Question
Charlotte,

Hello,

We live in Texas and my wife has chemical sensitivities so we cannot and don't want to use any chemicals around the home.  Especially since we have twin 1 year olds that crawl everywhere and chew on everything.  We have a ton of silverfish and some fireants that we would LOVE to get rid of immediately.  We have tried sugar and borax traps and we got rid of a lot of the fire ants with boiling water mixed with orange oil.  We would love to hear how you keep your home free of silverfish and fireants.
Thanks
Bryan

Answer
Heloo Bryan;
I chop orange peels, and scatter them all over the yard when it is time for fire ants to swarm. I never see on in my yard.
the first time I heard of that, I had several hills in my yard. I just dropped a handful of chopped orange peels right on top of the hills.
The next day there wer no fire ants. so O bought a large bag of orange, got the grandkids over to eat oranges, and I chopped the peels, and they had a blast scattering the peels over the yard.
This has become a family tradition ( well, with me and the grandkids.LOL)
I had a good laugh. My little then 3 year old was here, and wanted some fruit.
I had a choice of several kinds, apples, bananas, pearsm strawberries and oranges.
She said stwahbewwies, of no, I betteh have owanges, fow de firw ants.
LOl
Teach em young.LOl
Since I went to a totally organic program, inside as well as in the garden and lawn, my Asthma is about 90% better.
Allergies are better, everything, after getting rid of those chemical smells.
I don't have to worry what my grandchildren or my dogs put in their mouths.
Inside I use rosemary, and lavender ( french and english).
I put a piece of rosemary about an inch long on each pantry and cupboard shelf, a piece about 2 to 3 inches long under each appliance in the kitchen and laundry room, in the bathroom vanity cabinets. everywhere roaches can come in or hide. I do that about once a month.
I throw a sprig in closets too, along with a sprig of lavender.
I put lavender under the beds, in the closets, toss some behind dressers etc, anyplace air circulates, and it can't make a mess on the floor.
I also use wizard lavender room spray.
a spry of that in your bedroom helps you relax and go to sleep better, and rest better.
A drop or two of lavender rubbed between your palms and then over a stuffed toy, to scent it lightly, will help a fussy baby get to sleep in just a few seconds. If the lavender doesn't work, look for a reason besides too tired to get to sleep. Maybe teething etc?
I apint a line of cedar oil along my clothes rods in the closets, and along the baseborad, maybe down the door frame.
There is always a scent of lavender in my house, because I bathe with lavender shower gel, and have lavender bath powder for after bedtime bath. Lavender does so muah t help you get to sleep and rest well.
Rosemary and mint are also relaxing herbs.
I just read basil used in the house is also an insect repellant. I cook with it a lot, so that may be a factor in my house.
Lavender also repels houseflies.
Put a small arrangement of lavender, or a few branches of it, on the picnic table to keep houseflies away from the food.
Borax is as dangerous as insecticide sprays.
If a child or animal gets that in their mouth, it can kill them.
Chopped lemon peels scattered in your flower beds and container planters, will keep the neighborhood kitties from using your beds for a litter box.

Since I have started using lavender and rosemary, cedar oil, and lemon in my furniture polish, i don't ever see silverfish, earwigs, roaches, ants or spiders.
Something, or a combination of them all work, and the house smells loverly, loverly.
I scatter cedar bark mulch all over the yard, front and back. It repels fleas, ticks, termites and other insects, and in the spring, when it is time for termites to swarm, i put a trail of it about 2 inches wide and an inch or so high, all around the foundation of the house.
We have lived here for40 years, come november, and except for the ones we had to have exterminated when we bought the house, we have not seen a termite.
I have used the cedar bark mulch for over 40 years.
I have large pots beside each entryway, with lavender planted in them. Makes a nice entrance plant, and kps the houseflies from coming in when the door is opened.
Texas cockroaches a-r-e  o-u-r friends. Yes they are, as long as they stay outside, in the ground where they naturally prefer to be.
We put down insecticides, kill their food supply and threaten their lives, so they come inside our house to be safe and find food.
They naturally feed on some harmful insects, and they tunnel through the soil and keep it aerated, even better than earthworms.
Turn on a light in my yard at night, and you see them scurry away, but they don't come in my house.
I just bought howard Garrett's book ( one of them) about organic gardening in Texas. there is a lot of neat info in there.
some things i disagree with though. Scalping a lawn, for instance.
That is a BAD thing to do, in my opinion.
He also recommends dry molasses, but when i read that in his column, none of the nurseries carried it. He had said in the article that sugar was an exceptable substitute, so I used sugar.
It worked so well, and a few years later, when i could get dry molasses, I tried it for a couple of years, and I didn't like the results as well as with sugsr, so i went back to sugar.
I only use Imperial brand on my table, but I buy the cheapest brand they have for my yard.
that is all I can think of right now.
Keep in touch.
Write me if you think of another question. or I can help more in any way.
Charlotte