Themes for Ongoing Blog and MICE a link in the Lyme Chain!!!!

Reading a lot of other garden blog's and seems many follow various themes to their posts through out the month. One that is probably great idea is end of the month photo's of the entire garden/long shots to get an overview of how it looks through out the year. So I'll definitely start doing that. So that would mean I need to do an "End of the Month View - November 2012" here really soon.

I've been also following "A Way to Garden. Com" and she does monthly chores on a calendar. I'm more into following and trying to do those then keeping track of my own since I tend to putter. If I did a calendar for others as a guide. It'd be a lesson in ADHD for sure.

Monday dumped scraps in compost, decided to flip it but needed new place to put it. Looked for material to use. Noticed shovel and didn't finish turning over asparagus bed so finished that. Put shovel away in garage. Done!

Hey something got done. Give me a break!

Another great idea for a post 2013 Garden Resolutions. I wrote a few of those on top of my seed list.

Also Garden Clean Up to Reduce Pests for 2013 Garden thanks again to Awaytogarden.com! Turns out the reason my Butternut survived (the only vine that did) even the pumpkin succumbed to the squash bug was butternut is resistant. My new favorite squash!!! Another pest issue I was unaware of and was celebrating early today but forgot another reason why it's important. Ding Dong the mouse is finally dead. After a year of cohabitation we finally killed our house mouse. And then guess what I find out. Mice are a link in the Lyme Disease Chain! HOLY SCHMOLY!!!!!

Rick Ostfeld, a senior scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, has written a book on Lyme disease ecology…

“Ticks survive well when they feed on a mouse because mice are not apparently very fastidious – they don’t groom very effectively.  So ticks that end up on a mouse tend to survive the experience – they get their full blood meal.  So that’s one way that mice are bad.  The other main way is that mice are the source of infection for the ticks.  The ticks are born free of infection with the Lyme pathogen, and these ticks have to get it somewhere, and the main place they get it in nature is from white-footed mice.”

I may have to have Ame's cat Bruce Lee come over and patrol the place or at least sniff around and make sure there aren't more mice somewhere. It's hard to believe one mouse lead a bachelor's life here. 

Ok got a little off course there so I need to post a monthly series of shots of garden. Might do that eventually on my other site if we ever start remodeling again! Also 2013 Garden Resolutions. I'm working on a calendar to track when to plant by the time specified by mainly Botanical Interests and it's intersection with the Moon's guidance via the Almanac. I'm sure many will scoff at the Almanac but last year was predicted to be a bad year, barren for many, and I had my best year yet. And I planted according to the MacDonald's Almanac as given to me by Mrs. Marilyn Sturtevant. Thank you Marilyn! So if I can make a calendar that's worthwhile and figure out how to link to it here I will. Meanwhile just adding a monthly picture review and chores ought to keep this busy and some format. oooooooooooh it's cold outside time to get under the covers!