i don't really know where to start on this discussion. If you have horses you need a tractor a trailer and a barn for starters. If you just have a tractor it can sit in the weather, but it won't whinny at you when you come outside, or nuzzle you for a rubbin or an oatmeal cookie. I have two three year old drafts, onepercheron and one percheron shire cross as well as two "saddle" horses. The big drafts were bought for around $600 each and are now being trained to ride at $350 for 30 days training. They cost about $50 each, each month to feed, keep in hay, andworm. Every 6 to 8 weeks the farrier comes by for his cut of $20 per horse to trim (more to shoe) there hooves. I got real lucky and found a miss matched set of harness big enough to fit these two for $350 and have been rejuvenating and cleaning it for over a month. As we are in the process of clearing 5 more acres for pasture to keep from paying $20 a roll for hay which disappears here at the rate of 1.5 rolls per week I haven't had time to do much else this summer. Even with the horse I have to have the tractor to bring the hay ot them. But this is the start as cows are next and pigs in the bottoms near the creek next. I like the tractor but I love my horses and they they show it with effection right back so you can't ask if it makes economic sense cause it doesn't, but if your need in this world is to love and be loved, horses give that better than any old cold hard to start tractor. I say this even after the big percheron dumped me in the spring and i got my back broke in the process. In summary: Horses are dangerous, expensive and not always suited for jobs at hand but tractors are dangerous, expensive however not always as much upkeep, and not always suited for the job at hand. I'm going to keep working both as soon as I get that tractor started and the horses back in that tangled harness......

Yes, I certainly do as I have a new G85. I really hate disinformation, so let me help you with at least this model. First of all if you want to get the accurate history of BCS and Grillo call up Earth Tools and speak to Joel, the owner, who is 37 and has been in his family business since he was 12. Briefly Grillo has been making walk-behind tillers from their beginnings where BCS was making sickle mowers. BCS decided that they wanted to explore expanding their line diversty and contacted Grillo, who was equally interested in adding sickle mowers to their line. They actually partnered up for a period, but eventually went their own ways but still have friendly ties with each other. Another words, Grillo was never made by BCS, ever, nor was it owned by BCS. They began as separate companies from the "get go" and are still separate except for the instance mentioned above. Grillo has been making fine tillers for a very long time and they basically have not changed for years. However, BCS is predicting to have some majour revamping of their tiller lines soon. They have already discontinued their 710 model that was replaced by the 712. The Grillo tillers in this country are powered by different power plants than in the European market. I opted for the Vanguard/Briggs & Stratton 7.5hp engine. It is actually made in Japan by Mitsubishi and is a dead ringer for a Honda. The pull start even feels the same nas a Honda. From what I have heard and read, it is just about as good and has the same longevity as the Honda, but it is at least $400 less expensive. The only reason that you might opt for the 9hp Honda rather than the 7.5hp Vanguard is if you might want to use some of the PTO accessories. Also, you will find that the Grillo is less expensive than similar BCS tillers. Finally, the Grillo is very safe as well. I have no idea who told someone that the tiller tines rotate backwards when the Grillo is in reverse. You can't even engage the tiller tines whilst the tractor is running in reverse! As for the G*d awful green, I think that is a matter of taste. I happen to really like that bright neon green. It isn't the same old boring RED garden shop junk and it certainly doesn't look it. I decided to get the Grillo after my old 26 year old Econo-Horse Troy-Built died. I would recommend a Grillo to anyone and everyone that could see fit to afford one. I really started out to purchase a BCS, but thanks to the honesty and integrity of Joel DuFour, at Earth Tools, I am so glad to have found the Grillo line. I hope this has helped and developed a more accurate representation of Grillo tractors and impliments, as well as any confusion regarding BCS as well. Regards

After doing some more research on humus it's very interesteing. It's my understanding that humus isn't fully understood and very difficult to explain. Just to help understand I've broken it down a bit. Humus by deffinision from Websters is " a brown or black complex variable material resulting from partial decomposition of plant or animal matter and forming the organic portion of soil" comes from "New Latin, from Latin, earth" From Wikipedia is close to the same deffinition "Humus (Latin - "soil ") is the organic material in soil lending it a dark brown or black colouration" And the deffinition for Colloid from Websters is "2 a: a substance that consists of particles dispersed throughout another substance which are too small for resolution with an ordinary light microscope but are incapable of passing through a semipermeable membrane b: a mixture consisting of a colloid together with the medium in which it is dispersed" And from Wikipedia "A colloid is a type of mechanical mixture where one substance is dispersed evenly throughout another." " A colloidal system may be solid, liquid, or gaseous" Aparently if you can let any organic matter decompose basicly with out any dirt it will form a jelly like substance once fully decomposed and in a stable condition. Depending on how well you create humus you could actually end up with nothing. If your humus becomes so stable that it will not provide any help to your plants. I would say this guy just did some research and took what nature already does and is just trying to sell it. I would like to see him actually product this. He may have theroy behind it but no experiance or ability to actually produce this. Take a look at Wikipedia I think they do a very good job explain humus. As far as our own compost. Well keep it cook'n we are still breaking down organic matter into stuff that helps our soils and plants and will eventually allow mother nature to create her own humus. Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia Humus

Thanks Dave. I know the Glaciers are done for - I've been throwing away more lately than harvesting (I said I had about 1-2 lbs perfect, and a few more with just some black specks). I think over the course of the season now I've thrown away more than I've harvested. Glad to know that the black specks are considered diseased and not good for canning (though we will eat the remaining ones on the counter fresh as long as they'll last). I wasn't sure about the "dead vines" line since when I picked them last week the branches they were on were not dead. So the "dead vines" means that if any part of the plant dies an untimely death, don't use *any* of the tomatoes for canning? What about the cracking BW? Still OK to eat the bottoms (not canned)? I don't know what that rot is on the small one I found yesterday - first time I've seen that. Won't be many green tomatoes, except for BW's. I understand these will be OK to slice and pickle? All these plants are going in the trash, not the compost. I also should have been carrying a bucket to put the rejects in instead of throwing them over the fence - going to have to clean up the area. But I have been putting the split ones and the ones that started getting sunken rotten spots on my counter (even though they looked fine when I picked them) in the compost - have I just ruined next year's compost? The last time I canned anything from these plants was some hot sauce on 9/4 (and the only other thing was jam on 8/27, haven't canned anything else), and the plants looked much better then having survived the hurricane with just some minor damage, though might have been some spots (I thought Septoria) on some of the leaves at that time, no spots on the tomatoes, is that sauce likely to be OK? Will I be able to tell if it's going bad? Or is there potential for botulism due to the tomatoes being less acidic than usual b/c plants were already infected? I think they started going downhill after the hurricane 8/27 with 10+ inches of rain and then the 5 inches that followed on the 5th-8th of Sept so I can't really remember exactly how the plants looked before the 4th (I was using tomatoes picked in between those 2 rain events). Your expertise is very much appreciated.