Chiggers we don't have, mosquitoes I got...but this spring I remembered to put those "Dunks" in the water barrels so not so bad. I am definitely going to get a bottle of the Bath & Bodyworks lavender mist. I'd rather use something like that than heavy chemicals. Poison ivy is something I've just learned to live with here. Where I grew up, there was absolutely none. The first people who built in Parkhill kept cows and left them to roam the woods and I think they must have eaten any that was there. We kids ran like wild Indians through those woods all summer and never got an itch. Down here...the stuff is rampant. When I kept sheep they ate it all up throughout the pasture, so that area is still relatively clear, but there's so much of it everywhere else (along the road, in the tall trees between farm fields) that it keeps popping up on my property too. Especially where there are trees...I think the birds eat the berries, sit in a tree, poop, and there you go.
A woman told me to wash within 1/2-1 hour of any exposure with COLD water and dish detergent, the harsher the better. Rinse rinse rinse, then wipe a paper towel saturated with rubbing alcohol over the area (WIPE, not rub). I've been doing this for quite a few years and rarely get a very bad rash... But whenever I fail to do this, I get it.
We had a spell of very hot dry weather here last week, but now we're into some very cool and rainy days. I dont know what the summer will bring. I do believe that the higher levels of carbon dioxide in the air seems to make trees/shrubs grow a lot faster...I was just marvelling over a mimosa that I planted just 2 years ago. It was barely hip high, now it's well over 10 feet!
I'm really dragging my feet over the veg garden this spring. I realize I'd much rather be working with flowers/landscape. It's such a struggle against weeds and groundhogs I'm beginnign to wonder if it's worth it for a few jars of beans and tomato sauce.
Happy gardening, Annie
