I'm not saying either of your ginger varieties are edible, but IF one of them were, it's probably the first one that smells like Pinesol. I would guess it smells and tastes that way because of the age of the rhizome. (What we refer to as ginger "root" is actually the rhizome of the plant.) There are two different schools of thought. Some homegrowers collect rhizomes before the plants flower, at about 8-9 months old at the latest, but sometimes you can harvest as early as 4 months. Others say to harvest once all the growth has died back for the winter. It'll look like your plant is dead, but really it's dormant. The roots are still alive and that is what counts. Dig up the plant and you will see stringy things coming off the bottom of the bulbous part - those are the actual roots. Anyways, while it's dug up, harvest some of the rhizome and pick a healthy-looking part with lots of eyes to replant - it'll sprout in spring so you keep your ginger stock going. Try this with the pinesol variety and see if your rhizomes come out a little more like traditional ginger. One thing to remember is that homemade/grown things always taste a little different than store-bought ones. To sprout storebought ginger, soak it overnight in water. This helps remove any growth inhibitors that may have been sprayed - and yes, even organic ginger can be sprayed with organic growth inhibitors! "Organic" simply means the compound is found naturally, not that it isn't applied and isn't harmful to your health. After soaking overnight, plant part (or all) of the rhizome in a bit of really nutritious soil - preferably loaded with compost. You want to give these babies as many nutrients as possible. The important part is to make sure the section you plant has at least 2 eyes. They look similar to eyes on a potato. Those are where the growth sprouts from. It sounds like past that, you don't have an issue getting the plant to grow. Even though in its native regions, ginger is an evergreen, in northern climates, it is a perennial, so it dies back in the winter and respouts in the spring without you doing anything. Do NOT water it once it has gone dormant or the rhizomes may rot in the soil and you won't get new shoots come warmer weather. I would assume those that claim their ginger died in winter actually just had dormant ginger and would have seen new growth in the spring. Hope this helps!

I recall a thread here, maybe a year ago, close to this topic. My takeaway then was: the poster did a pretty poor job of negotiating and decision-making in this area. It might be new for some (never hired or fired an employee, wasn't clear about expectations and price, etc.) and there's always an unknown variable even if the person cleans all your friend's homes. I think the benefit of a chain like Merry Maids is some (perceived) accountability but that means nothing if they're terrible. I've found that personal recommendations and long-standing local companies, at least, offer the most fair shot. I would totally provide the potential cleaner with the list and ask how much it will be. If it's not reasonable to you, don't hire them or cut your list. This is a human being who deserves good, kind communication (you benefit from it more actually) but is also an employee who can be fired at-will. There are a ton of options out there. GW is almost all posts inquiring about a product or service instead of buying blindly. Why would you hire someone to clean your house without doing the same? I've had the same lady cleaning my apt for over 10 years. It's a pretty simple business to start, which is why she did it while she pursued citizenship. (We even went to her oath ceremony.) After using a few friend's cleaners at my weekend house for six months, I ended up going with a local service who manage the people and give me single contact for all my questions. It's worked out great, but costs about 15% more. It took a while to find someone I liked, but I wouldn't settle for less than what I want. It seems that people do for some reason.

onlygirlsmom, have you dried the shirts in a dryer with the deodorant odor still in them? If so, the dryer heat may have 'baked' it in, making it very difficult to remove. If a shirt comes out of the wash still odorous, I would recommend hanging it to dry on a plastic hanger. It could be even more effective to hang it to dry outside in the fresh air, weather permitting. Then you can attack the odor when it's washed again without the odor having been 'baked' in. Heloise recommends pouring ammonia on the shirts' underarms, then letting them dry before washing. The main thing that has helped me when I've washed stinky clothes for guys has been to soak them in the washer in the hottest water appropriate for the fabric, along with the regular dosage of detergent plus a heaping cup of baking soda (added to the washer drum before adding laundry). I've ordinarily soaked them overnight by pausing the washer, then re-starting the washer to finish the wash cycle the next day. Using white vinegar for fabric softener seems to help, too.

Ok...I think I've made a decision - sort of. I didn't want to do the entire room in green and considered the turquoise as in the inspiration photo but the family room just a short hop away is already in 2 tones of turquoise (BM Blue Seafoam & Opal Essence). I love the idea that dianalo gave: green and navy. We have a lot of NY Yankees collectibles so wasn't quite sure how I was going to feature all that against apple green walls. I'm going to do 3 walls in a green and 1 wall in navy. Of course, I haven't decided on a green yet (may try it at 1/2 strength - will have to ask the guys at BM) nor a blue. I have a sample of BM Midnight Navy but I think it's just too dark for his room. He really loves that apple green so I may just bite my tongue & paint as you did, cyn. :) BTW - he was thrilled when I showed him the map photo this morning when he woke up. He ran into the master bedroom & I heard him yell, "Daddy! Wake up! I'm going to have a green room with a big map!". He was not this enthusiastic when I showed him this lovely sports-themed room: So, green it is. Thank you for the link to the "Shrek green" thread - enjoyed reading it & of course, it gave me other colors to look at this week. Will post back when I finally make a decision and actually move on it! -B