Yes, let your garlic cure with the greens on if you want to have them for storage. If they are softneck, you can braid the greens. Leave the roots on too. As the garlic cures, the greens and roots will dry and it lets you know when it's done. Make sure you keep them in a place with good air flow and out of sunlight for curing. After it's cured, you can store seed garlic like you do eating garlic.

I tend to choose the best and biggest cloves in head first for seed stock. So do garlic seed sellers. After culling out the seed stock, we eat the rest.

Good advice. Thank you. So I will just dry & cure, hang, and just eat the smaller ones first.

The hall entry is important: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression" as the saying goes.

Do ask the painter first, don't just assume. You seem to be asking for a brand change, a color change, and additional labor. You might be thinkin' around 300, but your painter will know what the number will be.

Mid-change plan and that much work? Yes, 1500 sounds reasonable. And as others have said, be prepared for lot differences in materials.

Sounds reasonable.

Thanks All! And Jan, you’re not that wrong :) I’m doing my best with my adorable but ADHD brain and I try hard to be kind, upbeat, and feed the guys periodically as I do know I can be a bit of a PITA. :)

Does your municipality have code on this? I know not all of Chicagoland has the same codes. Most of it is pretty basic, and I would hope your landscaper knows what it is where you are. I'm not sure what you mean by retaining wall since you don't seem to have one. But if you have one somewhere, you probably want to make sure it's in code when you rebuild it.

Don't plant behind the boxwoods. They are already real close to the building, you do not want to cram anything else close to the building.

I would go wider with plant part

If what you have to the right of your entrance is a climbing Hydrangea, I would either build a trellis for it or move it. I have one (North facing, Zones 6a/6b). It is an aggressive grower on the iron trellis that I had designed for it. I have to regularly trim it all summer long. The branches look lovely in the winter when they are bare. But your plant doesn’t look like it is in the right place if it is, indeed, a climbing hydrangea. Also note…hydrangea do not stay green all year round. They can add color, but their season is short. I always underplant mine with annuals. And, yes…you need to prune boxwood to keep them that height and shape. Yours appear to be appropriately planted. Do not plant anything behind them. Yes to larger, curved beds. And yes to dark mulch vs. stone.

I too am curious about the bad. Is it contaminated with something? That would be a bummer, to get fill from a gas station lot or something else bad like that. If it is that kind of bad, then you might need to pay to have it hauled off.

But otherwise, dirt can be screened and amended, as suggested by gg. You can buy a screen, but it's pretty easy to make one from hardware cloths too.

This has definitely been a learning experience! I Greatly appreciate all your comments!

Sifting out the rocks would be another back breaking operation imo.

I like the idea of garden rake and raking out the larger stones after the soil has been applied.

After you're all done applying the soil, raking will pull all the stones/rocks within the top 1" or so into a pile, then just wheelbarrow them away. As mentioned, I use all the stones I find in other places.

Here's my favorite stone picker. I have one that belonged to my folks and they'd be over 100 yo by now. Been used for mixing/leveling cement and still works like new. ;-)

White, bleached sugar basically has no flavor other than sweet. Less refined sugars have more flavor, which some people enjoy..

I've used it in the past. Mostly when learning some skills. White sugar is bland and sweet, stuff been taken out and it's spun. Brown sugar has some of the flavor added back in after it's spin and is moist if kept sealed. Some raw sugars haven't had the stuff taken out, but still have undergone the crystalization spin process. Cone sugar hasn't had the flavor stuff taken out, it's a bit more intense. It also is straight poured, and does not go through the spin process. So its crystal structure is a bit different than many other sugars. Not huge, but it can make a difference to some akin to how some folks utilize different salt structures in their cooking.

I'm pretty sure if your earbuds work to cancel the chimes, it will also cancel the nature sounds. Or at least when I have worn them if it's enough to cancel one, it's likely to cancel the other. Same goes for speakers- if it's loud enough to drown out the chimes, it's probably also going to cancel the nature sounds. Though if you play nature sounds through your earbuds or speakers, it could replace the nature sounds around you.

Wow, that sounds like just what you need. Hope they work out!

No worries luvprimrose 😊.

I see people leave their personal bags in a cart and turn their back or wander down an aisle. It happens a lot at the entrance when people will put down their bag in a cart, turning their back at some point for the hand wipe action. Often they leave the bag in the kid seat area and unload from the front of the cart, leaving their bag out of reach of them and easy to snatch out of by the person behind them. I also have seen people walk away when there is a little toddler in the cart too like the kid will keep the bag safe. I get it some folks carry personal bags that are big/heavy enough that they don't want to carry it if they don't have to. But I don't get it when they leave personal stuff out when other humans are around.

We get the car thing around here, especially in the spring when the tourists and out of town visitors start showing. Police start putting out the warnings of don't leave your car windows open or car unlocked. Reports of thefts out of open/unlocked cars go up.

I think around here the thieves stay in place, they live here. They don't travel to get here to steal, people travel here to get stolen from in their point of view. I think the tourists and visitors feel comfortable, like they are safe from that sort of thing because they are on vaca. It makes them easy prey. Every year it's the same stretches and areas that the reports and warnings come from, it dies down again as fall sets in. Probably some of the folks that steal out of the cars during the warm weather are the same ones swiping things out of unattended personal bags in stores. And other public places.

All I'm saying to everyone, is don't assume that you have outwitted the bad guys. They are pros and know all the tricks that you've never thought of. Better to be constantly alert.

And I'm reminded of the many posts on our local nextdoor.com from people complaining that someone 'broke into' their unlocked car overnight and stole an iPad, money, etc. - and they get really huffy when commenters point out the obvious

Same here. It always amazes me. Can't imagine not locking my house or car.

I have three vintage dark brown glass jars on the counter. Dried minced onion, minced garlic, parsley flake. Three bamboo pinch cans on the shelf above. Salt, sugar, black pepper. Otherwise I have a lot of canisters in the pantry that are not counter pretty. Mostly plastic, with locking seals. And a lot of canning jars for storing some goods.

In my dreams! And he wants me to get rid of the kettle.

Does he cook?

Good point about the preen. Sometimes a good pre-emergent can take care of a lot of weeds. Get them before they become something that needs to be pulled or chemicals used.

@jack, good idea. I think i may even get a nicer pot. On have one of those on each side.

thank you for your feedback everyone! i have tried preen and it didnt go so well. I wasnt going to use fabric but maybe i will. It's best to prob use a commercial type.

I went with ground cover plants! Use Preen and very minimal weeds.

Maybe? Might depend on how much time and $$$ you got for it. The floor venting is an issue. So is that window. It's currently outside the wet area. And appears to have a wooden frame. You would need to make that exterior level waterproof with the window replacement to account for it being in the wet area if you did a wet room. The whole floor would need to be pitched for correct draining, and that would depend on what your flooring/subflooring has going on. Especially since that room is small and you have concerns about floods you will need to be extra careful with that pitch. Whatever is currently being contained by that curb and shower door will spread to much more of the room.

All of the things mentioned this is a complicated job and open to many issues. IMO with people using it that have disabilities an out swing door is a must BTW since no possibility of a pocket door. Is you daugeter in wheelchair or soon to be ? You need a tile setter who has done wet rooms this is not a job for your friend who does tile . I think if a wheelchair is something needed to be planned for this whole space is too small for that . IMO a low curb if at all pssible just a much better idea. in this small space . BTW a to scale plan is a much more helpful drawing . Easy to just make each square on graph paper 6" . Post the new drawing here in a comment all things related to this dilemma now dealt with here in comments .

Thanks. I don't need wheelchair access--just want an open floor around the toilet, and want to use a shower curtain instead of doors. There is no room for outswing doors, and the current glass slider shower doors make for a very cramped shower entrance. Trying to make this more useable for adult guests--daughter is a tiny little person who navigates the room just fine (but splashes water everywhere for the fun of it).

It is a conventional foundation with floor joists. So probably too complicated to be worth it. That was the info I needed. Thanks.

oh lord, a shed resort!

I like Lala Girl's idea -- just make it clean and less prominent and move on. :)

A couple things. It's in shade a lot, and moist. So you will need to upkeep it. Moss is on the roof because debris is on the roof. If you don't want that, you will need to keep it clear. It looks like you have a gutter there, but you also have a lot of splashback going on. You might need to clear out/replace/improve gutter. The splashback issue could be from that. Might also just be the way it precipitates there. Or you might need something to soften the splash. But you will need to work on either eliminating the splashback or be prepared to keep up on the removal to keep it nice.

The best I received is the wooden inlaid tray...it's beautiful and so nicely done.

While not made by the giver, it was custom and I love it...she took the bottle of wine I served at our dinner (it was cobalt blue) and took it to an artisan who pressed it into a serving dish and it came with a serving knife. I love it...such a nice memory of our time together!

Gifts I have made include blankets, hats, cowls, scarfs, needlepoint coasters, baby sweaters and booties, gnome, decoupaged decorative plates, vases, beaded ornaments. I haven't but have thought about making note cards (for old ladies who still send them) using one of my photos. I have made calendars as gifts though in the past using my photos.

Many people I know are craftspeople, so I have gotten a variety of wonderful handmade gifts over the years. Yarn goods, warm sweaters and blankets and the like. A lot of sewn items, probably a best was my second wedding dress, but I also dearly love some of my lounge wear. A smattering of woodworking goods, mostly furniture or kitchen useful with a few trinkets and jewelry. A goodly bunch of ceramics/pottery items. Glass, some of it more functional like drinking vessels, some pretty like jewelry, hair goods, beads. A bunch of hair goods of various materials. Beadwork, needlework, some precious metalwork. Bits of ironwork, leatherwork, weavings of different materials, a tad of random stonework of various kinds. Couple nice pairs of boots/footwear. Some other haberdashery and featherwork. A small handful of musical instruments. Food, lots of food- and lots of brews too. Wine, beer, mead, some other things. A couple nice teas, though more often those have been kind of meh. A nice variety of personal toiletries, though a few of them have been misses with the scent in them. A bunch of garden goods over the years, harvest and plants, homegrown seeds.

My wedding invite suite for my second wedding was handmade and a wonderful gift. The puffy fabric scrapbook from my first wedding not so much, heh. Art can be hit or miss- we have gotten some neat art and some investment art. We aren't fond of the investment art, heh.

I often give food. Sometimes plants or garden goodies. Beadwork, sewn things, needlework.. hair goods. Probably some of the better stuff has been things like embroidered gauntlets or monogramed linens, or a suite of wedding jewels. A couple miniatures have been greatly appreciated. Holiday ornaments have been, but I haven't made any in years. I was pretty happy with an embroidered on leather piece I collaborated with another person on. The person who received it has been wearing it for years :)

How do you want to utilize solar lights? String lights across the ceiling, around windows, what? It looks like you are getting some sun in a couple pics. If it's enough for a good charge or not I don't know. But depending on the lights the panels can be placed to catch sun pretty easy. I have some string lights in my enclosed porch across the ceiling. They have little 3x3" panels. I just have them in a sunny window and it works nicely.

Maybe use roll bamboo screening for your panels? Or frame pretty fabric that give privacy, and still allows light in. Make the panels so the can be taken in and out as you like.

Fabric panel hung on a tension rod would also work and be easily removable when needed.

What a great screened porch! i think you want to address privacy by planting trees along the back fence!

I think it could be possible you can reuse some of the stone from the water feature to help create a stable surface for furniture. So you could pull the water system, do a good job with a firm fill, and top off with a stable surface. If it's legal not to have the railing, you could remove it and create a step down into that seating area from the porch. Use plantings and lights to edge that square and create the parts people don't walk through.

I noticed you have a couple chairs on the porch. Do you want more shaded seating below? Maybe put in a swing bench with an awning overlooking the yard. Or if you want more sun, skip a shade and put out some nice table and chair action. Either way, either blend that with your current seating, or replace the current to match when you get new stuff.

Paul, that looks great and I love all the color!

You need more comfortable chairs and a large, colorful welcome mat or outdoor rug for the entry.

There is a heat zone map, it's just not commonly used. Many garden centers also don't list sunset zone information on the labels.

Maybe try looking for gardening advice closer in your zone? I don't know where you are in Ohio, but there are arboretiums and university gardens and botanical gardens in Ohio. Other close neighboring states in the same heat zone as you might yield more information too.

We do have an advantage over St Louis as their summers are way hotter than here since it is farther south but more inland so that it has the same winter temps (we’re even slightly warmer). We can grow cooler climate plants here such as larch trees and other ones that would otherwise not grow in St Louis.

TLDR version of the above: the heat zone map is hard to find and seldom used, and the industry would rather you not use it anyhow because they'd prefer you to waste money on plants that aren't actually suited to your climate.

To that I would add that # of days above 86F is surely not the best and most scientific way to have designed such a metric. I don't have time to elaborate RN but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I don't keep up on KT threads enough to know what disappeared. But usually they seem to disappear if it is in topic territory our hosts don't want to host, or in sideways member behavior that our hosts don't want to host. If something disappeared, I would hazard a guess that one of those two things happened again.

Woops! Missed this. Fooey.

Somebody please tell chisue ... "where to go" ... (with a smile, please).

At the grocer, early covid, a masked person used to direct us to which was preferable checkout, and sometimes I said "It's nice to sometimes have someone tell you 'where to go' - with a smile!"

On one such occasion another person in the waiting line asked "what do you mean - "With a smile - you can't see her face for the mask?!"

I said "You can see her eyes".

I wouldn't say it's to be expected. I've never seen any grasshoppers hatch out of Promix in the decades I've used it. Or other bugs. How strange.

If you think it's the Promix, I can't blame you for not wanting to use it in your basement. Or indoors in general, heh. Unless you keep a spider population that would be happy about it :) Have you cracked open the second bale?

Sorry mxk3, I meant to say fungus gnats. Coffee hadnt kicked in. I better brew some more Lol. 😴☕️😳

^^ I deleted that comment, it wasn't meant toward you, Jay, but I can see how you might have felt it was.

If you were in a long construction zone with one lane, no merging, no exiting... either creeping along or standing still are kind of the only two options. Try not to stand still where there can be a lot of debris, try to be in low ground if possible.

The only time I've been near a tornado was in the 1960s. I was driving to work when a minor tornado appeared. There had been no warnings. I drove my little Healey into a low spot beside the two lane road -- not quite a ditch but lower than the road -- and waited as it whipped past. Weather was dry everywhere else. It was very minor, quickly gone, no serious damage.

LOL @ Elmer

When my son was about three, a friend of mine was in a new job at the local radio station. It was his first day "live" on air, and the tornado sirens went off while driving home from work with my son in the truck.

My friend lost his cool a bit, and exclaimed something like this ... a tornado is on the ground! Take shelter immediately!

My son instantly became just as excited, loudly proclaiming ... Mama! A tomato is coming! A tomato is coming! Go home, Mama!

For outdoor work conditions knowing what the weather is can be fairly critical. Some stuff is for sure in short term forecast. If it's raining or not in the morning can impact outdoor work. If the morning is clear and work can be done till poor weather comes in the afternoon. Sometimes it's the work being done, like if it's too cold or wet or hot or dry for pouring concrete to cure. Or timing various garden chores. Commuters can rely on short term too- what the weather is going to be like on the drive to or from work.

Maybe provide information here in the thread instead of DMs. Let everyone know what it is.

It makes sense. But there are other sites and apps that provide a similar packet of information. What is it that you are hoping to provide that isn't currently beign served? Or, what is it you are hoping to do with your app to make folks want yours over other ones?

We use the “WeatherBug” app that provides all the needed information to plan a day outside.

A mvp probably would help for visualization. Where would you be pulling your data from, and how would your app provide value beyond the data source? Also, if you plan to be ad-free, what is your revenue stream going to be?

I've occasionally made my own crab cakes and frozen them. So long as I'm making a batch and can make extra I'll make some for next time. It's usually just two of us so a prep for dinner and one for the freezer is common here.

Other than that... there really isn't a way to make a bland commercially made crab cake not bland. You have to add some sort of seasoning or sauce to the exterior and have that be the flavor. Then it depends on what you like. Old Bay or other seafood seasoning blends are popular for dry spices. There's lots of sauces of any flavor or style you can want.

I've an outlet near me, so I've been able to try a few kinds. The puff mini ones are very not worth it. Too much puff, not much crab. It was Phillips brand. I'd kind of assume their patty version isn't too much better. Gortdons is decent for a generic patty, kind of like their pressed fish. Not great. There were a couple food service ones that came in flat boxes of either blue on white or red on white labling. Patties, those were OK. A couple of more regular grocery style boxes in red and blue, usually on yellow or white- most of those were pretty blah.

I looked online at TJ, but they were not listed. I froze four of mine, so we shall see in a week or so.

Do you have Aldi's? I've heard people rave about the ones they sell.

http://www.sometimesfoodie.com/2017/02/maryland-and-boardwalk-style-crab-cakes.html

It's an empress perfect paw. And obviously you aren't being a good hooman servant by the photos :) Sassy pretty thing she is.

But yeah, try to find out if there is an owner. Girls aren't as easy to tell as boys about if they have been fixed or not. She might turn into empress mommy paws.

Well Jupi - that would have been a shock! Good thing you opted to stay inside.

Daisy being the queen of the screened porch with big brother Romeo. 😻

Virginia creeper. Eff you Virginia, you get pulled and strung up high till you die. Same goes for poison ivy and the occasional wild grape. Fulva lillies are also shunned, those dry on the pavement or get chucked into the crap strip out back.

Other than that, if weeds make it to the cold compost cages, most anything goes. A lot of my weeds in the garden beds proper are often also edibles that I can use for green cover and then drop compost. Sometimes some other composting.

That's sorta what i meant by smelling the roses, when life deals you a weed chop it and eat it or roll it and smoke it.

It's a cultivated weed for me. It came with the property, I didn't grow it on purpose. I make pesto, soup, salads, stewing greens, occasionally I've dried it. It also makes nice drop compost, I've added it to fertilizer ferments and swamp waters.

I started sorrel(I'm assuming rumex acetosa?) from seeds years ago so I can eat it but never actually got around to harvesting it. I moved them to my new house 2 years after I started from seed but is not as vigorous here.. doesn't seed for me either. Thanks for sharing the recipe, I might take some this year if they grow big enough. Right now they are just starting to show new growth and tiny

My grandma used to make sorrel soup, so I'd love to make it sometime. But I don't grow it, so unless someone brings it to the farmers market, I'm out of luck.

Yeah, wool is doing fine. It dipped a bit in the early 2000's, but it's been stable with increases for over a decade. The bigger difference is how the wool is being used. After a drop in the 90's apparel wool has kept declining. Less demand, so less is being made. Interior wools have increased a lot and far overtaken apparel wool.

I love chocolate, the dark kind, always buy a bar when grocery shopping.

I'm not sure river rock would work. It's just really big gravel as far as weeds are concerned. Still lots of nooks and crannies even in very large bits for weeds to invade.

A lot of folks use weed killers, pre-emergents, and even some weed burners to keep gravel clear.

Suppose it depends on what your property looks like. In some situations it might looks great, in others not so much.

Sounds like it will create a whole lot more work to me. It’s easier to keep weeds under control (which you concede you will likely have no matter what) on a flat surface rather than between rock nooks and crannies.

Will the rocks impede vehicle traffic at all? Like a UPS driver in a hurry or a new young driver knocking them out of place?

Do you have snow removal issues which complicates driveway edging?

Do rocks appear naturally in your landscape? IMO they look quite out of place in a manicured suburban neighborhood.

And what is a governor’s driveway?

It won't do much for the weeds.

Yeah, fall isn't here yet for us either. But there have been some upticks in spring. Bagged and small box stuff in the big box stores seems to have gone up again. Something that was 4-5.99 a few years ago has shifted through the buck+ to .59 point and this year is up again and back to the .99 point. Larger potted stuff has gone up several dollars over the last few years.

Cecily, you make a great point. I do have a favorite nursery or two and I will still need things that I can't easily reproduce. We use a lot of bagged mulch. Liquid seaweed fertilizer has really gotten dear, but I can't see not using it. I probably only use one large bottle a season. Perennials and shrubs I still can afford to buy a few every season. As you said, careful lists and no impulse purchases should make the best compromise. And of course, buying when on sale. I just got an email for 20% off lilacs this week. And another Perennials 10 for $49. They are $5.99 individually. That's a large increase from past years. I would think a lot of the increase has to do with shipping costs. Have you tried to ship even a small box lately?

We also still have a local plant sale every Mother's Day weekend. Other local gardeners who have established gardens and are always dividing and ending up with plants to share, sell and the prices are really still very reasonable. I end up with a lot for my money. And I know one of the sellers and he starts seeds in the winter to sell as a hobby and he makes a lot of money on that one weekend.

@Lalenoxxa: what/where is this magical bulb wholesale place that you speak of?

Don't forget the Swiss contribution. Might only be around a centrury old, but suiza is just as acceptable for encheladas as other sauces.

I made enchiladas yesterday. Found a green tomatillo sauce in the freezer. 5 packets found hidden under some cauliflower rice. I thought those were long gone. Made Pati's red pepper sauce. And some molé black beans. An avocado crema with some of the green sauce and yogurt. Goat cheese.

Lots of dried chili choices. I don't have Ancho but do have pasilla being similar. Your dried pepper should have the heat index on the package. I used all the ones with a low heat index. link, 'guide to Mexican chili peppers'

Interesting that both Pati and Rick bayless serve with cooked potatoes and carrots, diced. I prefer fresh pickled vegetables. Though she does make other varieties and an open faced one with salad and avocado.

I found it much easier to dip in the sauce rather than roll for a casserole. Especially for just the two of us or for 4. Any more guests than 4 i prefer do-ahead fixings for a taco bar. Make-your-own style. Otherwise you end up being a short order cook with all the likes and dis-likes. Like our families.

With guests i would make some rice with the beans and extra salad fixings separating the rice and beans on the shared platter.

Now have a fridge full of Mexican meals prepped. Taco soup tonight, then taco Tuesday...

I make chicken enchiladas with both sauces. I make a green sauce with sour cream chili sauce and the chicken in it inside (though I could see it with something like mushrooms or something else)... and the red enchilada sauce on the outside. I don't know if you call that tex-mex, California style, or just Rob style.

I like the stairs on the left because it gives good clearance around and access into both sides of the greenhouse.

Stairs on the left looks more balanced. And they would be less likely to block lake views (and/or sunlight to the greenhouse) on th left side.

It's not a question of what I prefer, it's what works best for the overall layout. Which you haven't shown so we can't comment. I think that would have an impact on where the stairs are.

For a first time homeowner... do nothing. It's a lovely kitchen and looks fully functional. I realize the backsplash bothers you, but live with it through a season or two of light shifting. While doing that, pull samples of colors you do like and let them also sit in the shifting light. You have a lot of light to play with there.

Other than that, I would change out the light. I'm just generally not fond of the style. A light can be a fairly inexpensive and easy fix.

Our house has a pony wall behind the kitchen island, and if/when we remodel the kitchen, the pony wall stays. We don't use it as an island - it is right in the walkway (even though the previous owners had stools there, it's only 18" wide - not suitable for seating).

Like arcy's son, I like that the half wall provides a bit of separation between the kitchen and living room (which is all one big room). The bar gives us a nice place to put a candy dish, a vase of flowers.

This is our house (listing photo). The hallway to the right of the kitchen goes to the garage entrance, so that's a main thoroughfare.

Very disappointed it is not a single family residence located in northern Michigan.

I am currently looking for a small house in the north west corner of the lower peninsula, and there is A LOT of crap out there. (minor venting)

Any of them that they can see and get to, lol. But alfalfa, dandilions, greens- sweeter ones over more bitter ones usually. If you provide them something by the woods, keep in mind they prefer to have something for hiding from predators. So they are more likely to want stuff out of sky line-of-sight than they are with crossing open space or be in the open to eat. Rabbits are visual hunters, so plant where they can see the food easy.

But they will still come into your yard and garden. Their hunting range is several acres. If you can surround your garden with a visual impediment like a low wall they can't see over, that can help protect your garden more.

A few years back I had a rabbit addicted to my cayenne pepper. Won't touch any of the other 30 pepper plants, only the cayenne. The rabbits certainly like asparagus, and I have some trouble with sweet corn when they're young. I figured they'd attack my Brassicas but never did.

Anne, if those 100 old milk crates are the metal ones you may have thousands of dollars sitting outside. They sell very well on EBAY for between $20 and $80 depending on the dairy they came from with people paying more for shipping than the price of the crate.

I sold two for $25 each at a garage sale last fall, and used ebay's "items sold" prices to price my crates.

Unfortunately I only have 8 or 9 of those metal milk crates, most of them are the heavy duty plastic. I'll sure watch for the metal ones, though, thanks for the heads up!

Annie

Which direction does the wind come from? Is it possible to put up a wind screen to help buffer it?

If you want to build the grills into an out door kitchen, there are many ideas on line. Just google "outdoor kitchen". These can vbe simple or elaborate depending on budget. My first priority for your lot would be planting some trees in the back for much needed privacy and to break the wind.

I am not a privacy nut but that is too open for me and a cover for the BBQas would be nice . We have a Grill-zeebo like this we added lighting to it . We grill all winter in Canada.We used it to begin our outdoor kitchen my hubby does competion BBQso we have a Webber for BBQ and a larg e grill for other stuff and a 3 burner camp stove so we ended up with 2 of the grillzeebos . I think trees are great at controlling the wind if planted at the proper space and make sure they are trees that grow not to high sothey actuall work as wind beaks so no tall trunks .

Not a new practice at all although it was originally used primarily by wholesalers to grow on large quantities of plants rapidly without any additional propagation delays (seeding, cuttings, etc.) For the retail market, they offer an inexpensive way to acquire and plant a quantity of the same plant far faster than if by growing from seed and without the 3-4 times expense of purchasing retail ready specimens. Landscapers use them extensively.

As with all mail order situations, there are good suppliers and less desirable ones as well as plants that are better offered in this format ad those that are not. Ornamental grasses, groundcovers and natives tend to be the plant types most offered this way.

They are too valuable for me to kill. Most of where they drill isn't an issue. But the couple spots where it is, I tend to seal up the wood. They just move on to somewhere else then. I have plenty of other nesting spaces for them to choose, heh. So I guess my mode of trapping is getting them to nest where it's OK and sealing up where it's not.

Buy a bee house and place AWAY from your deck. Seal the holes in your deck. Move them away from what you need to protect.

Not a bee house for carpenter bees. They don't use the premade holes, that's other bees. Carpenter bees like a chunk or few of untreated soft wood like pine, fir, and cedar to chew a nest in. Preferably weathered a bit. Extra if is where it gets moist, but protected from direct precipitation. It's part of why they are so attracted to our construction- a lot of it is made with the wood they like most. If left to weather or unsealed, it becomes softer and nicer for them to chew.

Since you have already had an arborist in, what did they say about removing limbs from the tree? Did they say it was doable? What did they tell you about the big roots close to surface and what you can or can't do with things like your deck footings and seating? I can understand wanting to get some other opinions online. But you have already had a pro out, please share with us what they told you about the tree.

Otherwise... I've seen people build decks and seating around trees. It takes some planning I'm sure. If you have been living there for a while, you are probably aware of the debris of the tree. But people build decks and pergolas under trees on the regular too.

There goes any and all money for the veranda expansion. Taking a tree down of that size will be $$$$$$$. Looming trees like this one are scattered all over neighborhoods. Statistically you are more likely to slip in your shower than you are to have it fall. The county came through and 'umbrella' cut a beautiful blue spruce we had on the edge of our property. It looks ridiculous. The tree will survive. Do you have a pole saw? It's a pretty easy job.

That tree is far too large to move and the OP has no intention of cutting it down.

Bessneeds yes once the op cuts the damaged areas off the plant will regrowth from the healthy areas left.

Been nice out. Doing the regular shuffle in, shuffle out on a bunch of stuff. Some things are now staying out in the mini greenhouses. Potatoes are popping in their bins, just did the first mounding today. Put in some beets, radish, carrot, and greens in some bins. Still closing up the mini greenhouses and the caps over the bins at night.

Lots of greens for harvesting already out in the open beds. I'm about to make a cress pesto I got so much of it going on. More tender greens are thriving under the caps.

Garlic is popping, and the wild chives are plush for harvesting. The dandilions are starting their blooms in parts of the yard. And yellow trout lillies :)

Whew, yes that was a close call on frost here too. Glad I covered my tender crops with buckets and blankets otherwise there would have been some damage. Had frost on the auto windshields at 38F so brought the seedling trays inside from the porch too.

Amelia wins

I use deep woods on outdoor gear before I put it on. Shoes, hats/headcoverings, overshirts, gloves, aprons. I like to use the wipes on my wellies and then stick the sheets in my boot loops. I do not spray myself. I often am wearing full clothes, pants tucked into socks, full sleeves.. Sometimes I'm on the other side of the clothes with just a tank and shorts and if a tick shows up on me, I flick it off. Depends on just what I'm doing outside.

We tend to have a couple doors we use most. By those doors are drop points for clothes when we have been out and about. When we come in it's strip, tick checks. Then fresh clothes or shower depending on the situation. And lots and lots of tick checks throughout the day, lol.

First couple years out here we freaked and went through tons of sprays. Then realized ticks are scary, but they take a while to wander around and latch on so regular checks with a little spray works good. Wearing full clothing helps too- and helps keep me from going crispy. Being sensible and dropping clothes by the door instead of walking through the house to our room to the hampers there.

I bet a hazmat suit would indeed be not fun in the garden. Though it might be one of the few things to keep out those little midges that can hover around the garden, heh.

Omg. I was trimming and weeding my blackberries this afternoon and when I got inside I found a tick walking on my hand!

Thank you to everyone who commented!

New bedding will be purchased

A lot of blue-greys can go with white. Given that it's an upper story room and the roofline, I'd go with a pale shade rather than a darker one. Pick chips that can go with the flooring since that has a lot of warm tones to it. Or consider big rug that can pull in more of the blue-grey action.

If you want to get crafty beachy with it. You could go with white walls and trim. Do the ceiling angle in a sky storm blue and mottle it with clouds. Use grey in the accessories like bedding, rug, ect.

Sure soil science questions are good to ask in gardening forums. But yet again that whole putting down 95% of the members here pretty much sucks. SMH :(

There are only three people in the thread besides you westes. All three of us had commentary about it. You chose to put down most of the whole site, again. Since you claim to be the better, maybe just do what you want. If you want to mix sand into clay, do it. If you want to use organic materials or synthetic, do it. Go forth with the confidance that you are always in the top 5% of everything gardening and do what you will with your yard. I hope your peppers grow well.

@beesneeds I have dozens of posts like these. The only person on this site who takes such questions seriously is Tapla. In years of doing posts on soil mixes, every response simply repeats attacks, and no one ever looks at the question as a science question.

I never claimed to be better. I claimed to have a serious question, which I do. You aren't reading 95% correctly. I am not in the top 5%. I am saying 95% have no *INTEREST* in these types of questions. Therefore I am wasting my time here to post them.

I am tired of you playing the victim card. You are not the victim. I am not attacking you. I am not putting you down.

Yesterday I harvested some different greens to go with dinner. Out in the open beds is sculpit, couple cresses, bucks horn, sea kale (a perennial), a brassica I forget the name of but it's super leafy right now, bulb fennel fronds, early celery. And a chinese cabbage under one cap. Sorrel is up too, but not very plush. Under the kitchen caps was miners lettuce, another cress, overwintered beet greens and a couple lettuce, corn salad, and some parsley. I'm sparing with the parsley at this time since it's still pretty early. Thyme and oregano are nice under the brown leaves, catnip and chives are good.

I didn't harvest all of it for dinner. It's just what all is harvestable in the gardens right now. Garlic is strong up too out in the open beds, but we aren't harvesting it. I take the tails of last years harvest and pot them up for greens in the kitchen garden this time of year.

Sorry, forgot to add that. I'm in SW Michigan :) Some of my harvesting now is that I'm in a micropocket and I also know how to use the micropockets in my yard specific. I've worked on closing the hungry gap for years now.

beesneeds, that's really cool. I have a microclimate under my bay windows and overhangs, but so far I've only used it for ornamental plantings.. I should rethink that! :)

The farmers market by me is kind of chi-chi, very touristy. It also has some good area vendors. Depends on if it's the Wed or Sat market day. I tend to the Wed market day when I go. Most of the farmers stands are pretty good, but a couple of them are very chi-chi. I'm not sure it's a rich wrecking it for the poor though. There's plenty of average or not rich tourists that come through too.

We have an amazing farmer’s market. Vendors are restricted to local produce with the exception of two larger stands that can bring in things grown in other parts of the state. Eastern Washington has a very different climate than ours, so they grow things that can’t be grown as well locally. Asparagus, artichokes, melons, sweet cherries (WA produces the most in the USA), many varieties of apples and pears. There are a few craft vendors, but the market is very selective for high quality so there isn’t junk.

Thursdays, the vendors give a senior discount and all vendors take food stamps/EBT. The two large fruit stands give free apples to kids. I am unsure how prices compare because I don’t (luckily) have to pay attention and am willing to try to support our local farmers.

" If only more of our 'leaders' would be more forward thinking about these things... "

I agree about the need for more vocational training opportunities. I don't think available programs and schools, and there are many, are at capacity as is. One problem is that the interest in and decision to enter vocational training requires more than short-range thinking. And a degree of maturity that many recent high school grads or dropouts lack. It should be a no-brainer - many are not cut out or interested in academic advancement, vocational training leads to satisfying and well-paying jobs with lifelong career opportunities.

Nothing happens until the interested person walks in a door, dials a phone number or connects on a website. Point the finger at parenting failures, not political or public ones.