Thursday, May 26, 2011

Ask The Readers

Good morning faithful readers. This morning I am sending up some S.O.S. flares. I hope you can help me!!!

  • Where can I buy rennet to make cheese? I'm looking to buy it locally if possible (meaning, not buy it online and have it shipped and taking several days to get here). I have some milk that I want to make cheese with. We have your usual grocery stores, along with Tom Leonards, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Good Foods Grocery (local store) and... that's all that comes to mind right now. I'm in the Central - Va. -ish area if that helps?

    Update: I've found rennet. Whole Foods carries it! However they are out of stock today (will be getting more in a couple days), so I think I will freeze the milk until I (a) have the rennet and (b) have time to make cheese.

  • HOW. can. I. keep. ants. OFF! MY! WASHLINE!!! ? I have put (used) motor oil on the bottom of the posts and it worked for a very brief time. Last night Daniel brought in the laundry and it was CRAWLING with ants. And he'd dumped it all on our bed before he realized it. I was not happy (about the ants being on MY! BED!). I don't know why, but the ants in the yard are TERRIBLE this spring!

If you have the answers or even suggestions, or just want to say "wassup?", just leave it in the comments :)

Thank!

14 comments:

Meghan said... [Reply to comment]

Check with local cheese factories. Do you have any around you?

I can't help you with the ants but I think I've seen a granular poison you could sprinkle around the posts.

Olivegirl said... [Reply to comment]

I hear that you can fight ants off with chinese chalk.

Sally said... [Reply to comment]

Would an anteater (the animal) survive in your climate, and can you have some as pets?

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Hi there. The ants are really bad this year because of all the rain.

something that is kid and pet friendly:

Get some Boraxo powdered soap and some corn syrup. Heat the corn syrup, do not let it biol, then mix in the boraxo! Pour it around the base of your line. They will eat the mixture and take it back to the queen. It Will kill them. Mix about 1/2cup syrup with 1/2 table spoons of Boraxo.

saturn1019 said... [Reply to comment]

A safer way to deter the ants is to sprinkle sinnamon heavily on the ground around the clothesline posts. Ants HATE cinnamon. A friend in Texas said this worked like a charm for her. Good Luck!

Miriam said... [Reply to comment]

@Elsa's Daughter Hmm, I've never heard of Chinese Chalk. I might have to look into that. Thanks for the tip!

Miriam said... [Reply to comment]

@Meghan Ah, dear Meghan, I can tell you are in Wisconsin where cheese grows on trees :) I guess there *are* some dairies somewhat local that probably make cheese, but I don't think there are any actual factories around here. But, it's a great idea! I hadn't thought to contact the local farms.

Miriam said... [Reply to comment]

@Sally Daniel said we needed to get an anteater. "It would be cheaper to feed than cats!"

Miriam said... [Reply to comment]

@saturn1019 THANK YOU!! I thought there was a spice that ants don't like but I couldn't remember if I was remembering correctly, or what spice it was.

Miriam said... [Reply to comment]

@Anonymous So I'm guessing plain Borox powder doesn't work?

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Try dumping cinnamon around your clothes line area. When I get ants in the kitchen, I put a small pile on my kitchen counter and they run right away!

Hope you find a solution!

Sharon said... [Reply to comment]

baby powder works well for the ants. just sprinkle it where you see the ants parading from. i used it by my back door and haven't seen a single one since.

Elizabeth said... [Reply to comment]

I was told to make a blend of cinnamon and baby powder once. Worth a try?

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

ortho home defense max. stuff works wonders.