Thanks everybody...these are just tiny little ants so I guess they're ok for now but I'll definitely keep an eye on them. We usually have swarms of ladybugs so I'm hoping they'll keep the aphids at bay. If I could figure out what to do about the *&!$*#* beetles eating my strawberry leaves I'd be thrilled. Tried spraying with some insecticidal soap that says it's ok to be used right up to the day of harvest but it still makes me nervous because my kids like to just pick the berries and eat them right off the plant without washing or anything. And the stuff said not to use when it's over 90 degrees and well, this is GA...it's been over 90 every day for a while. And pretty much every "natural" solution I've seen has said it only works on contact and my experience with bugs is that for every one you see, there are 10 more that you don't. I read that garlic repels the beetles so I thought about planting one garlic in each pot with the strawberries but I'm afraid it might mess with the flavor. Oh well...the joys of gardening. Does it count as hijacking when you hijack your own thread? Terrybull...thanks for the pic! I've got one lone pumpkin in an 18-gal container (not sure what variety...it was one of those little "kits" that the kids saw at Lowes and just HAD to try) and three more together in a 30-gal tub (not sure what kind those are either...grandpa brought us a handful of seeds and I wasn't even sure they'd grow). I have to water them twice every day and sometimes three times. The one that's by himself has two little pumpkins the size of baseballs and TONS of flowers. He had about a three-week head-start on the others but I think they're about to start flowering. The darn vines are taking over the yard though. I keep trying to situate the watermelons, pumpkins, and cantaloupe so that the vines are growing straight out but every time I look, they're wandering around reaching out to each other again. Here's a pic of my pumpkins from about a week ago. They look TOTALLY different now. I swear if I stand there and look at them long enough I could see them growing. I keep saying I'm going to take a tape-measure out there because most days I'm quite sure they grow 6-12" overnight and another 6" between waterings each day. It's crazy! I know I'm totally clueless but I had no idea pumpkin flowers were so pretty! This is one of the little baby pumpkins I found hiding after the storm blew everything around this afternoon. There's another one about the size of a baseball but I couldn't find it in the mess of leaves when I was taking pics

There are many ways to get rid of fire ants. You can use a mixture of sugar and borax. Pour the mixture around the ant hills, and the ants will carry it inside the colony, killing it off. Another solution is the sugar substitute, Equal or Nutri-Sweet. These have been known to be poisonous to ants. Just pour it around the hill and you will see little any bodies laying around in a couple days. Like the others have said, if it's garden ants let them be - unless it's a huge infestation. Here is a link that might be useful: Ants In The Vegetable Garden

Noone here has mentioned cornmeal, which is non toxic, cheap as dirt, and worth a try. Just sprinkle it all around the area you see ants. When I did this in my garden, I noticed that the ants immediately started grabbing the cornmeal and carrying it around, presumably to take it to the nest and feed the queen. I read somewhere that if an ant eats cornmeal, that it will more or less be the last meal the ant ever eats. I did this in my garden, and the ant population decreased markedly. Sprinkle plenty of cornmeal on the dry soil, and within a few days you might see less ants. I like my veggie garden to stay organic, so chemicals were not an option for me. I think this works on any kind of ant that will eat the cornmeal, as it has some protein and some sugar it should appeal to a broad spectrum of ants. The other thing is, if the cornmeal does not work, keep the soil a lot moister, and the ants will move, at least away from your plants. I have read that if you see ants, then your soil is too dry. Just a comment for whatever it's worth. Perhaps mulching the area will help, too.

Fire ants make mounds and not holes. The mounds start out small and become larger as the colony population increases. These mounds look rather innocent until you disturb them, and ALL of the ants boil out of the mound all at once. Again, there is never a discernible hole. I never worry about ants in my yard and garden, other than fire ants. Fire ants can be a problem for humans, pets, bird nests, beneficial insect eggs and larvae, and such.