What I would do is to pile your compost where you want it to go, but wait until before planting, when you're mixing in organic fertilizer, to cultivate. That saves unnecessary wear and tear on the soil, and meanwhile the piles may provide habitat for night crawlers, etc.

Jon, thanks for the affirmation. From the looks of things, you've got a successful (and impressive) enterprise going there. But in addition to the "look" test for finished compost, would the fact that the piles have cooled down be an indicator of readiness/usability, at least to some degree? Put differently, would you say there's a "temperature" test as well? I'm less concerned with what in time might be the ultimate product, but rather at what point the capacity of fresh cow manure to burn plant roots has been neutralized. Thanks. Gary

Wow! Where to begin? ;) I'll try to at least scratch the surface for you, ok? All of the starts have small true leaves, should I transfer them to bigger individual containers or plant them directly in the ground? Let's start with this question. In southern Indiana you are close to planting out time, northern Indiana you still have some time. So depending on that, you either need to already have your in-ground garden bed prepared and ready to go OR you will have to have it ready VERY soon. And that is a problem as getting the garden ready takes time - usually done the fall before. In this situation you can a) hire someone to till up the place in the yard, add an equal amount of compost, and till it in, and then hope that the weather cooperates and that the soil temp is adequate to plant. Not the ideal. b) build a raised bed by framing in an area in the yard with lumber at least 6" deep, lay down some cardboard to block the grass in the bottom, and fill the area with 1/2 and 1/2 mix of quality topsoil and compost. Then plant. Better but still takes time. c) grow in containers this year - big ones at least 15 gallons, filled with a quality soil-less container growing mix. Best solution given the short amount of time available. Tell us what you did last year in containers that didn't work well and we can fix that. Meanwhile, use this summer and fall to build yourself a proper garden bed for next year. Now, if the plants have never been transplanted since they sprouted, yes, transplant them to just below the bottom set of leaves in individual larger cups with a quality soil-less mix in it and either use a mix that already has some fertilizer in it or feed them with a 1/4 strength liquid mix. Doing this will gain you about 2 weeks more time to get your bed or containers ready. so I'm thinking about putting down top-soil or compost before I plant the tomatoes. Which would be better choice? You need both but you have to be careful about what is sold as topsoil. it can range from good quality landscapers mix down to scraped scrub. So if you go this route choose it with care. Compost - you need at least 10-15% of the total mix to be good compost. More is fine and it will settle and continue to decompose. But honestly, I think it's going to be hard to get an in-ground bed good and ready - not impossible - but it will take time and some hard work so I'd sure give some thought to containers instead for this year. Containers can be quite successful when done right. What varieties are you growing? Determinates or indeterminates? How do you plan to cage or stake them? How much sun will they get where you plan to put the garden vs. where you put the containers. What sort of fertilizers do you plan to use? How many plants are we talking about? See, and you thought you had lots of questions. ;) Dave

Hydrangeas seem to be a beloved plant that is often lackluster in Colorado. I know Annabelles do well. I also know that Endless Summer is now referred to as "I waited endlessly for it to bloom". If Bobo works for you, it may be an option to the Annabelle for those who love a hydrangea.