T...the issue with most experts here is drainage. Many (most) of the store bought mixes are organic that have small particles that clog/waterlog. You can grow in your Miracle gro and have success. However, read past posts here and do it differently in the future. I have been accumulating ingredients for my 1-1-1 and 5-1-1 mixes. There is a lot to learn and differing opinions here.

If you have lots of worms in your soil, it sounds like you already have some pretty good soil. Guess that doesn't help a whole lot if you need more to fill raised beds, though! Whenever you're putting a different soil on top of an already existing layer it's a really good idea to mix the two soils together fairly well where they meet. So I'd recommend putting 6-8" of the new soil where it's gonna go, then till or dig the new stuff into the old stuff, and then add the rest of the new on top of the mixed layer. That should prevent any sort of problems with water transfer between the new and the old. If your current soil really does have lots of organic matter and worms, it's possible you wouldn't even need to do that, but better safe than sorry! No fear on getting paranoid! Just check out the answers you get here and then pick the one or ones you like the best for yourself. The best way to garden is YOUR way! And the only way to figure that out is trial and error, which we all do---over and over and over....... ;-) Skybird P.S. If you get a chance, head on over to the Who's Here in 2014 thread and introduce yourself a little more. P.P.S. If you do get around to heading over to Timberline, you might want to take a zipper baggie of your current soil with you to see if you can get a general opinion on its quality.

Limestone in clay. I'm mostly concerned about thousands of small rocks, but there may be solid limestone underneath it all -- dunno yet! And yes, I already have many flower bed borders planned. ;-) BUT -- I'm afraid of breaking tiller tines if I till the rock up, and even if I don't break the tines I'm afraid I'll till up more rocks than I really want to know about. ;-) I dunno whether it's better to leave well enough alone and plant in the rocks, give up altogether, or what. Katie -- good idea about the neighbor kids! There are three kids who already get paid to help the current owners with their animals, and they might be interested in some extra dough. I've got a whole web page of pics of the new place. See the link below. :-) Just click on each small pic to see a larger version of the pic. And I dare you to try counting all the rocks! Oh, and the pic where you see a "concrete slab" with a chimenea on top -- that "concrete" is actually a limestone ledge! Oh, and another very interesting thing: this property is on Spring Creek Road, close to Spring Creek (logically enough). And guess what -- there's actually an endangered plant called the Spring creek bladderwort, which grows only in the Spring Creek watershed. I can't wait to find out if it grows on my property! Here is a link that might be useful: Spring Creek pics

I'm pretty sure mockingbirds steal other bird's nests. That's why they have so many bird calls, to lure the songbirds from their nests. That's also why you hear them less after breeding season. OTOH, we just noticed that the previous owner put in those spikey things to prevent birds from nesting..............there's a nest right in the middle of the spikes! LOL