I'm a lazy composter, but I make huge piles of compost and use every bit of it every year. I just pile stuff up on the ground. When I have more stuff, I just throw it onto the pile. I never turn it. I never wet it down. I just let it sit there and decompose. I throw stuff on the top of the pile all spring, summer and fall. In late winter or early spring, I rake off any stuff on the top of the pile that hasn't broken down yet, and shovel out the good stuff and add it to the garden beds. Then I rake the non-decomposed stuff back onto the now-bare ground and that's the beginning of the new pile. I have three compost piles and all are roughly 8' x 8' or 10' x 10'. Most of the time they are between 2' to 5' tall depending on how much is being added to them. Today, for example, I fed the compost pile closest to the veggie garden all the snap pea plants and broccoli plants I was removing from the garden, so it went from about 2.5' tall to about 5' tall, but it won't stay that tall long. My piles get hot and break down quickly. We don't add grass clippings to them very often, but that's because the grass clippings go directly onto the beds as mulch, where they decompose on their own over time. We do add lots of leaves to the piles in the fall, but we chop or shred them first so they'll break down more quickly. We also add 'stuff' from the chicken coop to the piles about twice a year when we clean it out. Compost can be easy or it can be complicated...it's up to you. I keep it easy. The main reason I don't turn it is because during snake season the snakes like to live in those piles and I don't like snakes. Dawn

Dawn, you have no idea how you just made my day saying you rarely moisten or turn your piles! My poor compost has been setting out all winter with no attention at all, and I was feeling very neglectful. I had added a whole bunch of dead canna stalks and leaves in early spring, but that's been about it. Beth, I had always thought compost piles normally stink until all these fine folks set me straight. It's really got a lot to do with getting the proper balance of browns and greens. I knew I could come up with lots of green just with summer mowing but was a little concerned about the browns. I found a list of what was green and what was brown, and to my surprise, I've got more brown than I thought I'd have! Here's a few of the things I found I have regularly I would have never thought of: The paper cores inside rolls of toilet paper, paper towels, etc. Brown paper sacks Corrugated paper shipping cartons (I remove the tape and any shiny labels first) Coffee filters Do you shred your bills and junk mail? You can compost almost any paper that isn't coated (coated paper will be slick and shiny). I even tore up the pages from old phone books last year and threw them in. Newspapers Cotton rags including your or your family's old cotton underwear, don't throw it out put it in the compost! Dryer lint Got pets that need periodic brushing? Put the fur in the compost, also you can use human hair providing it's not been dyed Used paper towels providing they weren't used on greasy or oily or potentially bacteria-laden surfaces Cotton swabs (think Q-Tips) so long as the stick is cardboard not plastic Cotton balls Paper egg cartons Nail clippings If you don't sprinkle chemical carpet cleaners on your carpets then you can compost the stuff from your vacuum You can search the web for lots more ideas. If some of these things aren't things you personally get much of, like maybe shipping cartons, you can ask around at grocery stores for some. You could ask your local barber for hair clippings. Ask your neighbors for their old newspapers. When you actually start looking into all the things that can be composted, you'll be amazed how much stuff you might have available and just never thought of. I found a couple of sites online last summer when I started mine. Right now I can only locate the OSU sheet. The other one itemized browns and greens in columns. I'll dig it up at home and see what the URL for it is, but I'll put the OSU link at the bottom of this post. My "bin" is just chicken wire nailed to some old wood (just to hold it) I had in the backyard arranged in a sort of box shape. My backyard slopes quite a bit so excess water runs out of it. I used a couple layers of corrugated paper boxes for a "floor." Debra Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard Composting in Oklahoma

To add info given by Lars, fish sauce originated in Vietnam from 2 areas, Phu Quoc and Phan Thiet. Although, they continued to produce fish sauce, most fish sauce imported to the US are from Thailand. Since the end of the Vietnam war in 1975, many Vietnamese took refuge and reside also in Thailand, Phillipines and China. That's why today, there are various version of the fish sauce (ie, fish or squid made products). One example is the popular "Three Crabs" brand fish sauce. It is a product of Thailand and processed in Hong Kong but the manufacturer, Viet Huong, is of Vietnamese origin. Beverly, unlike many other international food restaurants, the majority of food served in Vietnamese restaurants that you go to are quite authentic. As for seasoning, like any cook and chef, it is to his/her own taste. If you ever visit our common noodle restaurants that serve Pho, you'd see that everyone makes it a bit differently. Sort of like hamburger places in the US. The stock is the most important ingredient in this soup and it is somewhat time consuming to make a good stock. That's why the pot tends to sit warmed up pretty much most of the day. And which constitutes in losing some of its juice via the steam. Perhaps, that's why the soup you had ended up a bit salty. You're right about most asians use limes and that's because it is what normally grow in our asian countries. However, lemons are a bit sweeter, is it not? And many asian dishes have a sweet & sour flavor to it. Perhaps, lemons would be more suitable in the Vietnamese cuisine. It is also readily available here in the US. There's really no rules whether we use lemons or limes in the Vietnamese cuisine. It's just what is in season and available in the market. Personally, my favorite is Meyer Lemons. It's the only lemon/lime family that my stomach would tolerate because of its low acidity content.

There are more health issues with ingesting worm eggs from dogs and cats, than from cattle and sheep. Sheep fluke are very rarely infectious to humans. There are a few pig diseases that can affect humans too. Pidgeons and Cockies of course can pass on psitticosis. i guess we tend to get more up close and personal with our dogs and cats too, which puts us more at risk. Most of you probably only ever handle cow and sheep manure after it has been sitting in the paddock (or plastic bag) for some time. Generally it is not a good idea to handle fresh faeces of any sort, if it can be avoided, and if you must, then wash thoroughly afterwards. Yes you can pick up round worm eggs from handling dogs and cats, if they are heavily infested, but generally they are passed in the faeces. Tapeworms can be got from ingesting fleas. This is not unheard of - if your dog or cat has even a few fleas, and you are close up and cuddly, then a flea can easily jump into your mouth or up your nose. Children need to be well educated, but prevention is far better than cure, and it is so easy to keep your pets parasite free if they are properly contained in their own yard, and treated regularly. Then you don't have to worry so much about their pooh. BTW - there is one parasite that can be contracted from cat faeces, that can cause birth defects in babies. That is toxoplasma gondii. Deworming your cat will not rid it of this, and if it is in the active stages of disease, which is often completely asymptomatic, you can contract it cleaning a litter tray. You may not know if you have had the disease, it generally presents as a mild viral infection. If you get it and are not pregnant it is unlikely to cause problems, and you will have lasting immunity. Many, many cat owners have antigens to this disease, it is very common. Yes katiezub - I think you are right about people worrying mainly about health issues, but you would do well to familiarise yourself with some of these issues. Here is a link that might be useful: toxoplasmosis