Time to be on Skeeter Watch

At last the sun arrives! Here in New Jersey we've seen a rather endless stream of rainy, misty, stormy gray days. At last the sun was shining this weekend and it seems everyone went charging out to the gardens and barbecues. And I was right along with them.

As I was straightening and trimming and weeding, I realized that all of this rain has left many things damp and still puddley. There was some water in the bottom of one of the buckets and a few empty flower pots. A small puddle had also formed on the cover of my wood pile. Before I played in the dirt, I had to clean up the water before those pesky mosquitoes had a chance.

You see, in my youth I worked for the Middlesex County Mosquito Commission. It wasn't my favorite job in my life, but it did teach me a lot.

Those annoying summer bugs are fast and furious breeders. Even the smallest driblets of standing water can become their nurseries. To help keep your summer evening mosquito free, take some time to patrol your yard and empty out any area of standing water. Rain barrels, bird baths, dishes under pots can all be breeding grounds. Empty them out as often as possible.

Look for wet spots on the ground where the water is standing. Fill it in with dirt, splash it out, or spray with lemon dish detergent.

Be creative in looking for the watery areas. The more you dry out, the less likely you'll be attacked.

There are lots of products on the market to spray or fumigate, but those can be rather toxic. For me, it's the water hunt to make mosquitoes unhappy to live here.

Now - let the summer roll on!