Will grits kill fire ants?

[2kids10horses]

We have cats, so they will take care of mice, etc.

Possums, raccoons, and skunks are another matter, but they usually go after my chickens rather than grits.

Fire ants do use the mounds, too.

Squishing them isn't effective. I regularily squish mounds when I bushhog the pasture with the tractor.

Seriously, I think the best thing is Amdro, but nothing really works for long.

However, I have heard there's another imported ant that will kill fire ants: Crazy ants. They swarm really bad, and for some reason are attracted to electricity. They get into your electrical connections and short it out.

[Deleted]

Sept 9, 2012 18:23:22 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Sarah, Kentucky is a border state. So that didn't really answer the question of whether you ate grits or not. It's like when you get in the border states, they don't really understand the concept of iced tea.

I'm just teasing you, by the way.

I know. Actually, true to my carpet bagger heritage, I've never really embraced grits in their purest form. But add cheese and shrimp and maybe a little bacon and I'm totally on board.

And I believe that iced tea is a refreshing drink on a summer's day. Sweet tea, on the other hand, is like a delicious race to see whether you get a cavity or diabetes first.

Just don't spill any, or we're back to ants

[vonna]

Sept 9, 2012 18:25:07 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Now Vonna understands how to prepare grits. I will have to "exalt" her for that knowledge.

But, Vonna, grits still make great cement if you need to patch something.

I went to college in the south as a total transplant (some may say foreigner!). Used to go home at times on the weekends with my roomie. That's when I experienced my first grits . . . oh my, those were good.

[Deleted]

And I believe that iced tea is a refreshing drink on a summer's day. Sweet tea, on the other hand, is like a delicious race to see whether you get a cavity or diabetes first.

Just don't spill any, or we're back to ants

There's a difference between sweet tea and iced tea? Only if you specifically ask for unsweetened tea.

But karma (or exalting for you, too). You ARE Southern . . . by choice or luck if not by birth.

[Apple]

I've used borax to kill ants, but I'm not sure if it would kill fire ants, just mix it with something they like to eat.

[weltschmerz]

I've never tasted grits in my life. I'd like to, along with collard greens and okra. Grits are made from corn, right? Do they taste like corn? I really like corn.

[rileyoday]

In FL. the paper recomended hot water, dish detergent ,cup of veg oil for one gallon water. Seemed to work , maybe they moved close by.

[2kids10horses]

I'm sure you could find grits at the grocery store, schmertz.

The "classic" way to cook them (don't get the "instant" grits) is to boil 3 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of salt. When the water comes to a roiling boil, add one cup of grits. Use "white" grits. Don't get yellow. Don't worry, there WILL be little tiny black flakes in it. Turn the heat down, and cover the pot and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally so the grits don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Add additional water as needed to keep the grits "creamy".

Ladle into a bowl. Add a pat of butter, and salt to taste. Enjoy!

[Deleted]

Sept 10, 2012 1:42:59 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I've never tasted grits in my life. I'd like to, along with collard greens and okra. Grits are made from corn, right? Do they taste like corn? I really like corn.

Greens are good.
Okra is kinda slimy though.

[2kids10horses]

The only way to eat okra is to slice it cross-wise, bread it and fry it.

[alabamagal]

For those of you who have never experienced fire ants, they are not native, and they are PESTS who can be dangerous to humans and some animals. They can create a large mound in a day or two. If you disturb their mound, you can quickly be covered in them and get hundreds of bites in a minute or two. Both of my boys got into fire ants at some point, one required trip to ER due to the number of bites.

AMDRO is the best. It is a bait product that kills the queen and the others die. It takes a couple of days to work. It does not kill any other animals. We use it in the back yard and have never had problems with the dogs.

[2kids10horses]

I have idea what okra tastes like. The fried breading around the okra is good.

Have you ever had fried green tomatoes? Kinda like that.

[Tiny]

Sept 10, 2012 1:42:59 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I've never tasted grits in my life. I'd like to, along with collard greens and okra. Grits are made from corn, right? Do they taste like corn? I really like corn.

Yes, grits are corn... but really good grits don't taste like corn - they are all buttery, bacon-y, creamy yumminess.

Be careful where you have your first grits/greens/okra. There's alot of nasty icky stuff that passes for grits/greens/okra. You need someone's Mom to make these for you. Homecookin' is the way to go. I'm a Northerner - and I LOVE grits/greens/okra - but I rarely order them in northern restaurants (icky!!!!) Homecooked on the other hand... I'm there.

It's like having calimari - at a good restaurant (or homecooked) you aren't eating tastless breaded rubberbands.

[Tiny]

Sept 10, 2012 6:57:00 GMT -5 2kids10horses said:

I'm sure you could find grits at the grocery store, schmertz.

The "classic" way to cook them (don't get the "instant" grits) is to boil 3 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of salt. When the water comes to a roiling boil, add one cup of grits. Use "white" grits. Don't get yellow. Don't worry, there WILL be little tiny black flakes in it. Turn the heat down, and cover the pot and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally so the grits don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Add additional water as needed to keep the grits "creamy".

Ladle into a bowl. Add a pat of butter, and salt to taste. Enjoy!

Where's the BACON!!!

[weltschmerz]

I'm sure you could find grits at the grocery store, schmertz.
-----------------
I've never seen grits for sale here in Montreal. We have a lot of ethnic food, but not southern food.

[Chocolate Lover]

Be careful where you have your first grits/greens/okra. There's alot of nasty icky stuff that passes for grits/greens/okra.

Most definitely Okra is only good for frying, like has already been mentioned, and for thickening gumbo.

You all forgot one special thing to add to grits. Fried eggs. Grits and eggs and bacon, now that's a breakfast! ;D

[myrrh]

weltschmerz, if you can find polenta in the store you can cook it like grits. *dons flame suit*

[verrip1]

1. Raw rice thrown at weddings will kill small birds by swelling in their innards.
2. A dish filled with rolled oats mixed with plaster of paris will kill rats when they gorge on it and it ends up setting up in their guts.
3. My wife's grits can kill any living being, and have been declared a weapon of mass destruction.
4. It always tastes better when you call it 'polenta' rather than 'grits' (except for my wife's).

[2kids10horses]

Update on my grits experiment:

First two mounds are virtually flat, if I scratch around the area, I disturb only one or two "holdout" ants.

Larger mounds in monkey grass: Definately declining. Whereas before, if you disturbed the mound, hundred (if not thousands) of ants would emerge. Now, only dozens.

Something is happening!

Either the ants are down in the lower levels smoking cigarettes after canoodling, packing their bags and leaving, exploding, or whatever, they're not up near the surface.

A control mound (left undisturbed and un gritted), is rising and spreading.

Maybe, if the adult ants feed it to the larvae, and it's killing the larvae.

Really, I wasn't expecting this to work. But it appears to be working!

[2kids10horses]

We feed our chickens rice. They don't explode.

But it's cooked left-over rice. I guess that's pre-expanded.