I agree Robin, I had to post this because I keep the cat's cages right next to a window and this morning I kept smelling that scent when the breeze blew and then I went and smelled the flowers... and smiled :)

Jessaka, Giving up the use of chemical pesticides is the hardest thing I EVER did. Many, many times I second-guessed myself and wondered if I was on the wrong path. Yet, ultimately, it was the most rewarding AND best decision I ever made. It can take years for a landscape to return to the proper balance once you stop using pesticides, but it will happen! I simply refuse to poison our air, land and water with chemicals that are, in fact, often nerve poisons. Randy, You and I feel the same way about the damage caused by broad-spectrum pesticides. AND, you know, it was hard for me to accept that many commonly-used ORGANIC pesticides (like rotenone and pyrethrins, for example) are just as damaging to the environment as chemically-based ones. It was especially hard for me to give up Bt kurstaki, but I like the butterflies and moths, so I gave it up too. Like you, I'd rather have the birds and the butterflies and the moths and the other critters! Hi Laura, I hate that you lost your asparagus. Those beetles can be so devastating to a bed. I hope the peppers are doing well. Ticks are very, very, very hard to control and I use a method most people cannot use--free-ranging chickens and guineas who roam the property and eat bugs all day long and are locked up in a secure henhouse to keep the predator birds and animals from getting them at night. Like Randy, we keep all the tall grass mowed down short OR take proper precautions when walking through it. One thing we do in the pastures is cut a path 8' to 10' wide and we only walk on the path. That way, all the insects can happily co-exist in the tall grass but don't bother us much in the short-grass paths. The pathways also help us avoid poisonous snakes by making them more visible. I'll search for a previous "tick control" thread and link it below. One thing I did notice here when we were clearing the land before we built the house was that the cedar trees DID have billions of ticks on them and the ticks literally DID DROP DOWN onto us when we were near the cedars. I am sure they were on other trees as well, but they were especially heavy on the cedars. Since cedars are highly invasive, we took out all the cedars on the 3 acres closest to the house--which took years and years, by the way---and that helped a lot. I think you have to take a multi-pronged approach to ticks and must treat the landscape around the house, but also take steps to protect yourself. I always wear long pants and tall socks....no shorts and flipflops for me! I also spray my shoes, socks, and pant legs up to about the knee area using a good DEET-based repellent. I HATE using DEET, but it isn't going on my skin--although I am sure some of it penetrates the clothing and makes its' way to the skin underneath. Ticks (and mosquitoes too) carry so many diseases that you have to do what you can to protect yourself. I have never found that any of the chemical products are very effective on ticks--people I know who religiously treat the lawns and dog yards/dog kennels with chemicals that are supposed to "control" ticks seem to have just as many ticks as people who don't treat those areas with chemicals. Oh, and when we come in from the outside, if we have been in an area that we know tends to have ticks in it, we check ourselves religiously for ticks and remove them before they have a chance to embed themselves in our skin. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: One Previous Tick Thread

I suffered one bout of food poisoning, and i never want to have it again! Thanks for the warning!!!

I rewrite everything because I change measurements to weights except for the little ingred like T and t, and use abbreviations like AP, BP, BS, van, and S. I sell jams and bake treats weekly for my farmers market booth so they also include parenthesis for 2x or 3x batches. The recipes are on hand printed index cards and have the date of the first time I made them. I use the same bowls so I write things like "grn bowl 1#6 sug" so I don't have to tare. I do have another list (with photos) on my computer that show the wt of the empty bowl in case it goes missing. Fully written out baking and canning recipes are on my computer in the event that a card is lost or purpled to illegibility (pickled beets do it every time) or I want to give the recipe to someone. I also note who/where the recipe came from and/or have the URL on the computer file and changes from original are in blue. I tried using my laptop in the kitchen but it doesn't work well after airborne flour gets into it, coupled with the fact that I am usually baking several things at once and hate switching screens (unsanitary to touch keyboard), so it is easier to have the old-fashioned index cards in the tuck-in bulletin board at eye level. Like Chase, I use brackets and note the method - so easy to read. I realized that teaching someone my index card hieroglyphics isn't all that difficult to get the hang of if they have baked or canned before, but nearly impossible for the novice. Nancy