This breaks my heart because I'm betting I produce more than your average amount of fruit and vegetable scraps than your standard single American. For the past three years I've been composting, I would keep a little bucket of vegetable scraps on my counter and take all of the delicious remnants to the bin on my patio when it was full. Now, one would imagine that this would be a smelly, bug-attracting routine, but that hadn't been my experience at all. That is until this weekend.
Not once, but twice this weekend I have come home to a kitchen ridden with hundreds of ants (and I'm known for keeping a very tidy space and kitchen). For the life of me, I couldn't find where they were entering my tiny home. But they were there, oh, were they there. I started with vinegar and tried to wipe everything down with the pungent deterrent to no avail. I tried leaving drops of honey to attract the unwanted guests and then drown them in it's sugary goodness, but letmetellya, these are the dumbest ants I've ever seen. They would walk in circles and circles going nowhere and were not in the slightest bit attracted to my sweet traps. Not even one.
Then, I read online about how ants leave scent trails for each other and when you kill one another scent trail is left, continuing to attract more and more ants. The online article's solution? Window cleaner. I swear I went through half a bottle of Windex this weekend alone, but it did the trick. Along with more vinegar, furious cleaning and vacuuming every single nook and cranny, I haven't spotted the same crowd since.
Anyway, back to the compost bin. I want to compost, it's such a great way to reduce the amount of trash I'm putting in the landfill, get rid of receipts and other printed financial statements to halt identity thieves, and of course, provide rich and intense nutrition for my container garden. I've found composting results in the most rich, wonderful-smelling earth that you can imagine. But this year, with the extremely mild winter it also means bugs and spiders. Lots and lots and lots of bugs and spiders. I don't mind sharing the bounty as long as it's an outdoor dinner party. But these bugs just don't know their manners and have been inviting themselves into my home. So, what's a girl to do? Keep composting? Take the summer off?
BTW, I spared you from a picture of my unwanted guests because I didn't want you to have the same creepy, crawly dreams I have the past two nights.
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