by Alice Rush
IT’S THAT time of the year when the garden becomes not so much fun. I’m referring to my vegetable garden, but it applies to the yard as well. It’s a challenge just to be outside because of the mosquitos, deer flies and horse flies, and ticks. While these have been fewer this year in the heat, (I haven’t seen a tick since early spring) they make outdoor life a challenge unless you enjoy the smell of neurotoxic bug sprays.
I hate bug spray, but I do what I must, “suiting up” for my work outside. Putting on long pants and a light colored shirt and wearing my old outdoor-use sneakers. Then, once outside, holding my breath and spraying myself down, right to my shoes, with bug repellent. I apply that outside because I don’t want the smell permeating my home. Oh, and I wear a wide brimmed straw hat, also sprayed, to keep bugs out of my hair and the sun off of my face and neck.
It’s an occasion for lots of sweating if I’m mowing or doing major work outside like digging of any kind for planting. That means multiple reapplications of the nasty bug spray. I really hate it, but there is no way around it unless I want to be irritated and scratch at multiple bug bites for days. So after one of these extended outside activity days, I come inside straight to the shower, and all my clothes go directly into the washing machine. I can’t even stand to let that clothing linger in the laundry pile. Straight to the wash it goes.
I FIND myself strategizing how I can avoid the whole “event” and instead manage quick work outside, like refilling the bird feeder, the hummingbird feeders, or checking for ripe, ready-to-pick cucumbers or squash (tomatoes and beans are slow this year) without having to use the bug repellant. I watch the weather for breezier times, and throw on long sleeves and the hat for quick tasks outside. Days with a light wind are lovely, but there have not been many without steam heat in the last week or so.
It’s too bad to be so excited about the start of the garden and all the planning and prep work, only to have it come to this battle with heat, humidity and bugs, but that is about to change. We’re expecting better weather in the coming week. I’m sure the mosquitoes will still be out for blood, but some cool breezes may deter them, and I might get to start to let my guard down just a little. Autumn is just around the corner! I hope my vegetables ripen up before it cools down too much!
This is America. My husband insists that none of this ever happens in the Netherlands.
* Alice is a Maine realtor and a licensed helicopter and fixed wing pilot. She first met her Dutch husband in Maryland in 2005, and married him four years later.
