what to apply to vegetables covered with ants?

Some safe ways to deal with ants around your garden would be to sprinkle Diatomaceous earth over it, or even using cinnamon over the veggies. This will hopefully repel the ants, given that it will not be blown or washed away. Another tip would be to make sure you are not leaving overripe or rotten vegetables in your garden. Knowing how to get rid of ants is not limited to elimination, but also active prevention.

This might seem counter intuitive but spraying molasses over your garden can give ants something else to do. If they have better sources of sugar they might leave your plants alone.