Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Monday, April 29, 2019

The frustration is real

Does anyone have a natural ant killer I can use in my herb garden.  I was walking by it and saw a puffed up area in my oregano.  I stepped on it, and poof a bunch of ants came out.  Urgh.  Cornmeal doesn't kill them, and I can't use artificial sweetener nor borax.  I'd contaminate my herbs.  I am however, dumping boiling water on the hill.  I will have to do it a few more times, and if it works, replant some of the oregano.



This my friends, is my rose bed.  Does anyone have a natural homemade weed killer?  I don't care if it kills off the roses either, I want different ones anyway.  It's the most frustrating bed we have, and nothing has worked from weed fabric to 6 inches of mulch on top.  

Well, since I wrote up this draft for the post, I found another way to handle this weed garden from hell - roofing shingles and rocks.  We know someone re-roofing, so we hope to get some of the old singles soon. Until then, guests will just have to enjoy the weed fest going on. 

We are due to have 4 days of rain starting today (again).  Sunday we had planned to piddle around, but guess what?  We took off south to pick up a new radiator for our 19 year-old's car.  While we were there, my step-daughter called.  She gave birth to our 3rd grand child - a boy.  We drove north and made a visit to the hospital.  What a busy weekend.

I don't have clean house slippers to work around the house today.  Sigh.  Thanks to Jesse.  He's been so good off the leash, and in plain day light I just go out with him.  However, he smelled a dead rabbit in the road and went straight for it.  He's back on the leash after I ran through the sopping grass, saturating my slippers and socks.  My slippers are drying after a good washing.  As for that dead rabbit?  Hubby went out and shoveled it off into the field north of us.  We later watched a vulture having it's meal.

10 comments:

Vicki said...

Congratulations on the new grandson!! Grandbabies are such fun.

Mama Pea said...

The weeds in your rose bed look suspiciously like the quack grass I fight all the time. If it is, other than digging and pulling it out, you'll have to try smothering/killing it for a long time since the roots can be two feet long under the soil. What a pain!

When I was weeding my raised beds yesterday, I was unhappy to find the small brown ants having a convention in one corner of a bed. I've never seen them in the soil before. It's usually the bigger black ones. If you find a safe (successful!) way to get rid of them, let me know, please.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thank you Vicki

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Mama Pea, those roots must be very deep. So frustrating. I'll let you know if I find a way to kill the ants in my herb garden.

Smily-Света said...

I know a perfect ant killer (use it myself) - 20% vinegar. As for weeds, nothing eco-friendly works well, in fact :(

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks Smily!

Susan said...

I've used vinegar on ants, too, and it seemed to work. It seems that every year, there is a new insect that is over the top in my garden! My sister just cleared an area of weeds using a combination of vinegar, Epsom salt and dish soap. Not sure if that is something that you'd think of as 'safe', but it worked for her.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks Susan, I could use that mix for weeds on the weed bed. Nothing edible in it. Just some roses that didn't do well last year. I'll give it a try after our rain stops and dries up.

hart said...

Diatomaceous earth seems to work on hard shelled insects. My bag came with an accordion pleated puffer.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks hart