Rodent decluttering. This week I have found two ticks on me, and I haven't been into the deep woods across the road, just into my garden. This tells me the mice are still there and they have brought their dangerous little friends with them.

This afternoon I trimmed the grass around the edge of the garden down to the soil and made inroads to some of the grassy spots in the tangle of tomatoes. Then I mixed up a gallon of water, a dollop of concentrated compost tea, and couple of tablespoons of molasses, and 2 ounces (measured) of d-limonene (Orange oil). At that strength it will kill insects but not harm the plants. Stronger and it's an herbicide. This should kill some of the ticks, and I'll start setting out a mousetrap at dusk, to hopefully catch the mice and not the lizards, snakes, or toads. If the one I have works (not the snap variety) then I'll get a couple more and do this mouse riddance dance. And I won't be feeding the birds this winter, that is what brought them here in the first place. I live too close to the woods, to which those that survive need to return. A little later in the fall I'll put out an application of beneficial nematodes, that will kill the soil egg stage of any ticks still out in the garden.

Later on this evening I'll go out with the "puffer" can and spritz diatomaceous earth in there (after the spray dries). That's another tick treatment.

Also, all clothes will go into the washer after a very careful personal inspection. Ticks creep me out.