Eaten By Bugs

Just came in from trying to work in the garden which is something I enjoy. I am itching like crazy and put some tecnu on which is supposed to be good. Any ideas for comfortable gardening? There is no standing water around. Also too hot to bundle up too much.

I sympathize with you.  Same happens to me and I itch like crazy.  I have been staying indoors because of that issue.  I will be curious to hear what others have to say to avoid/help this issue.  

Down here in NC, high summer gardening, even just routine maintenance, is downright tortuous. There are, chiggers, fire ants, ticks, mosquitoes, no-see-ums....and an occasional Copperhead. As I remember my gardening days in Maplewood, chiggers, fire ants, ticks and Copperheads weren't an issue, but certainly mosquitoes and no-see-ums were. I have a set of gardening clothes: shorts and old T- shirts which I treat with a  0.5 % permethrin spray. In addition, I have to spray myself down with a 25% DEET bug spray.  Even doing that allows me only about 2 hours out there on hot days ( and it's been nothing but over 90 for the past few weeks) as sweat soon dissipates the effectiveness of the bug spray. Things improve significantly on the rare cool, low humidity breezy days though. Just be thankful you do not have chiggers. They are the worst!!!

Long sleeves, long slacks, socks, shoes, and a wide brim hat help.  So does wearing gauntlet length gardening gloves but nothing is perfect this time of year.  You can get garments in that are loose and light weight in breathable fabrics.  Spraying these garments as recommended above is a plus if you don't buy pre-treated garments.

yes. The mosquitos seem way worse this year than last- and we have sprayed the bushes and trees, light citronella candles, etc. the other day we were eating outside and as soon as it started getting dark, we were inundated- numerous flying around our faces (we had sprayed every other part of ourselves). We quickly gathered everything up and ran inside. I guess that's it for this summer...

Wash your skin thoroughly and frequently. This helps me a lot. I get a rash whenever I do any gardening.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/social/swf/B00820TRBS/o=ShareProduct/ref=tsm_1_aw_swf_d_sp?vs=1

100 Deet. But if you get bitten, this little gadget is a miracle.