I really appreciate the encouragement. I did have to take a break for a while. I went to visit my aunt in Iowa and the trees I planted for her last year are really doing well. The Contender peach has about 10 fruits developing, Polly has about 5. There are also a handful of apricots and cherries. Thankfully the hail missed her. She has one mature apple on her property. I am guessing by the photos that it's Wolf River, I bought her one without knowing she already had one. She gave me some of the applesauce she made from it and it was extraordinary. Then I bought some Braeburn and Jonagold to make pies. Believe me I really appreciated the complex, sweet/tart flavor of the applesauce after trying to make pies with store-bought apples. It kind of gave me some impetus to keep going. I have all of the small fruits that were mentioned above, along with the trees that are supposed to be no-brainers. I have come to the conclusion that if I had to live off of the earnings of a fruit crop it would have to be pie cherries. I really couldn't possibly give up now with my whole yard an orchard. It is always hard when what one did for the love of it becomes something one must do out of obligation.

I appreciate your post, because I've always had that 'dream' in my head, of living in the country, which I've never done and this is a reminder of the reality of how challenging it is. I don't know how you do it. I just wanted to share that we have a dog and it has not been a problem in the garden at all. This dog is not a digger at all, She enjoys the garden. I have a shrub border edged by grass on 2 sides of the back that she can wander through and look out the back post and rail fence at the next yard. And we have a 30ft mixed border with perennials that has a rock edge, that she was very easy to train to stay out of. She will chase squirrels when she sees them, and that has cut down on their mischief. So the right dog can be a workable solution and a joy as well. Maybe you have friends or family that might consider taking the dog when you go away? You might have to drive to them before your trip, but on the plus side, you might see them more often. :-) Maybe you have a friend with a dog that you could borrow for a weekend to test out how it would work out? We have never had outdoor cats, we have allergies in the family. But if I had rodent problems like you do, I would definitely get some cats right away. There are so many cats in shelters. But you might want to speak to someone about how you judge whether a cat is a good mouser. You said you have raised beds, I wonder if you added hardware cloth to the bottom of them? I would look into that. We just finished building new beds and added 1/4 inch hardware cloth to the bottom. I've been told that makes a big difference. I haven't had a lot of problems. I definitely have a mole in the yard, but not sure about the voles. So I did it as a precaution. It was expensive. I've also had it suggested to me to plant my bulbs in little baskets made of hardware cloth. On the Hosta forum, there was a suggestion to plant Hostas in wire wastebaskets that you can get at the dollar store. I've also seen people build chicken wire tops for their raised beds to keep animals out, although I haven't heard how successful that is. Good luck!

Nitrogen would make the plants tall and leggy, but some fertiliser would be good. And perhaps trace elements. Some thing like seaweed or fish emulsion is usually okay and not too strong. They're normally quite easy to grow and are tough plants.

Come on, I didn't say use any particular minimum, I said use the minimum needed, and no more. The minimum amount required varies according to load size, product, water chem. and temp, and soil load. No matter how much you use, if you get in the habit of over-dosing for your situation, you'll get into difficulties. I happen to use a very small dose of regular (non-HE) Cheer powder in my 5kg Euro FLs: just about 1 1/2 tablespoons (slightly less than one of those green Charlie's scoops - I like the scoops better than the product, but that's another story). I use somewhat more when my stuff is particularly grungy (animal, garden or woodlot dirt). My water is naturally quite soft (spring water). My cleaning is excellent, otherwise I would use whatever additional level of product needed to achieve the results I require. I am certainly not prescribing this level of product for anyone else. All I am trying to do is point out that for some people radical reductions in the "normal" dosage may be perfectly acceptable. Cleaning results always depend on the interaction among soil load, product selection and quantity, time, temperature of wash water and vigor of agitation. I do tend to use hotter water than many people do, partly because I can, but mostly because most of my fabrics can withstand hotter temps. My older Miele and Asko are default long-cycle machines, so my time is longer than many people would have and my water is particularly fine. Perhaps those are the major keys to my success. YMMV, but I've had my FLs for going on two decades with this regimen. I would have noticed, by now, if it was creating problems. The detergent questions often comes up with new FL users who are having trouble adjusting from their old habits. Top loaders are much more forgiving of too much product, in my experience. (The reason for that is that TLs use so much more water, any excess is diluted out of harmfulness.) Many people are pretty casual about dumping stuff in and figure if a little is good, then more is better. You'll get in big trouble with most FLs if you continue on that path, no matter which product you choose. Apparently I am getting near-perfect suspension of the dirt in the wash liquor since I always get soft, clean clothes and have no build-up in my washers. I think everybody should start with set dosing (package suggested dosing is a fine place to start) and evaluate in situ. If you get good results, then see what somewhat less will do. If results degrade, increase back up. If it's still fine, then try another drop. You have to measure consistently for this plan to work. The less detergent we use, the better for the Earth. And you may find you can save some bucks, as well. L