Leading up to this point (pre organic) my yard was filled with voles. Not a single square foot of any mulch bed didn't have a little tunnel running through it. I have a small pond in the front, into which voles would run into and drown. I would scoop one out once a month through the season. But then i began to get the free coffee grounds from starbucks. I collected one and a half 5-gallon bucks worth a week through the season. I spread it everywhere... mulch/garden beds first and then eventually onto areas of the lawn. After a handful of rains and raking the grounds with the mulch a bit to prevent it from caking up on the top... i didn't see a single vole for the remainder of the season... not tunnels.. no more lemming leaps into the pond either. I started to go organic half way through last season, so it will be interesting to see the voles this year.I don't plan on getting more grounds this year... so i will keep an eye on them varmits!

i don't think I would switch him from the team. I think that would give the wrong message to him and the other boys would find fault with him. Thoughts about this -- First, if you didn't try to fix the problem and just removed him from the team, I agree that would send the wrong message. That you run away from a problem and don't address it. However, if you attempt to address it and it does not get resolved, then you leave the team. IMO, this sends the message that you tried to fix the problem but you cannot control others, and you will not let your son be abused in this manner. I am not sure how this can be the wrong message. If you worked for a company where you boss was abusive, and the company wouldn't change it, would you stay? Or would you find a new job? About going to the coach instead of the board -- I would bet that this coach has heard this before. If this is how he coaches, I doubt it just suddenly appeared this season. There were probably parents in the past that said something to him. In my experience, they do not think they are doing anything wrong. In fact, they think they are toughening up the kids and teaching them how to win. You talking to him (or writing letter) will do nothing to change his behavior, IMO. I could be wrong, of course. Everyone is different. But, in my experience, they think they know better and you're just babying your son. Believe me I've heard it all from the coach, the coach's wife and other parents. On the other hand, I had parents tell us they were impressed with what we did. I think the only thing that will change his behavior is the threat of losing his team by his bosses (the board). I don't know if your board will do that. It won't change what the coach thinks is the right way to coach, but it might make him temper his words to avoid losing the team. Having our son leave the team he'd play with for 3 years was hard. He was playing with all his friends in town. But, we knew we couldn't leave him in that situation. And he had finally had enough of the abuse and without prompting from us, he said he wouldn't play for him anymore. My son is now 13, so we've been gone from that team for 3 full seasons. Best thing we ever did. He's played for some really wonderful coaches. And some bad coaches too. But, he's learned that not everyone is like that. And he's met some great kids from outside town. I'm not trying to minimize how hard it was. I was sick over it for a long time. It made me so angry that we were forced to leave a team where his friends played because the coach was a jerk, and the town wouldn't do anything about it. It still makes me angry! But, in the end it was a good thing. My son learned baseball from other coaches and organizations we've played for and is a better player for it. It has also taught him to deal with situations of being the new kid on the team. For some kids, this is easy. My son is not outgoing and that is not an easy thing for him. But, on every team he has made friends and I think he's learned that even though he's uncomfortable in that situation, he can handle it. Another good life lesson. I apologize for my long rants on this. I am so passionate about this. Youth sports is a strange place. We've had some awful coaches and some wonderful coaches. And the parents! Don't get me started on the parents. Some are as bad or worse than the bad coaches. But, I've also made some wonderful life-long friends through my son playing. My DH and I and another family (that also left town at the same time), are always saying we should create a reality TV show - "Travel Ball". You would not believe the things we've heard, mostly from parents, on the sidelines of games.

water soluble just means that the fertilizer dissolves in water, by no means it indicates it's exclusively for foliar feeding. generally, water soluble fertilizers are typically fed to plant roots.. but they can also be used to foliar feed as well (ie something marketed as a foliage fertilizer in a spray bottle).. i just don't think it's effective at all, especially things like fish emulsion (organic matter) which is typically not fully broken down (decomposed) so it's best to use something like fish emulsion in the soil as it breaks down over time and then become available to the plant to absorb via their roots. some people swear by foliage feeding, but the way i see it is when i am hungry i don't smear the food over my skin ;) perhaps you should do an experiment. have two plants, feed one plant the water soluble fertilizer in the soil and the other on foliage. wait a month or two and observe results..

Peaceful protest is everyone's right IN AMERICA -- whenever, wherever -- because this IS America. I do not have a public arena in which to protest, but if I did...I would protest there. I stopped flying my American flag during Cheney's administration -- ashamed that we would lock people up without due process -- and torture them. That terrifies me AS an American. I'm sad about putting the flag out every morning right now. I love my country, but I am ashamed of us. My ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. Family has served in WWI and WWII -- fortunately NOT in the undeclared war in Vietnam, nor the other politically/economically motivated 'military actions'. It's never "My country, right or wrong."