Even though the weather forecast predicts snow tonight, I know that spring is near. How do I know? There was an ant wandering on the kitchen counter. Perhaps ants are not a sure sign of spring at your house, but here in our 80-year-old house, ants mean that things have begun to thaw.
    It also means that the daily procession of the kitchen has started. First it will be little ants that have a taste for sweets and oil. Then, later on if we’re “lucky,” there will be large carpenter ants. No matter how hard we clean or how much ant poison we lay out for them to feast on, we never know what we might find when we come down to breakfast in the morning.
    Somewhere there is an ant nest the size of Texas, either in the walls or close by outside. We first noticed a steady trail of ants coming from the dining room closet. We thought we were so clever to spray and get rid of them. No way! They simply moved their operation closer to the kitchen and came trudging out of the window sill woodwork. More spraying and they moved right into the kitchen.
    In spite of the on-going war we have with the ants, they are really very useful creatures (just not in the kitchen). Before the Europeans arrived on this continent, ants were the main aerators of the soil. There were no worms until the colonists brought them along with plants from the old world.
    If you have any doubt about the power of ants to move soil, just study an ant colony mound. There will be several entrances and exits all piled high with granules of soil around them. If you dare, try digging gently into the granular mass. It is loose with tunnels and separate soil bits.
    On days when rain is expected, the ants will build higher mounds around their entrances to help protect the colony from flooding. They seem much more attuned to the weather than we are. I often try to predict rain by observing how high the ant mounds are.
    Ants are very protective of their home. There are a few places in my garden that always have an ant colony. The mounds change position slightly every year because the colonies rebuild them. I always try to keep a mental note of where they are. Stumbling into a colony and disturbing it will send them into a defensive frenzy and ant bites are not pleasant.
    The business of ants is to be the cleaning crew of the garden. They tidy up by carrying away dead critters and harvest nectar from peonies. Unless the colony is occupying a vital gardening spot or threatening to undermine a whole selection of favorite plants, I just let them go about their business and we live a peaceful harmony. I know that under the mulch they are busy moving soil and bringing air and water deep into the ground to keep it healthy. I just wish they would stay out of the kitchen.