I failed.

We quit getting our house sprayed over a year ago, it might even be two.  It’s been long enough that I honestly don’t remember when the last time was that we had “the bug guy” come out. I really wanted to avoid it because I hate the idea of poison around the house. Plus they usually want to spray in your house and pretty much hose down your yard until you are swimming in whatever toxic substance they deluged your property with.

The chickens were our primary defense for a while. When they were free ranging they ate some bugs, but mainly they pooped on the porch… a lot.

We also tried diatomaceous earth around the perimeter of the house.

I looked into several natural bug sprays but did not prioritize it.

I got busy.

We got bugs. Lots of ’em.

My wife was really good about crickets and even the occasional roach, but quite frankly there is no harmony with scorpions. They are nasty creatures. Even one or two probably wouldn’t have been a big deal, but we saw… dozens this summer. Not like A dozen, but… many dozens.

I saw them everywhere in the yard this summer. In the sprinkler box, on the underside of the olla lids, all over the block walls. I killed a ton of them. No mercy for scorpions.

Unfortunately they took the fight inside. It’s not very relaxing to check your bed for scorpions every night. We found them on the walls, in the closet, in the shower (they like water sources), and pretty much everywhere else where you don’t want to see a scorpion. The kids got really good at spotting them, which is an accomplishment considering they blend in with tan and brown colors really well, perfectly matching our tile and carpet.

In the end I decided to do something. The “bug guy” wanted to spray the outside of the walls and the ground around the house up to six feet from the wall. Too much. Of course even if I talked with the first one and got him ‘trained’ on the areas I was willing to allow spraying, the next month it would probably be somebody different and they would end up hosing the place down from top to bottom.

I ended up picking up some poison and doing it myself. Sigh…

It’s a failure, but one that needed to happen. I was able to control the areas that were sprayed, when they were sprayed, and how much they were sprayed. It seemed like the best case scenario. I’m sure at some point in the future I’ll put more effort in and do some testing with the natural sprays, but for now… this is the solution.

We still have bugs in the garden. I still see a few roaches when I water he trees. Spiders are still trying to take over the compost bins, but the house is fairly secure, and for now that’s how it needs to be.