My technique for making new vegetable garden beds has evolved to this; I'm working from a lawn with some pretty healthy grass growing, so I start by digging up chunks of the sod and scalping the sod from the clay soil with a machete. That leaves me with clay soil in large chunks. Once I've cleared enough area, I clear off the chunks of clay soil from one end and loosen the subsoil with a broadfork. I am careful not to turn the subsoil, just loosen it. I'll toss some humic acid on the top of the subsoil as I work across the bed. When the subsoil have been loosened, and the clay chunks are sitting on top, I'll level the surface as best I can. That's when I start to amend the soil. I use humic acid and organic lawn food and mix that into the top 2" of soil. Then I'll put on 3-4" finished compost, then 3" unfinished compost, then a mulch. Lately I've been using wheat straw covered with fresh grass clippings. I did this last fall to extend an existing garden bed. The soil looks terrific and the tomato plants look great this year. I'll add some of my home made compost and/or bulk compost from the nursery this fall.

Hi The rainwater comes from the roof into gutters a two inch pipe carries the water from the gutter under the gravel where it is released by a spraybar . The water then overflows in to a standpipe where it is carried to the lily pool .This overflows into a bog garden at ground level. Used a two inch pipe as it fit into the gutter fittings. An inch and a quarter for the standpipe but will not handle a 1 inch rain. which causes overflow in the tank. Was more than adequet before adding the downspout. Simple gravity is the power method. Would prefer the water to go into the lily pool first then into the tank then to the bog garden. But the tank is the highest. I'm rather surpised at the volume as I'm only collecting water from one side of the hip and only a third of the roof area. Wasn't sure how to estimate how much water would actually flow into the pipe. WAAAY more than I thought.lol Wanted to keep it as simple as possible. In order to have any kind of control ,obviously need some type of reservoir though i think I'll try a valve on the downspout first. if I can figure out what position to set the valve.lol Worked fantastic for a half inch rain in 1 hour duration . They make bypass valves for cistern water systems which can be set at certain volumes before water is allowed to collect. Allows washing the roof so you get only the cleanest water. Guess that solves that problem but was sure hoping not to need a reservoir. Thanks for the help. gary

If you're watching holmes on homes, are you in Canada? If so I think the rules about combustion air are specific, you do need a louvred door. I don't understand why you wanted to insulate the mechanical room, generally, even with HE units, they are going to warm the place, not cool it. Does the furnace have a combustion air draw in? There will be an outside pipe that runs into the cold air return, that's not it, but a separate pipe that brings air in for the furnace, some he vents are a funnel shape outside, the part close to the wall draws air in, the other blows the combustion air out. I've seen 'make up air' setups that appear to be a duct outside, with a cage over the end near the floor next to the furnace. That's probably the sort of thing you need.

Tomorrow we start what promises to be the biggest storm in decades. Three to four inches in the Los Angeles basin from mid morning till Saturday afternoon. Should be plenty of flash floods and landslides to go around plus some strong winds will bring soggy trees down. I worked the last big one in February 1979 and got sixty hours of overtime starting on a Thursday night through the middle of the next week. We just cut them so we could move them off the road and a tractor would come later to pick them up.