Natural Solutions to Pests


You may remember that it rained a lot this spring, but if we have a hot August, we may have a summer remembered as much for the mosquitoes as for the glorious days at the beach. There are some things you can do to plan in advance for the management of these pesky pests.
Mosquito machines have become very popular as a way to manage a mosquito invasion.   Basically, these machines “Mimic human breadth… by producing… a warm moist carbon dioxide plume that is produced from propane gas to attract blood seeking insects." As mosquitoes approach the machine, they are vacuumed into a net where they dehydrate and die.  There are no pesticides used and these machines are quiet.  The concept is the machine will draw mosquitoes and no see-ums away from us. Most of the machines claim that they are effective for one half to one acre of property.  Since so few of us own that much land on Fire Island, one machine should be sufficient to provide some protection.
While we are on the subject of mosquitoes, someone suggested dryer sheets be rubbed on your skin to provide protection from mosquitoes.
Check the screens on your windows to be sure they are in place and not full of holes.  In older houses, screens are sometimes in very bad repair.  There are many contractors on the beach who will do screen repair for you.  There are also local hardware stores which do screen repair if you choose to send your screens off the beach.  Islip Hardware on Montauk Highway is a local, family business that does screen repair quickly at a fair price.
Mosquito nets—those romantic tents of tulle that hang from your ceiling—are available on line.  Remember to tuck the net under your mattress so the mosquitoes cannot get under the net. We hang ours from our ceiling fans and in combination with the fan the net is very effective in keeping the mosquitoes away from us while we sleep.
We are hearing reports of ant problems in all communities.  There are a number of things you can do to slow them down, but most of these solutions are toxic to children and pets.  Our neighbor Joyce Purnick has tried a formula she found on the Internet and she reports it is effective.

“Natural” Anti-Ant Potion
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp. (1 1/2 t.) boric acid
Dissolve boric acid in water (it gets lumpy in our humidity.) Add sugar and mix well.
Dribble a dollop or two the size of a silver-dollar or quarter (or both ) of the mixture on a piece of waxed paper or other non-porous flat surface that you can later throw away or wash, and place wherever you have an ant infestation.
The ants will soon come and feed —in profusion! LET THEM EAT! Do not disturb, and resist the temptation to kill them. They are foragers, and will take the poison back to the colony and the queen and poof. End of ants.
The Internet said the process takes between 24 and 48 hours. I find it takes less time, but I think it must depend on degree of your infestation. Sometimes I find stragglers after the mixture has hardened, and I put out fresh bait. I rarely see carcasses. The ants are incredibly disciplined about getting the food to the queen.
This potion will only kill one colony at a time. If more ants appear, that means you have to put out more bait to eradicate the next colony.
ADVICE:
1. Do not put the mixture directly on furniture, floor, a counter, or in a cabinet because it eventually hardens and then is difficult to remove (if you inadvertently drip any and it dries, use HOT water to dissolve it.)
2. Clean surface after you have removed the mixture just to be sure you left none of it behind.
3. The amount in the mixture above is enough for several applications. Keep it in a plastic container, WELL COVERED. Make sure you mix it well each time you use it. If you want to prepare a larger batch, do so in same proportions. Too much boric acid and the ants will die before getting to the queen. Too little and it will be too weak to kill anything.
4. PETS: Boric acid is often used as an antiseptic and for other medicinal purposes, but could be toxic to animals, so keep away from pets (and of course, children).
Thank you, Joyce for this simple approach to managing summer ants.
Grace Corradino lives in Saltaire year round and is the owner of Fire Island Living Real Estate. E-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any comments or suggestions.

Spring Cleaning for a Summer Garden
By Brian Kerr and
Grace Corradino

If you want any sort of garden this summer, the task of cleaning-up after the winter is daunting if nothing has been done to prepare for the season. Successful gardening requires some preparation.
If you want to do any container planting, empty last year’s soil out of your flower pots. Although you may want to keep last year’s soil for economic or practical purposes, fungus may accumulate in the old soil. If you had any plants with fungus last season, it is likely you will have fungus this year. If you feel confident that your plants were fungus free last year, use the old soil but add a layer of composted cow manure.
If you go in to your garden, wear protective clothing. The ticks have arrived early this year and they are prolific. Long shirts, pants, socks, work boots and gloves are recommended.
Why not plant a vegetable garden if you are lucky enough to have an orderly house when you arrive? You will need a sunny area and it will have to be fenced to make sure hungry deer won’t devour everything you plant. We have always had a vegetable garden. As vegetarians, if we do not have vegetables, there is nothing to eat!  Over the years we have had to curb our enthusiasm for certain vegetables. One year, we had enough beets and beet greens to feed all of Saltaire.
We plant only the vegetables that we use in abundance and which taste significantly better than those that we can buy. For that reason, we do not plant cherry tomatoes or the grape variety of tomato.  They take up too much space in the garden and they aren’t much better than store bought ones.  However, nothing, absolutely nothing, compares to a beefsteak tomato allowed to fully ripen on the vine. If we had to have just one vegetable/fruit in the garden, we would choose a beefsteak tomato. However, man does not live on tomatoes alone and we also grow sugar snap peas, raspberries, arugula, two varieties of lettuce, beets, beans and another favorite, asparagus.
Other seasonal endeavors?
Save on your electric bill and be good to the environment: put up a clothes line. If you do not have room for a clothes line, hang your clothes on a drying rack.  We keep one in the outdoor shower, take it out daily, and hang our laundry on it until it is almost dry.  The clothes are transferred in to the dryer so that they can fluff.
Clean your dryer vent. You probably clean your lint filter every time you dry a load of clothes.  But because some lint will always get past the filter and accumulate in the pipe behind the dryer, you also need to clean the vent hose and pipe once a year to keep your dryer running efficiently. Pull the dryer away from the wall, and then disconnect the flexible pipe that connects to the vent in the wall. Use a dryer lint brush to clean out the inside of the vent and pipe. Use the hose from the vacuum cleaner to remove any remaining lint. This task will shorten your dryer run.

Brian Kerr and Grace Corradino live and work in Saltaire. Brian is the owner of Brian Kerr Landscaping, Inc., and Grace owns Fire Island Living Real Estate, Inc. Your questions and comments are encouraged. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or  BrianKerr@