Dish soap - lemon smelling ones are nice, but I don'thave a favorite brand. Arm& Hammer Laundry det. either powder, or if the liquids are on sale, the unscented! (yes!) and/or the one with non-chlorine bleach. Cling wrap - saran if really necessary or go with some other method! Cleaner - Ajax or Comet, or if on delicate surface - the Scrubbin' bubbles stuff. I don't want to use the aerosol can, but the product usually works on scum that other products don't budge. Or, use full strength vinegar. Someone did a study that showed vinegar killed 99% of germs just like a lysol type product. We make pancakes from scratch...also waffles until the darn waffle iron malfunctioned. Anyway! about that maple syrup. I like to trade genuine amber Massachusetts maple syrup for orchids :-) So, next March make me an offer of some fabulous orchid and I'll send you a pint. :-) Substitute maple syrup for molasses in a ginger bread recipe, and you'll have a fabulous treat. Yarn: Lion brand "Homespun" is what I'm using now to make ultr-large scarves. Knits up very soft and fluffy and somewhat springy, so when you wrap one of the scarves around your head twice, it feels good and does not unwrap. (It's wicked cold here already!) Merry merry... Maryanne in below zero Massachusetts

Ya, but it's more fun! I guess that my main arguement about that would be that first- composting is aimed at decomposition of OM. Cultivating fungi in the soil is aimed at a variety of other goals which do include use of nutrient in OM, but also include water retention (for the sake of water retention rather than continuing decomp alone), mining minerals from incorporated soil (a much different process than decomp of OM), establishment of symbiotic relationship with plants, and a number of other things that we're still just discovering. While I agree that tilling is not a "nuclear option" that ultimately destroys all fungi never to be seen again, I also think that tilling is not exactly conducive to establishing the myc fungi necessary. An example- I have clover and other more interesting legumes growing in my yard. The myc fungi have formed strong associations with the roots of these plants. This makes these fungi stronger and dominant. Tilling in certain other OM, as well as the clover etc. would create an opportunity for bacterial domination as well as for other fungi to get a foothold. I like MY myc fungi. Bacteria and fungi are thought to impact the pH level of the soil very differently. Not only do I want to manage a fungal dominant soil, but I have specific fungal species that took years to really flourish.

Carmen, i bought some of that last fall and hung it up around the perimeter of my back yard in stocking pouches. All winter, i only seen two deer pass thru my backyard once. I have seen them in the perimeter, and severe signs in my front yard. After seeing them the one time, I figured it was too good to be true.I put the cayenne pepper on my tulips early and got to see them bloom for the first time in years.now, after thinking about it when I read your post, i am not sure if their staying away from my plants in the back is in part from milorganite or just the cayenne. I do know last yr, the hot mix was the ONLY thing I used with success. tammy

Hmm, I miss a day or two, I miss a LOT here, ladies! I've been running a lot, distracted, and just plain scatterbrained. Must be spring fever (at least, I'd rather blame that than a mid-life crisis, lol!). I have most of Debbya's box ready to go - I just want to do one more thing, then send it on its way. It's been fun learning about your names and their history. My first name has NOTHING to do with my family heritage - my parents just liked it. My middle name, Marie, is for my mother, Mary. My daughter's first name is Juliana, for the medieval Christian mystic Juliana of Norwich. Her middle name is Pearl, for my grandmother, who died years ago. Our son's name is Ian (Scottish for John - his grandfather, great uncle, and uncle-in-law are all John/Jon, and his father is Sean, the Irish form of John). His middle name is Joseph, for one of my favorite men in the Bible. Oh, how we debated about Ian's name! He's our first, and my mother was pestering us mightily about what names we were considering. So, we had an ugly name contest, and kept telling her all sorts of outrageous choices. Keep in mind, our last name is RUDD. So, Dudley Bud Rudd, Elmer Rudd, Evan Rudd (think Evinrude motors), Vladimir Rudd (just because), etc. etc. AND, we couldn't use any names that started with C or K, because that would make his abbreviated name C. Rudd. CRUD. That cancelled out all sorts of names we happened to like, for both kids, lol! My favorite outdoors tool is definitely bypass pruning shears. Indoors, I have to say that I really MISS my dustbuster. It recently croaked after years of faithful service, and NOW I realize just how much I used it to clean up after the kids, birds, and cats. LOLOL about the moon story! Our son stayed up late to watch part of the eclipse, and really thought it was cool. Laurel