Don't sweat the Osmocote Plus. Regular Osmocote is fine. I use MG Shake & Feed from Walmart. Any CRF will work. Yes, 3/8" granite is too big. The crushed granite is called Gran-i Grit. I used Manna Pro poultry grit purchased at TSC. Check feed stores for #2 poulty grit. As long as the lime is garden lime your ok. Stay away from hydrated lime.

Maybe tasting the water wasn't such a good idea. I drained the water off and left the shells sitting in a stainless steel bowl for a couple days. Well today when I was getting ready to use them they smelled very GAMMY. I assume there is still very tiny fragments of meat attached and in the damp conditions they started to decompose. From now on I will drain my washed shells pronto. Just finished a Crete square little bowl using Perlite and the shells as my aggregate. The shell fragments are all less than 1/4 of an inch. Looks kinda cool, I just added a pinch of blue pigment to the white portland. I can hardly wait to see what a stiff brushing will do to remove the Portland haze. I'm hoping that pearly glisten of the shells is visible. It will be interesting how it feels to the touch. Very hard on gloves BTW.

Hi Jackie, The Gritty Mix consist of Pine BarkFines or Fir Bark Turface Gran-i-grit or Cherrystone #2 Here is a link that will provide the information that will help you. I will be more than happy to help you find the ingredients that you need. Southern States usually sells Gran-i-grit (growers size) and some stores carry Turface as well Napa Auto Stores carry a product Floor dry #8822 that can be a substitute for Turface. Gran-i-grit (growers size) or Cherrystone#2 at some feed and seed stores. i would also call Tractor Supply Stores too. Give these stores a call before you drive everywhere looking for the ingredients because it can be a challenge finding these items sometimes. You mentioned about the Fir Bark that i use. You are correct, i buy ZooMed Repite Bark at Petsmart. I also screen it to use the smaller 1/4 inche or smaller that is used for the gritty mix. Some places carry small Pine Bark Fines, but i have a hard time finding what i need. I will send you a link that AL wrote for us all to understand how the works and why. I really enjoy using Al's Gritty Mix. Some like what they use, some like this Mix. I found this mix when i was looking for another recipe that i could only find out West. The cost to have these products sent to me was way to much. so i started reading other post and found Al's post on his Gritty Mix. I really like this type of mix and i hope you will enjoy it as well. Please send me your address so i can at least help you with a bag of this mix. The you can see how small the pieces are and then you can see it with your own eyes.. But i will leave that up to you if you would like for me to send a sample. Sorry that i havent been around..My son graduated from Virginia Tech this weekend, so we have been very busy!! GO HOKIES!!! :) I hope this helps...send me an email if you need more info Jackie!!! I amm so excited for you too! Take care, Laura Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils and Your Pants Nutrition

https://thorkitchenparts.com/products/part-number-10201038 Just replaced mine that had the blown out bubble problem with this. Same BTU, same length, and it's a perfect drop in replacement at about half the price as the NXR part (if you can get it). The slot on the mounting tab is wider than the NXR, but all that needs is a small washer. Thor may even have a better design - the ignitor mounts further away from the burner. I suspect that moves the fuel ignition out of the burner tube and may prevent the bubble problem, but time will tell.