Hi y’all! Happy September to all my garden buddies. Wow again the weather, right! Seriously now all those stupid pesky ANNOYING FLIES. Geesh. I actually woke up a couple of weeks ago and my kitchen floor was moving!! Yes, moving. Remember the piece of chicken in Poltergeist… ya. Overnight I don’t know where all those little wiggly pieces of cooked rice came from but I can tell you one thing when I got up in the morning and went into get my cup of coffee I never prayed so loud and fast in my life. Ewww… So I’ve done some investigation and researchin’ and talked to Grandma and if any a y’all are in this boat with me, grab a paddle, we ain’t goin’ down without a fight! And I have put a few to the test already. So “Let’s Fly Away” together. Being poor comes in handy sometimes. I can say that because it forces us to use that 10% of our brain we tend to hide from or forget about. Good news is, since we’ve only tapped into 10% of our brain’s potential (they say) if we “lose our minds,” don’t trip!! We still have the other 90% hiding somewhere LOL! Ok, I’ll get serious. Here’s one of the funniest ones we’ve come across yet and it smells yummy AND you can make it with the little people.
Apple Potpourri Air Freshener
Take an apple and a bunch of whole cloves and pop the cloves into the skin of the apple. You can’t mess this up guys. You can make designs with the cloves. Stripes, faces or just poke 1 or 100 all over. If you leave the apple whole, it will last longer and you can sit it in more places as a cute little decoration that smells great. The slight amount of acidity in the apple with the pungent aroma of the cloves creates an aroma the flies detest. You may also (more thrifty) slice the apple and stick cloves in it but it won’t last as long and you need to be sure to protect the surface you place it on. Yay Good luck!
Homemade Fly Paper
Take a paper sack, some string, a pan and scissors. Cut out whatever shapes you or the tiny ones helping you want to. Now poke a hole in it and attach string to it for hanging. In the pan, mix 2 cup sweet maple syrup, 2 Tbs sugar, 2 Tbs brown sugar. Combine all ingredients. If needed slightly heat till dissolved and smooth. Now dip each shape by the string and let soak til absorbed then remove each shape and let “kinda dry” if you will. Maybe thumbtack them to a tree or somewhere outside, until they don’t drip (if necessary). Get creative with the shapes. With a sharpie maybe put a design or a face on them BEFORE DIPPING IN STICKY STUFF.
Fly Motel
Take a disposable empty clear glass far and poke holes in the top (so sharp edges go inward) just large enough for effortless entry. At the bottom of the jar put about ¼” Karo Syrup and a piece of meat right in the center of it. For better results you can coat the sides of the jar with the syrup as well. They go in for the meat and get stuck and they are unable to exit back through the holes. If you use a raw piece of meat, place it outside away from anyone’s noses!
Kaleidescope
I’ve shared this before and now I will share again but with the reason why it works. The Ziploc baggy half filled with water with a couple of pennies in the bottom. Flies vision is like looking thru a kaleidoscope and basically when they see the bags of water they cannot tell the difference between that or spider webs. And that is the one and only thing flies naturally avoid. And what the pennies cast off confuses them even more and they think there’s spiders and then they warn their buddies. This works great by entries, garages, animal areas, etc. Ranchers and fruit stand farmers have actually been doing this for very long time.
Now to just keep down on flies around the home in general. Simple ideas such as rinsing all that you can before you toss it in the trash. Instead of throwing away eggshells, coffee grinds and veggies, remember your compost pile and put them there. Once a month, spray your garbage cans with bleach and let soak before rinsing. Green waste, recycle – all of them. Occasionally, go to trash cans and spray a little Windex or soap and water mixture on, in and around the cans. They hate soap. They hate clean. Remember cleanliness is next to Godliness, right! Ouch. Who’s got the money to waste and who wants to spray a bunch of Raid constantly? NOT ME!!
Well ya’ll it’s been fun and remember this is the last month for the scarecrow contest so have your submission in no later than September 10. As always I end this with all of the love I have. Until next month!
Your Plant Lady
P.S. I’m getting my computer back today. We hew!!