The information below is taken from the Fine Gardening article by Dr. Ingham linked in the reply of Sep 26, 09 at 14:23. In addition, I believe that I have read that the brewing equipment should be well cleaned between batches with the use of some hydrogen peroxide. "Also, keep in mind that tea made using this bucket method needs to brew for two or three days and then be used immediately. If you work Monday through Friday, start the tea on Wednesday or Thursday, so it will be ready in time to apply it on the weekend." "After three days, turn off the pump and remove the equipment. If you leave the tea aerating longer than three days, you must add more molasses or the good organisms will start going to sleep because they don't have enough food to stay active. Let the brew sit until the compost is pretty much settled out, 10 to 20 minutes, then strain it into the other bucket or directly into your sprayer. You'll have about 2 1/2 gallons of tea. If you want, this is the time to add foliar micronutrients, like kelp or rock dust. Use the tea right away, within the hour if possible." "With any form of compost, solid or tea, bad smells mean bad business. Healthy, adequately oxygenated compost and compost tea should smell sweet and earthy. Never use a smelly compost tea on your plants. The true bugaboo is alcohol, a product of anaerobic decomposition that destroys cell walls. Roots tolerate only 1 part per million alcohol. That's a very small amount, and human noses aren't good at detecting it. Instead, we can detect all the other smelly compounds that go with anaerobic production of alcohol." Terran Here is a link that might be useful: Brewing Compost Tea by Dr. Elaine Ingham

I'm late getting into this discussion, but I've seen short articles on using composting right in the actively-growing garden: Make a circular enclosure of chicken wire or hardware cloth (wire mesh), roughly as tall as it is wide to keep it stable (no cardboard), then fill it gradually with compost materials. As soon as you get the wire circle in place, plant a circle of tomatoes or squashes around the outside of the compost circle. Water the compost periodically, & the nutrients leach into the root areas of the plants, & the plant roots will also grow toward the source of nutrition. As long as the wire circle isn't very big (more than 24"?), how hot is the compost likely to get? I have trouble getting my larger pile hot ENOUGH. Sue

Thanks to all of you for the additional thought. We bought this house at the "dried in" stage, so we're sortof stuck with the way they designed the rooms. There is a huge "playspace" above the 3 car garage, but it has no windows and is in an "out of the way" space. It has sloped ceilings and a dropped floor...... you can tell it's not my favorite room. LOL. Anyhoo, I'd have loved a laundry room on the 2nd floor. But since there isn't a good spot to have it there, I'll have to just do the 2 sets on the main floor and make the kids tote their things around. Same goes for having a laundry room by our master. OUr closet isn't large enough for me to want to put it in our closet. And the only other nearby room is dh's study (which I already tried to steal for an even larger closet.... he said "NO". he, he. :o) gs~ I don't know of any downsides to having a stackable near your bedroom. You can just do the laundry when you aren't trying to sleep. :o) I'd put one in my master closet if I had the space. Wouldn't that be awesome?! Solie~ Yep, we're having 2 dishwashers in the main kitchen. There's a kitchenette on the 3rd floor for the bonus room and guest suite up there. We'll have dishwasher drawers for that one. Thanks for the thought.... we definitely have backup problems with our current house and only 1 dishwasher! rhome~ You are so funny.... needing room for beds. LOL! You know, I'm with you. I've always wanted a huge laundry room. Call me strange.... I love laundrymats (maybe because I don't have to use them anymore?.... ha, ha). I love to be in the laundryroom and hear the hum of the machines. I always have to be working or doing something with my hands it seems, so even watching a movie I have to iron or something. Thus the tv in the laundry room. I KNOW I won't be watching the ones in the other parts of the house. It's just not really my thing. Okay, I got way off topic...... Salena, I hadn't thought about w-d-d-w. Good idea. I think I'll do it that way! :o) Thanks. Allison~ Good reminder. Can you imagine me getting the room all set up and realizing the doors are all wonky and wrong, and I can't get the clothes into the next machine. Yikes. Thanks. ;o) Gardenspice~ I love machines under the counter. It would be awesome to have the extra counterspace, since it's too tight in the room for the island I hoped to have. I chose machines that are extra tall (dh and I are both fairly tall), so I know they won't fit under a counter. And my cabinetry budget is already thru the roof with 2 kitchens and umpteen baths. But I will think on that. It would give me the extra countertop that I'd love to have. Hmmmm...... Thanks everyone. I'm happy to finally get 2 sets of machines, however they are set up. Wish I could do the 2nd set by our master, and a 3rd set upstairs for the kids. But I'm not complaining about the 2 sets on main floor. It will still be a treat. :o) Just for fun..... here's the fabric for the roman blinds in that room. Cabinetry will be kindof a sage/olive with a dark glaze rubbed into the distressed wood. Machines will be red. HOpefully it won't look like Christmas in there. :o)

I would suggest you have the workmen set up the furniture. If they set it up and it doesn't fit or work correctly you have recourse. If you accept the furniture before it's been assembled, you won't be able to object to missing components, parts, scratches etc, because you have already signed off on the items. Also there is sometimes an issue if these large entertainment units are installed on thick carpet. Sometimes the units have to be shimmed, leveled, or anchored properly to keep them from tippling over. You'll have plenty to do with making sure you have all your TV components, cable boxes, game boxes, receivers, speakers etc. ready to be plugged in and working properly.