Well, I'm with you Angiemomma - aphids gross me out and I just can't do it as far as eat, swallow and not gag on something like your broccoli. I gave both broccoli and brussel sprouts (gorgeous produce adn brussel sprouts are such a cool looking plant to grow) to a good friend who could handle "a few bugs" when I did grow them and they got aphids I couldn't be certain were washed entirely out even armed with tweezers and time (they also show up in brussel sprouts at the store - little grey specks at the base of the leaves once you develop an eye for them - you see them). I simply don't grow either anymore - I have so many things I like to grow for veggies that it's easy to drop a plant and still find I don't have room for everything I'd grow and truly enjoy. The chards or kale leaves can always be cleanly washed (no little bugs stuck in florets), eggplants and peppers are always bug free for me, tomatoes - easy enough to spot the big ol worms, squashes, pumpkins, herbs. I do employ the soap sprays for aphids, but as we Californians live on one big ant colony - the ants always find a way to bring them back and the poisons required to stop that little cycle would turn me off home gardening. If you push yourself, you might find you simply cannot eat broccoli grwon anywhere with or without a bug attached. Careful with the row covers - if a bug does get in, they multiply like crazy (folks with greenhouses have this problem). The extra warmth and humidity make them so happy. If you go that way - you might want to use a non-toxic soap spray before you tack the cover down. Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

SSSSSHhhhh..... How many mistakes can one guy make? I just bypassed the softener....... I put in plumbing fixtures to perform the bypass, so I'm sure water is not flowing from the tank.. Here's the full information: -- The house was built in 1999, and the water softener has a date code of: 97286. So, according to the Sears site, it was manufactured in 1997. -- The softener had never been used, (the plastic wrapped installation parts were still in *plastic shrink wrap*. This includes: the tanks plumbing parts needed to install, the transformer, and the wire between the tank and transformer, etc. Everything in the tank looked brand new (nothing on the bottom of the tank, no signs of any discoloration, etc). -- The tank was dry with no signs of ever being used. -- When taking a scoop of the water and smelling it closely, the only smell is a slight smell of Clorox. -- Kenmore's have a âÂÂtank in tankâ design. Basically, the resin tank is inside the brine tank. The brine tank is where you add salt. -- Before I did the flush, I turned the water on in a basement fixture and: ++ The water coming out of the basement fixture was really dark brown. I took 3-4 minutes to finally run clean. ++ I looked into the salt (brine) tank and saw that black stuff was oozing out of the bottom of the resin tank. Being the dumb ass that I am, it did not occur to me that this is bad. -- We had the water checked several times (after putting in the two filters). There are minimal nitrates in the well water. The water is hard: 19 gpg. -- When we moved in, there was no filter nor water softener installed. all the toilets and sinks were stained red. However, when testing the water (past the two filters) there is no Iron in the water. So, I guess it is rust from the well pipe?? -- The two filters I used are: ++ Stage #1: GE FXHSC filter (30 Micron): This traps lots of dark red silt and dark red stuff. ++ Stage #2: GE FXHTC filter (25 Micron): This filter turns dark red with time. ****** So, just some possibilities of what the problem could be. 1.) This is just the way Kenmores were made back then. 2.) This 14 year old softener, while not used, has been in locations where humidity allowed 'bad stuff' to grow in the resin tank. 3.) The in/out pipes have been open for 14 years. God knows what has crawled in and out of the thing. ************ So, what do you guys think. I could clean out the resin tank, do another Clorox flush. Or, I should dumb this thing and get a new water softener?? Thanks for your help! Best Regards, Stan

I know this is sorta off topic, but I work in a midrise building where the bathrooms for each floor are in the "core" next to the elevators. Our office opens right to the elevator lobby and close to the bathrooms and the waiting room doors are left open. The amount of times I hear the bathroom doors open and close (they must be unlocked) vs. the much lesser amount of times I hear the very loud electric hand dryers going off is rather disturbing. This is not my personal stuff, but I still have to touch the same door handles and elevator buttons as all those non-handwashers. The reality of it is that you are probably exposed to much more in public environments, than you are by a couple of extra people in your house. (And don't eat the candy next to the cash register in a restaurant).

They can definitely be yellowish in color. I have seen white, off-white (ivory?), pale yellow, and a shade darker than pale yellow. To differentiate between mycorrhizae and, say, root mealies, you at least need a good magnifying glass. You will be able to see larval and mature stage pests (mealies, aphids, etc.), along with their egg cases, if you have an infestation. Under magnifying glass, mycorrhizae spores look like uniform little balls, without any sign of pests. You will also see fungal fibres, without any pests. You will never see mealybug eggs without microscopic aid; they are too tiny. You can see the egg cases, though!