The Ants Go Marching

got out to weed today & realized ants are creating a situation that is dangerous and hurtful to a few of the plants in the garden, even without much to their knowledge. just had to reflect on that & connect how that is what happens when you growing your self. always make sure to take time to step back & reflect on what you are growing and figure out what needs to be weeded & what pests need to be controlled. all part of what you strive for in yourself, and in your plant, for that matter- balance.
so, back to the ant matter: i asked some friends, did some research, and from what i can gather, the ant is not considered a 'pest' in a garden. they have the ability to recycle in the garden by picking up debris and by controlling other insects, but they have a symbiotic relationship with aphids that can do serious harm by sucking nutrients away from the plant, thus causing its growth to be postponed, causing it sickness, or death.
aphids are, however, not terribly difficult to get rid of and we feel as though this has been found out in enough time to be handled. We decided to go with a homemade nontoxic spray (mostly because the items were readily available), but there are several remedies- including promoting ladybugs in your garden to eat the aphids, so we will see how it goes.
*we did also get quite a bit of rain after the spraying, so later, we'll be out there seeing what that has done to the problem!