[metmom]

Hello!

The garden is going great except for one jalapeño that I planted got chewed down to a stub by what must have been a mouse. I saw a mouse tunnel right next to it.

I know there are mice in the garden, i’ve seen them. But I put out some bait blocks and we have owls and foxes around, so that’ll help.

Maybe some mouse traps would be good as well.

[daniel1212]

Repost:

Planted too soon in my zeal: 50 or so Toms largely decimated tomato plants that went in 3 weeks previously, due to 4'' of rain in two days (5-23,24) and with strong winds, and cool temps, and into soil that already had lots of rain (more wet days this month than dry, and rainfall amounts are more than 4″ above average, with more today). After today the forecast looks like the rainy season may be over, thank God. I trimmed off many bad leaves and will see if any can recover.

I did put just a little fertilizer in a mixture of dirt in each hole before I planted seedlings, but I find it hard to believe that would be the reason for this:

(1st pic is from before)
But these flowers survived well, thank God in all things.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Beau has been dealing with a Big Fat Mama Rat in our barn. He got the best of her, yesterday and thinks her offspring have taken the bait as well.

I told him a number of weeks ago, ‘That is NOT just a mouse in the barn!’ That thing was HUGE, and I only caught glimpses of her! Yikes.

The ‘Repels All’ spray is good - smelly when you put it on, but then the critters can smell it and we can’t. You can also make your own spray:

Stay out of my garden!

by Carol Martino

Ingredients:

1 whole Spanish onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Chop up the onion and the pepper.
Mix and boil in 2 quarts of water for about 20 min.
Let cool, and strain the water through a cheesecloth.

Using a garden sprayer, spray any area outside where wild animals or even neighborhood pets are nuisances. This probably will not work for birds (birds do not have a sense of smell.) This process may have to be carried out for two weeks to ensure success. This mixture is non-toxic, and it will not harm any animal but will succeed in keeping them away.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Link for the spray recipe. More ideas there, as well:

https://centrewildlifecare.org/wildlife-repellent-recipe

[AFB-XYZ]

Sorry to hear about the jalapeno. Hopefully it’ll re-grow, or maybe you can plant some from seed to replace it. Wish we had owls around here, but I have to rely on the neighborhood cats to keep the mouse population down. Leaving a small bowl of dry food out on the deck for an hour or two in the mornings keeps them coming around.

Now if only they’d find someplace else to use as a litter box . . . Heh. :-)

[lepton]

I wonder how capsaicin-based repellant would help. Only mammals are affected, and they are affected fairly strongly.

[lepton]

Also, there are mice and voles. Voles burrow more more.

[daniel1212]

The garden is going great except for one jalapeño that I planted got chewed down to a stub by what must have been a mouse. I saw a mouse tunnel right next to it. I know there are mice in the garden, i’ve seen them. But I put out some bait blocks and we have owls and foxes around, so that’ll help. Maybe some mouse traps would be good as well.

You could use a good mouser cat. Here in the city there is a cat, "Lo-li" (not that she responds to it) whose residence is the middle apt on the building across the street, but she does not like to stay on, or be cuddled (dangerous). And she had 5 litters (!) - all given away - before they put a stop to that.

But she is a predator, who catches mice, rats and birds. Thank God for her.

And eats all or most of them. Which is fine as concerns the first two, as mice get into buildings and rats eat their way thru trash barrels. .

Last week, she was playing with a mouse underneath the donation" bench on the sidewalk (where i work on bikes for free, by the grace of God) in front of our building, and it got away. I got it with my foot across the street, and with my pliers I brought is to Lo-li, who proceeded the eat the whole of it. However, she cannot deal with the raccoons, who act like they own property at night.

[Liz]

BLUEBERRY PUDDING CAKE
Serve with French Vanilla or Blueberry Ice Cream
or top with blueberry syrup, whipped cream.

Ing-—2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, 1 tsp ea cinnamon, fresh l/juice 1 cup flour 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp b/powder, pinch salt 1/2 c whole milk 3 tbsp. butter, softened

Toss, berries, cinnamon; sprinkle with l/juice. Spread evenly in greased 8”
sq b/dish. Whisk flour, b/powder, sugar and salt. Stir in milk and softened butter. Spoon over blueberries.

Topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbl cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
Mix sugar and cornstarch; sprinkle over top of batter. Slowly pour boiling water over all (DO NOT STIR!).
In an oven preheated to 350°F for at least 15 min, bake til cake tests done (about 45-50 min).