So yesterday morning at about 2am when I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, I found the kitchen infested with ants – eeeeuuugh! That was after I had found a couple checking out the joint the night before. After the first incident I got hold of some ant traps, but they obviously hadn’t worked instantly. So I started looking into getting rid of the creepy crawlies the natural way and used concotions made from just 2 plants from the garden last night – and there are no ants to be seen this morning! Yay! It worked!

So what did I use?

As you’ve probably gathered from my previous Blogs and my Facebook posts I loathe having chemicals in my life, well toxic chemicals. I clean the house with white vinegar, lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda and use eco-friendly loo cleaner. That’s all I have in the cupboard. I don’t really like using ant traps, but I really don’t want ants in the house so was prepared to put 2 out. But I also have a garden full of plants, herbs and flowers that I’m using more and more, either to eat, put into my handmade soaps and candles or brew into tea. And now I have the perfect ant deterrent solution, or solutions sourced from the garden.

Formula 1 is just to crush and grind some fresh rosemary, and put in a shallow bowl or dish. I added a couple of drops of rosemary essential oil that I have for my soapmaking.

Formula 2 is to steep some fresh lavender in water, in a shallow bowl or dish. To this I also added a couple of drops of lavender essential oil, again an ingredient used in my soapmaking.

I put both of these dishes near where I thought the ants were coming from.

And then as I have also made some dog flea solution that I’d made and have in a small spray bottle, I used that too as an extra precaution. This solution being apple cider vinegar (which fleas detest), mixed with water and a sprig of rosemary, and a sprig of lavender. I also sprayed that around the floor and areas where I had seen the ants swarming.

The combination has worked! Whether they would work without the addition of the essential oils I don’t know, but suspect they would. If you are going to use essential oil, make sure it is pure oil and not a fake manmade copy – usually labelled as ‘fragrance oil’ or ‘essence of’, and invariably recognisable by the cheap price label (and the synthetic smell to a trained nose).

So, I shall carry on using this until I’m 100% sure the little critters are staying away. And I shall share my natural flea remedies and also natural carpet and stain remover recipes with you another time.

Debbie