It may be a long shot but have you considered that it may be an animal that's causing the mess? We had a lawn that looked v similar to this about 2 years ago and were very puzzled as to what it could be - did a bit of research and discovered that it was the nitrate's in our dog's urine causing the burn. We used a product called Dog Rocks - which filters the excess nitrates from their drinking water, and have a had a lush green lawn ever since! I think you can buy it in most general pet stores. It was a lifesaver for our lawn!

Cindee, Last spring, during a drought, I had severe problems with those huge grasshoppers eating major holes in my amaryllis pods. I have since made a decision to use the tutu's that a daylily friend told me about. They are made of wedding tule (you now, the fine meshed material). I tried the tutu's with my scarlet milkweed this summer. They worked great to let the light in so that the seed pods matured, and the tule prevented the flyaway seeds from escaping. All I did was cut a rectangle large enough to cover the pod and still have excess for a 'skirt'. Then I used those el cheapo christmas bulb hangers (wire) to fasten the tule. That worked great, so I plan to use that with my outside amaryllis pods this year. That way, if I miss a pod, they don't spill all over the place before I find them and the grasshoppers won't be so likely to chow down on them. What do you think?

You've got it mostly figured out. Your genovese and cinnamon basils are annuals--save seed. If your pesto perpetuo is true, it is a perennial and will overwinter in proper conditions--not sure about zone 7, and indoor basil needs lots of light and heat. Mints should be fine. Lav and Rosemary depend on the type you have for hardiness, but are perennial. Lav flowers early summer, with a possible second summer late bloom. You would have seen the flower stalks sticking up even if you missed the flowers. Rosemary tends to bloom only when it wants to, and has to be quite happy to do so. Mine did in Feb while wintering indoors, but it's the first I've had do so. It may or may not be winter hardy in zone 7. If you're going to try in pots, know they get much colder and more exposure than in ground plants. I usually put all my pots in a corner and cover with a bale of straw for insulation. Except last year when I didn't and lost all-- even sage and chives and mint.

Those of you who are afraid of canning shouldn't be afraid. As long as you always follow all the safety rules and do not deviate from official canning recipes (no changing of any ingredient unless the safety-approved recipe lists allowable changes), the food you can will be safe. People who get into trouble with home-canned foods generally have used canning recipes that were not official safety-approved and safety-tested recipes, or they made the error of using a boiling water bath canner instead of a pressure canner or they decided to freelance and add additional items to safety-approved recipes, which then compromises the safety. Certain foods can be canned in a boiling water bath but others MUST always be canned in a pressure canner. Safety-approved, safety-tested recipes are available on the website of the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and also are available on the websites of the companies that make canning supplies. The standard canning book, available at Wal-Mart stores on the canning aisle, is the Ball Blue Book (always use the most up-to-date edition of the BBB because the rules change over time as research indicates changes should be made). Avoid random recipes posted on cooking websites or blogs or even in some magazines unless the recipe can be verified to have come from one of the safe sources. I have seen random canning recipes in some magazine articles that blatantly disobey canning rules. I'm always appalled when I see those and always ask myself "What were they thinking. Inevitably, a correction eventually runs once food preservers see the recipe and contact the magazine to express their displeasure with the publication of an unsafe canning recipe. Once you know and understand all the rules of safe canning, you can tell at a glance if a random canning recipe is safe or not because it will violate the canning rules that you learned. If it isn't a safe recipe, then don't use it. I can around 600-800 jars a year, sharing hundreds of those jars of canned goods with friends and no one (as far as I know) has ever become ill from anything I've canned. I've canned food on my own since the 1980s and canned with my parents as a child in the 1960s and 1970s. The rules we follow when canning foods now are sometimes different than the way our parents or grandparents canned, but that is because more advanced research has shown us how to can more safely. Some practices that were common decades ago no longer are safety-approved in the USA, and you have to change with the times. If you cannot make it to one of Johnny's classes, there are classes offered periodically---often through the Ag Extension Service or sometimes as non-credit continuing ed type classes at colleges and other places. Or, you can learn by watching the videos at the website of the NCHFP. When you have questions you need answered, you can ask the canning experts here at Houzz/Garden Web over on the Harvest Forum. There are many well-experienced food preservers at the Harvest Forum and some of them are Master Food Preservers or are Home Food Preservation instructors who teach canning classes themselves. Canning is a great way to preserve food, but remember that you must have a place to store your home-canned goods and equipment. That can be a big challenge at times. My stuff takes over the pantry and overflows into other rooms of the house. At peak canning time when I am putting up far more food than we can eat on a weekly basis, every bed in our house has plastic storage totes with lids underneath the bed filled with dozens of jars of canned goods. As time goes on, the storage totes are emptied of stored food and then refilled with empty jars awaiting the next canning season.) If there's anything I'd change about our house, I would want a root cellar and a canning pantry solely for all the food that can be root cellared and for all the jars of canned foods. As it is, I have become adept at squeezing home canned foods into every nook and cranny of our house. No closet, cabinet or large drawer is safe when I am tucking jars of canned foods away for storage.