When should i Round up the lawn? It all depends on when you are going to drop seed, and if you are going to fallow for a bit. In actuality you can round up a few hours before you lay seed, but that isn't too practical for home lawns. For a home lawn, 2 weeks is probably the least amount of time I would suggest, since after about a week you should know if you missed any areas, and you can reapply. Also when applying it, it is important that everything is green and growing. Dormant, or sluggish grass/weeds won't absorb it, and they can wake up during the renovation. So most people recommend watering a few times a week before you apply round-up, and afterwards as well. Which type of RU? I saw blue and green cap ones. Just use the straight round up or any brand that has glyphosate as the main ingredient (I use Ortho's from Home Depot, it's a little cheaper). The other kind has another chemical that makes things turn brown in a few days, but I don't see the need for it when renovating, plus it costs more. Should i drop the Calcium lime before i drop seed or after? Drop Potassium sulfate before or after? Your next liming should be 90 days after the one you did this spring. If that coincides with seeding then I would wait till your grass has been mowed a few times. When seeding I would use a half app of starter fertilizer at the time of seeding, and the other half after it has been mowed once or twice. So then lime 2 weeks after that starter app. The starter is high in K, so that will count towards a K app. Would it be smart to fallow the lawn? It's not a bad idea, especially if your weed pressure is/was high and you don't mind having a brown lawn for a month or so. Better to do a TTFF/KBG lawn or just KBG? It all depends on you and your lawn. If you have a good amount of shade, TTTF is going to do better. KBG makes the best lawn in my opinion, but it has a longer establishment and maturity time, so don't expect a full KBG lawn to be really nice next spring. It really hits it stride in its third year. TTTF/KBG is a nice compromise, but there can be some issues with color matching and growth rates. For the TTTF cultivars, those are all good. I would definitely use Bullseye, it is one of the best. LS 1200 is good, but it does poorly in shade. For the KBG: Bedazzeled: A good choice, not too dark, good spring green up, not sure about it's disease tolerance. Prosperity: A very dark cultivar, might not blend well with TTTF due to color, but I can't say for sure. It also has some disease issues, might not be the best if you are just using one in a mix. Moonlight 2: Not sure about this one, check the NTEP's and it's tech sheet. Emblem: Not a good choice. Seed on the market is old as it's being discontinued. A very aggressive cultivar, might dominate lawn. Also very dark. Has a very long dormancy period as well, i.e. slow spring green up. Blueburry: One of the darkest cultivars you can get. Might not blend well, and it might have disease issues. Moonlight SLT: A good cultivar, supposed to have some shade tolerance. Check the NTEP and tech sheet for mixability. Award: A compact midnight, so it's going to be dark, and might not blend well. Does OK in shadier sights, but not great. There are a few others to look at. Bewitched: A dark cultivar so be warned, but does well in shadier areas, not too aggressive, and has good disease tolerances. Unique and Apollo. Not as dark as some, good shade tolerances. America: An old standard, has been around for a long time, but still performs well. Has some shade tolerance, not as dark as others. Orfeo: A very fast one to germinate and establish. Blends well with TTTF, but is aggressive, so it can take over. In reality, color might not be as big an issue as I make it out to be as KBG really needs good soil high in iron to reach it's full potential while TTTF seems to be less finicky to iron levels. Many of the growers say a lot of their cultivars blend well with TTTF. If you are really worried about it though, then just go with all TTTF or KBG.

One theory - is the humidity too low?

Thank you for your thoughts and input. I have grown garlic for several years now and have never had this problem. I harvest, lay on a wire shelf in the garage (with excellent air circulation) for several weeks with leaves still attached, then clean them up a bit and return them to the shelf and we use them as needed. The shelf is not exposed to any direct sunlight but the garage has bright light due to a row of windows in the garage door. I forget what variety they are since they were grown from bulbs i saved from the previous year's harvest. I will venture a guess that they are organic german red. Yes, the cloves are enormous - almost like a small italian plum or pecan. Thanks again and happy growing!

Thank you all so much for your comments and suggestions. Today is the 8th day since delivery and it has aired out significantly, but those of you who suggested I will always have doubts are probably right. At the same time, it's such a pain to return this stuff and get a new set, (how will I arrange THAT on the same day?!?! And where will I get the $$ to purchase the new stuff if the old isn't returned yet?) it's tempting to just try and make it work. What's interesting is that Greenington is a local company to me (it's based in Kent, WA), so I thought that was pretty cool. Yet I still have no idea where the stuff is actually manufactured -- I think the salesman said, "maybe Vietnam." As Olychick said, I AM disgusted with the company's attitude. If they had, for instance, bothered to say "sorry" at any point (either about delivering a product that wasn't done, or for inconveniencing me and the store) it would have gone a long way. The store isn't scoring many points for me either, because they didn't really go to bat for me or seem to notice that the mfg. is so nonchalant. Thank you for the recommendations of other places to check out - The Joinery is amazing but double what I've already spent - not sure I can swing that. However Room & Board is about equivalent and they do have a store in Seattle. Maybe it's time to go visit. Jenn