I do, and I aim for edible flowers if possible. I recommend: Chicory, or Italian dandelion - beautiful blue flowers on tall open stems. Nasturtiums - the petals make a really pretty pesto sauce (replacing basil leaves). Marigolds - the "Gems" are said to have the best flavor, I like other ones too, Queen Sophia, Tashkent, etc. You can use the petals in eggs, salads, sandwiches, etc. Calendula - pet bunnies love these. We can eat the petals too or make a nice healing skin balm out of them. Violas/Johnny-jump-ups and violets - edible. Some are fragrant. Feverfew, lovely clouds of white single or double flowers (they come in both forms). Pineapple sage, good for tea and the bright red flowers. Lemon verbena, good for tea and the tiny sprigs of flowers are fragrant too. Gladiolus - petals are edible. Snapdragons - petals are edible. Dianthus/Pinks, Carnations - edible. Most are fragrant too. Alyssum - petals are edible, flowers waft a honey fragrance. Single roses - I grow species Rosa arkansana "Peppermint," "Secret Garden Musk Climber," "Louise Clements" and a few others. Scented leaf geranium/pelargoniums have useful (edible, tea, potpourri) foliage and pretty flowers too. Hibiscus (tropical) - parrots like to eat these (I have one) and there is one you can make tea from the calyxes H. sabdariffa or roselle. Jasmine, you can flavor tea with the flowers. Opium poppies - gorgeous, some are breadseed sources (harvest the seedheads before they burst, otherwise they reseed themselves, not so bad). I admit, I like and grow "poisonous" flowers too: Plumeria (dogbane family), daffodils, Angel's Trumpets, Plumbago, Iris and more. There are so many, I don't think you can go wrong just look through a catalog or your local nursery and pick what you like.

The green iridescent bug - with a pointed back - may be a lacewing. It's larvae - the ant lion eats ants, and it should be encouraged. Planting things that attract "good" bugs is a plus. Right now, I have broccoli that is flowering (bolting) and is covered with bees. In turn, newly planted things like peppers, tomatoes are flowering and hopefully, the bees will pollinate these. Also, coriander/cilantro is also flowering - and attracting wasps that are also beneficial. Many birds will eat ants - encourage also. We also have lizards that eat their share as well - thank heaven, because this area has lots and lots of ants - which in and of themselves aren't bad - but their cows - the aphids need to be controlled - they will kill young plants by sucking juices. Bejay

We've got some traps, but I'm squeamish about using them! I think I don't want to be a good trapper, because that entails handling the end result.... I've planted some of the herbs gophers don't like & I've also put down coffee grounds, both of which seem to help deter them. Also, I'm giving some plants (favorite ones of the gophers) herb teas & strewing rosemary, sage & lavender about the garden. I'll have to try rue, also. Again, it SEEMS to be helping; hard to say. I guess I'll just end up making some gopher-proof raised beds in the fall, unless my funky methods end up working.

...they sterilize the stuff at 700ºF for several hours, I've learned a lot about that method since I first heard about it. Rather than sterilizing it at 700 degrees F for several hours, they subject it to a 700 degree F flame for several hours. The stuff was soaking wet when it came into the incinerator and it was heated to dry out for several hours. At the end of the several hours almost all of the moisture had evaporated and the temp of the material had been held at or above 180 degrees F for 15 minutes or so. The way they word that is very misleading. It is still considered to be sterilized, but not at the conditions they want you to believe. A lot of compost is made from horse manure. Why? Because horses are most often kept confined. The manure is concentrated into an area small enough they can pick it all up. Compost coming from areas where there are cattle feed lots will make compost from "steer" manure (quotes because there are as many heifers as steers in the feed lots). Whether the compost is made from horse manure, cattle manure, or humanure, the only way to make a economic quantities of compost is to have a huge supply of some sort of free manure. Municipal compost facilities will often not need to use manure because they get so much lawn and tree trimmings. I don't know about your municipality but ours also includes at LEAST 50% soil in their compost. If you make it at home you can control the ingredients, but almost anything you buy will have a dung base of some kind. Unless you have a lot of acreage at home, it is hard to make very much without bringing something in.