. :)

RunninL8 said...

Acccchkkkkk! Did you know 'skeeters are the Alaska state bird?!?!

I've heard the Vitamin B helps in repeling them B1 or B11 or something. Maybe B4756?

I've been taking a general concoction of Bs for stress and was not really bothered by the buggers on our camping trip. And that's saying something!!!

Anonymous said...

I think it's lovely that you put Dover's comfort and needs above your own. :)

I bet you're itchin' (ha!) to put up those sides of the gazebo right about now.