Thanks Dave. Woods Feed Store in Oak Ridge (link below) had 50# bags of alfalfa pellets for $16.50. They carried a good number of items that'd be useful, and also happened to have a wide variety of organic and high-end pet food and treats. Good place to know about! Here is a link that might be useful: Woods Feed Store in The Woodlands

Big box stores sell bat houses for backyards. They are with the birdhouses. I saw some at Lowes here in Florida not too long ago, and they have them listed online too. Jeep Good luck with going organic. I have gone mostly organic. Miracle grow for containers is pretty much it for chemicals. I use scrounged leaves for organic matter for the lawn and garden beds, and new this year, alfalfa pellets for lawn/shrub fertilizer (switched after three years of milorganite which was a replacement for years of chemical fertilizer). Going orgaqnic for the lawn has been the greatest. The lawn looks better each year. My success in the vegetable garden is hit or miss. Going organic has made little difference for me. Something does great every year, while other things don't. Weather, watering habits, plant location, etc. all have an affect, and I am learning bit by bit. Luckily I know where the grocery store is, so I garden for the experience, not survival. I hope that I can become a master organic gardener in time, but until then, I can be happy knowing that I am dong less damage to the environment while learning. Over the last four years, I have not bought and used 200 lbs of chemical fertilizer for the lawn! Yay! Think of the pallets and pallets of chemical fertilizer in the big box stores. ALL of it is going straight into the ground. Soon. As a matter of fact, every single chemical concoction on the garden center shelves in every big box store in this counrty will end up out of its packaging and into our environment this year. And then the shelves will be restocked to do it again. Everything you don't buy is something that will not have to be restocked. Having faith and taking a chance is hard to do. Nature works. I did a bunch of reading, got excited about the possibilities and did it. I get about the same results (slightly better) while buying almost nothing in the way of chemicals. I am very happy with the results of my going towards organic.

ginnyginny, Too much nitrogen produces a lot of top growth, but the root system doesn't keep up it it and you get sickly plants in the end. For seedlings, I would lightly foliar feed with fish emulsion fertilizer at half strength, and pour a little around the roots. To answer you question, some organic fertelizers are slow acting and others are fast. Blood meal or feather meal, for instance, are quick acting nitrogen sources. It all depends on what you are using and what you are using it for. Ron The Garden Guy http://www.TheGardenGuy.org Informative articles, ongoing garden journal and interactibe message boards - All Free!

If money is a consideration, find the Organic Lawn Care FAQ on the Organic Gardening forum here at GW. Read up on the modern organic way to handle lawns. That was written back when corn was $3 for 50 pounds. Today it is more like $20 for the same bag. I'd go with alfalfa today. And don't be shy with it. The more you use the better your lawn will become and faster. The plain brown bags from the feed store will cost about 1/6 what the Scott's or Ringers will cost.