I agree that it's futile to try to get rid of every single organism...even if you could do it by boiling, bleaching and brushing, it would be contaminated immediately when you step outside, and would get worse every time a hummer stuck his beak in it, which for me is many times a day. The idea behind cleaning every couple days is to keep the bacteria under control (not to eliminate it altogether) and to keep the solution from fermenting. I don't boil my solution. I've done a bit of research on this, and while some sources will tell you that you need to boil the water to kill the micro-organisms, a lot of reliable sources say that you do not need to boil it because it's not the sugar or the water that has all the "germs" in it, it's the beaks of the hummingbirds. That makes a lot of sense to me. I've discovered that my solution is cloudy if I use organic sugar, but if I use regular old white sugar, and stir it thoroughly, the sugar dissolves and the solution is crystal clear. I've also read that uncoooked rice can be used to clean the inside of feeders. It serves the same purpose as BB's or pea gravel, and gets into even harder-to-clean nooks and crannies.

You can usually buy replacement insulation for the stove. I have a cottage in Ontario that is a shack with alot of holes. and this is what I do. Its a fair bit of work to take the stove apart but cheaper than buying a new stove. Everything else can be cleaned but the insulation is what they nest in. Also every fall before I close up I make sure everything is in tupperware boxes and leave no food at all. The last thing I do is set up a Newfie mouse trap and use RV antifreeze. When I come back in the spring I have just decomposed mice that I throw out in a bag. Most of the antifreeze has evaporated over the 6plus months.

Here's our friend Maria's everyday chicken mole or, as she explained to me long ago, amused by the new culinary fuss over "moles," chicken in gravy. Maria was the oldest of 10 and spent her childhood here in the U.S. babysitting and on a stool preparing meals while the adults were out in the fields. She's a fantastic cook, but this is simple home cooking, no chocolate, no "special" ingredients. I'm offering it because I never see it on recipe forums and it is delicious, definitely winter comfort food. Amounts are approximate, of course, and can be massaged as desired. Chicken broth Water and 2-3 pounds chicken parts, chicken, plus whatever you usually add, such as: 1/2 onion 2 cloves garlic 1 leafy stalk celery. 1 bay leaf 2 teaspoons thyme Salt and pepper to taste Gravy 3 tablespoons chicken fat (skimmed from chicken broth) 1/2 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic 3 tablespoons flour Cumin seed, broken up, to taste, about 1 tablespoon or more Good quality chili powder to taste, start with a tablespoon if unsure 3 cups chicken broth Simmer first group of ingredients about 20 minutes, skimming foam as they approach a low boil, then turning heat down to simmer about 20 minutes for the typical supermarket chicken. Remove and cool chicken enough to pull apart into bite-size pieces. For gravy, lightly saute onion, garlic and spices in chicken fat skimmed from the broth. Sift flour into the pan, whisking quickly, and stir over low-medium heat until flour is cooked; will be bubbly but not browned. Then stir in defatted chicken broth and simmer until thickened. Salt as desired. At this point you can add more chili powder to taste if needed and simmer a bit more. We like it a nice medium chile-red, not pale and not dark. Then add the chicken and serve over whatever you like.

I do not have personal experience with DE, but have read a lot about it being helpful (food grade). I have used cinnamon, few times to dust big cuts on plants (natural antifungal), and also made a spray to use on some rot. It did save one aloe that I used it for - at least that's what I think, plant is alive & well almost 3yrs after the treatment. Maybe not enough result, but if I had fungal problem I would use it again. I also believe that little of it added to mix (and together with DE), may help to destroy crawlies or even eggs in the soil. I used to use H202 to water the soil, when I had some fungus gnats. As I mentioned, I don't get them anymore, since my plants are in gritty mix (all succulents, and even some tropical). I use considerably less 'soil' in my mixes, and that helps a lot. There is lot of controversy about H202 helping or not. It is very mild antiseptic, but the stronger (over 10%), undiluted, will do some damage. Undiluted, it apparently would kill plants - I have read that it could be used as a weed killer. (I never tried that, and it may be too expensive?).H202 is used in hydroponics, there is probably lots to read about it on some hydro sites. Plant sitting in overwatered soil (mucky) could be watered with solution, and old, stale/stagnant water will be flushed out & replaced with well oxygenated water. The released oxygen atom destroys organic material - so I would imagine it will destroy the bug eggs too.