Cabrita, except for a few broken leaves caused by the weight of the snow, the fall/winter veges were not harmed. As glib noted, I don't begin to see any problems until the temps drop to the low 20's and below. And even then if the duration is short, the damage is minimal. EG, yes I do use BT. This year I've had 2 applications thus far. I spray at the fits site of the caterpillars. Glib, I have the opportunity to share the harvest with family - brothers, sisters, son and daughters, in-laws, and grandsons. I also share with gardening friends and some of my co-workers. In addition broccoli freezes VERY well. Your comment made me think of a conversation with my daughter last year. After about a month of providing her with broccoli, I asked her if she was ready for more. She said that she had enough for now. So I asked, well, what about your husband. She replied no he doesn't need any. Apparently he loves broccoli, eats its every day and it had given him gas. In a day or so, she sent me an email with the video in the link below. Here is a link that might be useful: Funny Video

Most all of the bagged manure sold in stores is a waste product from feed lots, Confined Animal Feeding Operations and most often when they clean up the yards, the pens, than manure is run through a dryer and then bagged. Aside from potential disease pathogens and being loaded with antibiotics (given to the animals both in an attempt to stop diseases in the animals in those confined spaces, and to aid in weight gain) what you get should be mostly manure, dryed manure, although it may be somewhat damp. If that manure is used in your garden it should be applied to the soil and tilled in a minimum of 90 to 120 days before you harvest the food from that garden.

I use bermuda grass and then whatever is growing in the pastures...which is virtually everything. I wouldn't use bermuda grass if it had formed seedheads. That batch would go into the compost pile so the heat of composting could sterilize the seeds. To prevent anything in the grass clippings OR the soil from sprouting and growing up through the mulch, lay down newspaper or cardboard and then pile on the mulch. If there is any wind, wet down the cardboard or newspaper as you lay it down so it won't blow away before you pile on the mulch. The newspaper or cardboard serves as a barrier. Weed seed beneath it cannot sprout because of the darkness and if it sprouts, it generally cannot penetrate the paper or cardboard. Weed seed on top of the cardboard or paper may sprout, but any plants that sprout in the mulch can't grow down through it and it is easy to pull them out of the mulch when you notice they've sprouted. As a bonus, earthworms adore newspaper and cardboard so having them on the ground attracts them to your soil and since they improve the soil, that's a plus. A couple of tips: 1) Never use any grass clippings from lawn treated with herbicides, including weed and feed fertilizers; 2) If the grass is holding a lot of moisture after it is cut, I leave it in the garden cart or wagon for a day or two and let it dry and then I spread them on the beds; 3) If you have cut tallish bermuda in humid, hot conditions (especially in late spring/early summer) and think chiggers might be lurking in there, spray yourself with an insect repellent before you spread the grass clippings. Then, after you're done, scrub yourself thoroughly to remove any that may be climbing around on you. I have chigger issues about once a year after spreading grass clippings DH has cut and it usually happens in late May or early June. 4) Be very picky about your grass clippings. If neighbors see and understand what you're doing and offer you theirs, make sure their lawns haven't been chemically-treated. 5) If you have an issue with snails, slugs, pill bugs or sow bugs be sure you leave a little open space (at least 1/4") between the mulch and plant stems so you can spot those little buggies and sluggies and kill them dead. (I just sprinkle Slug-Go Plus in that little open area so they can find something to eat. It is just a bonus that the 'something' they find to eat kills them.) Dawn

Thanks for the info y'all. I have used staw bales before that I left out to get rained on to sprout all the seeds in them, so they wouldn't sprout in my garden. Mulching potatos this way produced some of the best potatos I've ever eaten, and what fun it was to run out before dinner and dig up a few crispy fresh Yukon Gold's right out of my own garden! Right now, since I am a single lady, my problem is getting the spoiled hay or straw from point A...the farmer or rancher's barn or whatever...to point B...my garden :( But, I'll look around as per some of your great suggestions and see what I can come up with :) However, right now I am preservering and on top of the mushroom compost and peat moss, I'm using a bunch of last year's dead grass clippings that I'd piled up, some of which were partially composting, and I am breathing prayers that there is no fungus in this material to affect my potato plants which are growing like crazy. Afterwards, I lightly dusted with Bonide Copper Fungicide, which I hope will control any potential fungus, and that it won't do more harm than good. Also, even though the plants look healthy with no sign of potato bugs, "something" seems to be nibbling the edges of some of my plants. If it gets worse, I'm going to have to fight back rather than have all my hard work destroyed by some trespassor! Another question I have is, when do I stop adding more compost, hay, straw or other mulching material on top of these fast growing potato plants? None of them have started blooming yet.