Pesky Pantry Pests

In the next few weeks, the kids will be heading back to school, and the insects will be heading indoors.

Even though summer is in full swing, the insect world can sense cooler nights and shorter days. Now would be an excellent time to give the kitchen shelves, pantry area, and drawers a good “once over.” Remove everything out of the cabinets and off of the shelves and wipe everything down with a dry cloth. Check cans for dents and bulges, and dry goods for leaks in seams, and holes in bags and boxes. Wipe up spilled sugar, salt, flour and cereal. If the shelves are lined, pull up the liners and shake them out.

If you plan to buy flour and sugar for holiday baking, slip the bags inside zip loc bags or plastic storage containers before storing them in the cabinets. You can also freeze flour and cornmeal to prevent pantry weevils from laying their eggs. Place the flour or cornmeal in heavy duty freezer bags, label and date the bags and place them in the coldest part of the freezer. Use the flour and meal within three months.

In spite of our best efforts to keep the kitchen free of insects, occasionally ants, weevils, and other kitchen pests make an appearance. You can’t spray insecticides around food, and those plastic-disc insect repellents should not be used where food is stored.

To solve this problem, we offer the “Go Away Pesky Pantry Pests” sachets. These herbal insect repellent sachets are a blend of well known insect repellent herbs. The sachets contain: Santolina lavender, lavender buds, eucalyptus leaf, bay, leaf, star anise, peppermint, and a cedar chip.

Safe to use in kitchen cabinets, drawers, pantry and food storage areas. Simply hang the sachets on knobs, handles or hooks, or lay them in the drawers or place them on shelves. They will repel insects for months. Stash the sachets in closets, trunks, totes or cabinets. Scrunch the sachets monthly to release a fresh scent. You may want to replace the sachets twice a year. Spring and autumn would be the best time to replace them.

To help protect clothing, linens or stored yarn, place the items in plastic storage bins or bags, add one sachet per bag and seal. Protects against moths.

The sachets make great all occasion gifts as well. Each organza sachet is filled with the blend, and is 2 & 1/2 inches long and secured with a looped satin ribbon for hanging.

Article written by Meadow Walker.