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Wednesday, May 6, 2015

I see 'em no see 'ums

Black gnats / no see ums. They are a blight to our idyllic life here in the country. They are as small as the head of a pin and not often noticed or felt until an impossibly itchy bite swells to an inch or more that lasts a couple of weeks.

What began as a general interest in repellents and organic alternatives quickly became a serious and urgent desire to do something about those damned bugs.

UC Davis and other reputable research organizations say there is no repellent on the market that gives relief from no see ums.  We did some research and checked it out for ourselves. We bought about 15 products and spot tested. Sure enough: Deet.  Picardin. Skin So Soft. - even the chemical, bad for you repellents didn't work.

The farmers and staff really suffer from the first week of May until the weather turns hot enough to kill them -- several days in a row over 100 degrees. With wide brimmed hats pulled low over their ears, the farm hands wear long sleeve shirts buttoned to the neck, long sleeves, gloves, jeans turned into boots, and Vaseline along the wrists and at the neckline. It is only moderate protection. For those of us not forced outside except by choice, it is almost unbearable.

We pray for a short hot spell in May.

This year we cornered ourselves by not getting the garden drips done before gnat season, so last weekend was a gnat fest as we hurried through that project. Epsom Salts help soothe the welts.

A couple of years ago, we made the first repellent formula from a recipe on the internet. We thought it would save the world and everyone would smell like vanilla and lemon zest. It works in a pinch, but is more of a party favor.

More serious versions followed, more oils with repellent properties, but the Hubs returned after a day on the tractor coated in oily mosquito repellent that had picked up layers of caked dust, bits of grass, and carcasses of gnats and mosquitos. He looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The next version involved less oil and natural citric acid which the bugs didn't like, but were attracted to, if that makes any sense. They landed and walked around and we itched like crazy. We spent half the time brushing them away and in the process wiping off the repellent which gave them a spot to bite.

At some point a promising version was tested at UC Davis and we got some tips on staying on the track we were on and how to research further into the topic. He gave us access to UC Davis published papers and promising developments in the field. This lab tests most of the country's repellents and they said most repellents do not test their product before taking it to market.  (!!)

By now we are in an all out war with the gnats so we continually work with adding more essential oils, taking others away, adding more carrier oil and alcohol and then incrementally decreasing them, back and forth.  Each time, God love him, the willing Hubs sprays up and heads out into the world to see what will happen.

And I head to the kitchen to make something good for dinner so we can talk it over, write notes in our journal, and move on something else.