Laura Trovillion

Central IL is feeling more fall than summer at the moment so tonight I am making beef stew: carrots, onions and potatoes from our garden. Beef from a friend's farm and bacon fat for braising from the same friends bacon. Dessert is roasted sungold tomato ice cream: roasted sungolds from our garden, honey from a friend, and milk/ cream from Jersey cows at Kilgus farm dairy. All local

Thank you all who responded!
I appreciate your suggestions and advice!

Thank you both for the advice. I am finding that sentimentality is going to be my downfall, both indoors and out. So many
Of my plants were either started from seed or have come down thru family ( peonies and Iris). The other tricky bit is that
Our realtor is fairly certain that our 150 year old farm house will be purchased to flip and everything outdoors will be leveled. It somehow feels wrong to leave them behind. The other tricky bit is having somewhere for everything to go, even if it's just to store until spring and of course where the coop and cat houses will be, even before we have gotten to live there.....It will all be good, but right now it's freaking me out
Lists....I can do lists and lists of lists!

After more than 30 years in the first and only house we ever owned, my hubby and I are moving from Illinois to Kansas. We need to be closer to family and have a house that we can truly age in place in. However, this was never in the cards til recently. Now in addition to a huge downsize and move of house stuff, I need to figure out how to move all of my perennial flowers and veg, berry and nut bushes, garden art, chickens, ducks, koi, 2 outdoor cats and an outbuilding full of tools, wood and various and sundry stuff.  We are 6-8 months out from the construction being done. Downsizing is daunting enough, but when adding in all of the other, its pretty much overwhelming. I am looking for suggestions and advice from anyone who has survived such an ordeal!

Spinach, arugula, kale, collards, snow peas, Swiss chard

Joe - I agree. Fish, especially native to my Midwest home, are probably not going to work after all.

Tim- you may be on to something, but I'm thinking of a small modification. I already grow most of those herbs and within feet of my rain barrels. Hasn't made any real difference. However I'm wondering if said herbs were harvested and crushed to release their essential oils and put in a small, shallow plastic deli container and floated on the water's surface if it would be enough of a scent deterrent.The herbs could be easily refreshed on a regular basis.

Now we just have to wait 5 months or so for the experiment to continue!

I have now hit a big husband shaped bump in the road. Further investigation turns up that all mentioned fish species are non- native and mosquito fish were called out specifically as invasive. My husband spent a number of years before retiring working to prevent asian carp from getting to Lake Michigan. Therefore anything that has the potential to be an issue down the road, well intentioned or not, is now a no go here.
Now going down rabbit hole looking for a native species fish that doesn't like tadpoles. And pricing Martin houses...😁

We pump water from our 325 gal IBC totes into open 50 gal water barrels located just outside the doors of our cattle panel high tunnels. We then use those barrels for hand watering the high tunnels. ( It's my husband's thing)
Although last year they simply became treefrog nurseries, and other than the mosquito issue we're okay with that.
We have lived here over 25 years and 2 years ago was the first time we had tree frogs. We want to encourage them along with everything else!

While we have a small pond, it's occupied by koi and common toads and their tadpoles most of the spring and early summer.

That is brilliant, and just what I was looking for! Thank you!!!

In the past few years we have had an exponential increase in the number of tree frog tadpoles living/ growing in 3 of our water barrels. Unfortunately a similar increase in mosquitoes as well. We love hearing the mature tree frogs and watching the tadpoles grow.
Tree frog tadpoles do not eat mosquito larva
A number of people have championed the BT dunks. I hesitate to use them. Exclusion techniques for mosquitoes would likewise exclude or hinder the tree frogs and tadpoles.
We are in a small Midwestern town, but have attracted lots of dragonflies and some bats. We are now contemplating purple martin houses, but are unsure if we could even attract them in this suburban setting.
Anyone have any suggestions based on first hand knowledge of either the 100% safety of said dunks on treefrog tadpoles in small bodies of water or of another viable alternative to encourage treefrog breeding but not mosquitoes?
Thank you!