The Latest Experiment

I am always trying something new; a new pattern, a new theory, a new way to accomplish something. Today, I set in motion a new experiment. I made my own Mesquite Barrier and applied it to the back yard.

If you've never heard of Mesquito Barrier, it is an expensive liquid you can order to spray on your yard. It is basically a high concentration of garlic in liquid form. You mix the garlic with a teaspoon of liquid soap and then use a water sprayer to coat your entire yard.

The liquid soap is so that if any of the spray lands in standing water, and there are mosquito larva in it, they will be coated and unable to fly - thus die.

We paid almost $60 for a bottle several years ago. It works, basically. While advertised to work for up to 3 months . . . that is only if it does rain much - ours lasted about a month. So we never did it again.

However, when researching alternate methods of keeping mosquitoes away from the house I found that you can sit bowls of apple cider vinegar around a perimeter prior to an outside party and it will keep the mosquitoes away.

Then, earlier this week I was spraying my vegetable for bugs with a mixture of water and a little canola oil to rid them of bugs.

So . . .

I mixed 1/2 a gallon of apple cider vinegar, 1/3 a cup of canola oil, and a half a table spoon of dish soap into a sprayer and filled the remaining portion of the 2-gallons with water. Then I sprayed the back yard. The fences, back of the house, porch, broken down cars and lawnmowers, wood pile, play equipment, grass, trees, etc. Everything. I actually ended up having to make two more containers to cover the entire back yard.

I figure by tonight I should be able to tell if it impacts the mosquito population. In two to three days I should know if it is going to make Will sick or cause him to break out. And by the end of the week I'll know if it kills the grass.

What fun!