Hi --I know what you mean. I just bought some sturdy plastic shelves about 6' high and store everything on there--The key is going through at least once a year and organizing everything. I keep small items like epsom salts, etc. in glass jars with lids and everthing else in clear plastic containers so i can see what's in it. You can find these at any big box store. The key is being able to look up at the shelves and see everything without diggin in it. I also stapled chicken wire to the ceiling of my garage out of the walkways and use this to hang stuff with S hooks I bought at the hardware store, or just bent clothes hanger wire will work. Good luck.

I cheat! I only container garden, and, since my backyard is 16' X 16', when using them and I'm thinking, I put them on our picnic table in the middle of the yard. (No further then 4 feet from where I am, since I have containers in front of containers, or really big containers.) When I'm not thinking, I leave them a foot from where I was and have to search for them the next moment I need them. LOL Now, being a container gardener, my tools are gloves, scissors, two trowels (one for digging into the soil and the other one for digging a thin hole to put a plant in), a cultivar, (I always call them little hand rakes, but wasn't sure anyone else would understand my terminalogy! LOL) and a small pruner. (Will need a bigger one next year, when my little one foot fig tree needs to be reshaped.) A couple of years ago, I bought a homemade wooden toolbox to grow plants in, but it's become my toolbox now. Besides the regular tools, I carry an assortment of pipe cleaners to tie up plants, hopefully in the same colors as the flowers or fruits, although those red ones in my tomatoes keep making me think there are rip tomatoes in there. LOL I also carry a pair of scissors and string, just in case the latest storm has flattened my tomatoes or phlox. Now, at the moment, I keep them in a child's wooden toy box, after spending last winter rubbing several layers of wax on and in it, but it just isn't made for outdoor use, so I don't know if it will even last through this winter. I do suggest container gardening for those of us, whose disabilities limit movement, since containers cut down on the amount of weeding needed, can be moved about, so can be closer to get to and pushed in the back when the plants in them have finished their flowering, and, thankfully not as much leaning over for watering or deadheading as growing in the ground. If you just can't let go of ground gardening, hubby just found a "vertical storage shed" from Tupperware online. Looks like a great place to store soil ammendments, containers, and small tools without hogging space. As for traveling with your tools in a plastic bag, how about considering one of those five gallon painter's buckets? (The link below shows some I bought specifically for gardening, but you can buy the same kind at Home DePots or Lowe's. The best picture is midway down on the first column of pictures, abnd shows mint in with tomatoes.) They come with lids, and you can actually buy tool belts that wrap around them! When you aren't gardening, just put the belt in the bucket and put the lid back on. Chances are good, no one will steal it, simply because they are cheap, and too easy to get for free already. LOL Of course, my entire gardening experience with front yard gardening consist of two huge planters on either end of my sidewalk. The sidewalk IS my front yard -- at least the sidewalk next to my outbound steps. Gotta tell ya! We didn't move into this house when we were disabled, but, man, it is the perfect house for someone, who is both disabled and addicted to gardening. LOL Here is a link that might be useful: Our Garden Gems

Kathy, I can't begin to tell you how much we have in common! This is my second ground-up build; the first time, my contractor was a very nice guy, but had a major medical event w/his son and basically checked out on me. Luckily I am in a small town where you get to know the guys who have the best reputations in their respective fields, so I had a good relationship already w/my carpenter and my painter, and together they literally helped me finish my house. This time, I was very excited about hiring a real builder, because the stress and sheer time involved in research ( I LIVED on these forums!), purchasing, etc. last time was almost too much. Our GC is a friend, but I also respect his approach to construction ... case in point: most builders in our area like to put on a show of being the boss and rarely want to get their hands dirty; my GC is very hands-on, willing to pick up tools or even a push broom, and I love him for it. After what I've read, I'm very curious about your financial agreement w/this guy. Some builders around here are cost plus, some are flat fee (yes, one guy will build your house for $10K, no matter the size or style, but gets kickbacks from his subs - and squeezes in a bunch of houses in a year), and I'm sure there are other arrangements. We signed a contract w/our builder: after going over the plans, we talked about the level of quality we would want, and he helped us put together a rough budget. After showing us what he thought he could build our house for, we agreed on a flat fee - which came to a little less than 10% of the projected cost. If (when) we went over that number, it would be because of decisions I made and he didn't plan to make money on those. And if those decisions cost me a lot of time and research, that was my choice. I could invest time and save money in the areas I chose, or I could leave decisions and purchasing in his hands and pay the bills when he brought me receipts. We made sure he understood that I'm a very involved homeowner, but I still don't think he'd worked w/anyone who is quite as aggressive as I am about looking for online prices, and buying the things that would save me money in the end. For instance: we wanted the Kohler in-ceiling square shower fixture - the one w/four separate squares of 54 holes? Upon hearing that, he said, "I'll check w/Ardmore Plumbing Supply - they'll probably have to order it, so I'll get an estimated date if you want to start picking out trim for your master shower." Of course, I asked him to get me their price before he ordered through them. I knew I could get the shower for about $460 online; the local store wanted $700+ for the same. Our builder was genuinely surprised when I told him the difference and understood completely why I wanted to order it myself. That Kohler purchase set the tone for the rest of our build so far. He has been great about keeping me abreast of what kinds of things will be needed and when: when the time came to buy lighting, it never occurred to either of us that my desire to go online for great lighting deals should mean it was then my responsibility to buy ALL the lighting - recessed cans/shower lights/fluorescents (sp?) for closets, etc. There aren't many style choices to be made on those pieces of lighting, so he thoughtfully made me a list of lighting he thought I'd want to purchase. I went to Lumens.com - since they don't charge sales tax or shipping charges - and ordered all my bath vanity lighting and ceiling fans while he handled the rest. We found a way to work together that worked for us; as the GC, he took full responsibility for all hiring, scheduling, coordination of subs, measuring and purchasing anything that I didn't speak up to say, "I want to buy this myself." He and his tile guy got a tape, a pad and a pencil, and measured everything for wood flooring and tile - then let me tell him that I'd be getting all the tile, but he should feel free to order the wood flooring from the guy who would be laying it. As on any other project, his first reponsibility is staying on top of the zillion things that have to come together on any construction project. In my opinion, purchasing "visible items", as you said, is a small job compared to what a true GC does. VERY long story short: your GC probably is a nice guy, but he's gotten very comfortable doing things a certain way. An involved homeowner can sometimes be a pain in the *ss, I'm sure, and I can only imagine how much easier it is to work for someone who hands over plans/materials requirements/inspirational photos, and then comes back to the finished product to write checks. But based on my experience, a Contractor who wants to do a quality job and leave a satisfied customer behind is willing to adapt to the needs of that customer, while still offering as much support as possible in the areas that CLEARLY fall under his jurisdiction. Sounds like you need to have a "come to Jesus meeting", as we say here, w/your husband and GC where you state what you plan to do in the process of your reno and what you expect out of your Contractor. If that meeting ends on a positive note, good for you. If not, then - as has already been said - how fortunate you found out now that he isn't a good fit! I wish you all the luck in the world.

Interesting discussion...I use most of the fore mentioned tools however a bit differently than most of you. The hand fork (cultivator tool) is a must for any vermiculturist, and you need not worry about harming the worms...they are tough enough to withstand all sorts of rough treatment, and believe me I've done them all in the past 50 plus years. I use a glass bowl blender to feed worms in my four indoor plastic bins, and trench alternating sides of the bins when feeding. The fork is used to incorporate peat moss, coffee grounds and the blended peelings, etc. Although worms do not like to be bothered, I do a thorough mixing of one side of each bin when feeding leaving a couple of inches on the bottom undisturbed. The bottom couple of inches is a good place to put some corn cobs which the worms really like for depositing their eggs. The kitty litter scoop and a plastic window scraper are used to remove the top layer of "spent media" as I prefer to call it. By using a florescent light fixture above my four indoor bins I get a half inch layer of this ready made germination or potting mix each time I feed my worms. This may not work for some of you since your media may be a lot more moist than mine. Worm activity on the sides of the bin or top cover (which I don't use) would negate this method of removal of the the spent media. I replace the removed, spent media, with soaked peat moss using the rubber kitchen gloves and a six inch aquarium net to ring out as much of the acetic water as possible before adding to the bins. Using a five gallon pail to soak your media weather peat moss, choir, cardboard, newspaper, etc., helps remove some of the impurities which your worms will appreciate, and it will allow you to control the correct amount of moisture content for mixing in with your vermicomposting media. I use a 1/4 mesh framed screen to grate my spent media, and a larger version for my six sunken raised beds which also serve as outdoor vermicomposting in the fall and winter months. Grating this material makes it really easy to work with when filling cow pots for garden seedlings, or larger potted plants like peppers. I was vermiculturing well before plastic tubs came along and ultimately switched to vermicomposting for gardening, The 18 gallon RubberMaid tubs (without holes drilled in them) are now by far my favorite means of indoor vermicomposting. I know many of you have the fancier versions which produce pure castings in a shorter amount of time than my methods, and there never seems to be enough of this material for all the things we like to plant. I have about 7,500 sq ft of garden area and I go through a lot of vermicompost each year, so I use the simplest and least expensive means and methods possible for my gardening operations. As a side note thirstypotato, I use a great deal if my outdoor vemicompost (aged cow or horse manure, grass clippings, ground cardboard, etc.) when planting my seed potatoes. I have six-60 ft rows for potatoes which are planted in trenches dug with a Mantis tiller and plow attachment. After trenching I use a post hole digger to make holes about a foot apart in the bottom of the trench where the seed potatoes are deposited. Then I mix some of the top soil with the outdoor vermicompost and back fill the trenches. I also dig 18 inch deep and wide holes for squash, cucumbers, pumpkin, and tomato transplants using the same composition for backfilling these holes. So as you can see there is never enough of this wonderful material to go around. But we can all thank our worms for making vermicomposting 17 times faster, and 4 to 5 times richer than just plain composting.