You ever find yourself doing something and halfway through think… “Wait, how did I get here?”
That was me last week—standing in the lamb barn, surrounded by the strong smell of garlic, mint, marigolds, and vanilla. Not exactly the typical barn scents.
You’ve probably heard it before: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” Or maybe, if you’re from a different era, it was “Don’t believe everything you read in the paper” or “Don’t believe everything you hear.” These days, it feels like the bar keeps moving. First it was articles, then photos, and now—thanks to AI—even the videos are up for debate. We’ve officially arrived at the point where you can’t even trust what you see on the internet.
Let me back up.
One evening after supper, I heard the lambs baa-ing more than usual. Nothing wild, just unsettled. No coyotes howling, no Rita barking. Just a whole lot of lamb grumbling when they should’ve been bellied-up and snoozing.
The next night, same story. So I headed out to check.
And there it was—clear as day. Mosquitoes. Swarms of ’em. Looked like a woolly dance party, with the lambs bunched together, heads ducked, ears twitching, just trying to keep their faces from getting eaten alive.
I grabbed the only thing I had on hand—a can of OFF bug spray—and gave the area a liberal dose. It helped… that night. But one can barely covers a picnic table, never mind a lamb shelter.
Next day, Anne says she heard from our daughter about garlic oil. Supposed to be natural, safe, and drives away mosquitoes. Off to the hardware store I went. Forty-some dollars later, I had myself a tiny bottle of liquid gold. Sprayed it around and wouldn’t you know—it worked. Nice for a week or so.
But again, not cheap for regular use.
So Anne—bless her optimism—gets researching. Comes back to me with a smile and a plan: plants. Specifically mint and marigolds. She potted up three baskets and we placed them around the trouble spot.
And I’ll admit—I was amazed. They worked great. Nature’s own deterrent. The lambs settled. The buzzing gone. It was downright peaceful.
Then the flies showed up.
Now, flies don’t bother the lambs too much—but they sure bother the farmer. We already run our usual tactics for fly control: garlic powder, fly bag traps, and my favorite solution—thousands of tiny parasitic wasps we buy and release that go after fly larvae.
(That’s a real thing. We’ve been doing it for years, and it helps a lot.)
But this little corner of the barn? Turned into a fly-in buffet.
And wouldn’t you know it, as if Google was eavesdropping, both Anne and I started seeing the same viral video:
“Hang Little Tree Vanilla Air Fresheners in Your Barn—No More Flies!”
The video showed chickens pecking peacefully, zero flies in sight. Music playing. Clean floors. Basically an insect-free utopia.
Well, I may be a farmer, but apparently I’m not immune to slick marketing.
Twelve air fresheners later and $12 lighter, I hung them all in about a 15-square-foot area. The scent was… bold. Mint. Garlic. Marigold. Vanilla.
Like someone tried to make a viral scented candle and gave up halfway through.
Next morning? Even more flies. I mean clouds of ’em. Clearly, we’d invented some kind of fly attraction chamber.
So down came the air fresheners. I re-dusted the area with garlic powder and hung another trap bag. That’ll do, I said to myself.
So the takeaway? Sometimes the old tricks really are the best ones. Sometimes nature works, and sometimes the bugs win a round.
And sometimes, a social media video gets you to hang air fresheners in your lamb barn.
Farmer Rod