Keeping Ticks Away

As we all await the sunny, warm spring days outside in our garden, there’s one thing to not look forward to, ticks. The early spring when temperatures rise above freezing is when tick activity begins. The pests are becoming more common throughout the United States and are already endemic in 15 states. Changing weather patterns are driving the drastic uptick in ticks. As their populations have increased, so have the diseases they carry.

While people are mainly familiar with Lyme, ticks are responsible for 90% of all American diseases stemming from a bite. There’s at least a dozen diseases, viruses, and parasites that can be transmitted from ticks. You can find a full list here.

Deer ticks, also known as black-legged ticks, can spread:

• Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Borrelia miyamotoi disease, and Powassan virus disease.

Lone Star ticks can spread:

• Ehrlichiosis, Heartland virus disease, Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), alpha-gal syndrome, Bourbon virus disease, and Tularemia.

American dog ticks can carry:

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.

Brown dog tick can spread:

• It’s responsible for spreading Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Since there isn’t an exact cure for Lyme, preventing a tick bite is the real key. You can take the following measures to protect yourself from ticks.

• Encourage a diverse ecosystem of natural predators including ducks, quail, fowl, opossums, frogs, lizards, and birds. You can support the animals by leaving fallen branches, logs, and leaves, not placing traps, not using rodenticides, and not using a pest control company that will spray chemicals.

• Ticks cannot jump and are unlikely to fall from trees, so the most common path is up your legs. You can tuck your pant legs into your ankles during hikes or walks through the forest, field, or prairie.

• Make a DIY insect repellant spray with herb essential oil diluted in a hard alcohol and water. Ticks are attracted to carbon dioxide, body odors, heat, and sweat. The strong oil can mask and repel the ticks.

• Change your clothes and check for ticks after spending extended periods walking through the forest, field, or prairie.

• Plant aromatic herbs in the perimeter of your garden like rosemary, calendula, lemon balm, thyme, and lavender. Plant alliums like onions, garlic, shallots, and chives. The strong scents will repel the ticks.

You can grow my heirloom herb and allium seeds along with my 190 heirloom seed varieties.