Peppermint oil for pest control

 Been having a running battle last few dry weeks here with ants invading the house. Honestly I think the house must be completely undermined by the mini tunnelling activities. I then read about peppermint oil on cotton wool balls distracting mice from eating your pea seeds. Looking it up it also said it worked on insects too.  Here's just one article -  https://www.biome.com.au/blog/natural-pest-control-peppermint-oil/

I could not get neat oil from my supermarket (not been out shopping anywhere YET) so got some extract/essence in the next delivery. Wacked a strong dose with some water in a sprayer and set about misting all round the outside, around our external oil boiler (which they love to nest in),  inside the conservatory and back hallway. Seems to be working!!!!   Not sure about the potential smell if I have to come into living spaces but its not so bad.  

Need to get some peas in soon so will try out the cotton wool balls when I plant those.  Definitely going to buy some mint plants on next garden centre foray. Strangely the old mint that used to invade one of the flower beds seems to have disappeared during recent hedge renovation. Both, usually cant get rid of it!  Sounds like it is easy to make your own oil by emersion of leaves in veg oil. 

Cheaper and better than the powdery spray things we have had knocking about in the shed!

New daily cooking programme

Lingered in the kitchen and lounge tidying this morning as it was so cold in the brisk north wind and happened across the new Daily Kitchen live on BBC.  For once the concept, the content and the intent was spot on. not too "cheffy"; included doing things frugally; included a bit of grow your own!
Really enjoyed they had Jack Monroe involved too and I do hope it is a sign of our times that some new fresh faces appear with a clear head about costs!

Well done the BBC finally got your act together and produced something for the moment!

So having said that, checked the schedules and content and turned off TV till about 9pm when I think something else new may interest us!! (Except for watching the Daily Doom Update at 5 pm).

Despite the cold weather returning my main task this morning was taking apart the wood burner and getting all the ash out for the summer and finding all the nails down the back from burning scrap wood! We had planned for the chimney flue to be swept after Easter but that has gone on the back burner (Ha Ha) till after Lockdown.  Then I had to wash out the vacuum cleaner as its filters were clogged. No sooner had I done that the husband turned up and started sanding some thing in the lounge. Obviously did not listen half an hour ago when I told him the cleaner was outside drying off!! Men.

Off to put into play a broth idea from this morning's TV as we have a lot of nothing much left for lunches. Tomorrow will be driving to big supermarket for a Click and Collect experience where I have ordered a months' worth of staples since we are failing to get anywhere near a doorstep delivery here.  After that it will be local shopping - butchers, bakers and milk and what ever comes from the garden. Like these cauli and lots of cabbage, spinach and asparagus to keep up our greens intake! We grew the cauli over winter in the greenhouse as an experiment and it worked quite well though we were glad to pull up today as space needed for the many other things coming on.

Volunteering

As my ambitions to volunteer for Garden Organic as a Master Gardener helping people start growing own veg are on hold except for posting on social media and putting up my videos on YouTube (Grown to Eat - An Acre in the Fens) I have turned my spare time to another of my hobbies!

I have volunteered to make scrubs for the NHS. Doing this through an organisation that supplies everything so that is great for me as funds are a bit sticky with having to buy local/online and not getting to go to Wilko for bits and pieces at better prices!  In our county its called Norfolk Scrubs Volunteers.


Meanwhile its not rained for 2 or 3 weeks and all the water butts are empty. Should not complain after all the wet and windy weather but now its too hard to dig!  I shall get the picnic chairs out instead and admire our shrubs in full flower.