Pest Control From The Pantry

Since starting work with an eco-friendly company, I have been asked if I know a natural way to get rid of insects.  This got the wheels turning in my mind.  If you've ever lived in Atlanta, I have no doubt you have had an encounter with the prehistoric rat-sized insect that my mother refers to as a palmetto bug.  In Florida, though, we had these spiders the size of a grown mans hand.

While I tend to not advocate violence, the riddance of these little creatures from my home doesn't seem to phase me.  I don't kill them outside, though...

So I started knocking about the Internet and happened upon a few solutions for safe bug killers. 

I am excited to try out this Planet Natural roach remedy using baking soda and powdered sugar.  I feel like I'll just have to remember to clean it up later to keep ants away.

Luckily, ants can be deterred with cucumber peels, according to the article.  Simply leaving a few slices along the trails you find will ward them off.  You can get rid of whole colonies with grits, evidently.    

Homemade fly traps could come in handy and they seem rather easy to make, too.  It's as easy as boiling water, sugar and corn syrup together and then painting your sticky concoction onto some shredded paper grocery bags.  Neat, right?

There's even a natural way to rid your home of those creepy, squirmy earwigs.  This article introduced me to something called Diatomaceous Earth.  It's "a fine powder made from the fossilized remains of tiny fresh water algae-like creatures called diatoms."  Evidently this stuff will get rid of earwigs, ants and other small crawlers.  

And if you're looking for a natural flea repellent that's healthy for your pets, well they've got something for that, too.  Finely ground rosemary leaves.  You can sprinkle it on your cat or dog like powder to keep away the pesky little leapers.

From my personal experiments in the past: If you're looking for a way to kill fruit flies without fogging your house up with chemicals, grab a two liter, mason jar or bottle of your choice.  We used one liter Gatorade bottles and that was helpful because they have wider mouth pieces.  Pour just a little bit of wine in the bottom.  We added a few pieces of fruit, too, for added aroma.  I've heard of people using apple cider vinegar and bananas, too.

Then, roll a piece of paper into a cone with a hole at the bottom big enough for the flies to get into.  Place that end into the bottle.  Leave it next to the sink or trash can, or wherever you see the flies most often.  The flies are attracted into the cone and once they're in the bottle, they can't fly out.

Thrifty 20 Something

Natural Planet has tons of other home remedies, along with natural products for sale.  The recipes for Mint and Jojoba Spray and Citronella and Witch Hazel Repellent in this eHow article are worth checking out, too.