Not hills per se but ridges is the way I was taught. We laid out everything with a hoe, furrows and ridges. Some stuff like beans and corn went into furrows. Our squash, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes all were ridged. Not big ridges mind you like you would for potatoes but basically up one side of the row and down the other pulling dirt with the hoe then leveling it all out. Pop in a hole every 18 or so inches with the hoe drop two seeds and cover. As I get older the more I seem to be reflecting on "that's how it was always done" and I'm appreciating my own father all the more for it. My younguns have never mastered the use of the hoe and it frustrates me that they haven't. I bought a wheel hoe this year and have really enjoyed it but I find it strange to have to swap out implements to do different tasks when in the past just the hoe was needed for everything. BTW, it's rare that I'm never more than a few steps from my hoe as it rides in the back of the truck when I'm not in the garden. It was never explained to me why we did it but I assume it has the do with which plants do better with dry feet and which can tolerate water in the row.

The above-linked University of Nebraska page is a little sketchy: "Crincum" and "Huemanthus" are misspelled: they mean Crinum and Haemanthus. Anthurium spp., Adenium obesum (desert rose), Aglaonema cvv. (Chinese evergreen), and Coffea arabica (coffee plant) aren't on the list at all, despite being reasonably popular houseplants. Adenium is even toxic enough to be dangerous, and they still leave it off the list. Cotyledon spp. are in fact toxic, whatever they tell you. Poinciana gilliesii is called a bird-of-paradise, but it's not the bird-of-paradise people grow indoors as a houseplant. The houseplant is Strelitzia reginae and/or S. nicolai. Is Poinciana toxic? Is Strelitzia? Which one are they talking about? Boston ivy is misidentified (Parthenocissus quinquefolia is Virginia creeper; Boston ivy is Parthenocissus tricuspidata) and not ordinarily grown indoors. Corn plants (Dracaena fragrans) may or may not be toxic to people, but they are to pets, even though they've got them listed as non-toxic. Crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) do not produce "croton oil:" that's a different thing from a different plant (Croton tiglium), which is confusingly also called a croton. Only Codiaeum is used as a houseplant. And those are just the problems between A and C. They don't seem overly concerned with accurate identification, toxicity to pets, distinguishing between houseplants and outdoor plants, or noting that even among plants which are toxic, some are more dangerous than others.

For those who asked, my granite was called "New Golden Beach". After choosing it I googled the name hoping to see images of it used on finished countertops. What I kept getting were pictures of "Golden Beach" which is far more golden and tan than mine. Mine's a cream base with taupe striations and flecks of black. It is much cooler in tone than Golden Beach which to me has a yellowy cast. When I went looking for granite at the huge stone yard outside of Boston that my KD recommended, I was surprised to find very few slabs in white & cream that had muted patterning. They told me that those like mine flew out the door as soon as they got them in. They said it was because most who wanted that look were going with marble or quartzite, of which they had plenty. They tried to persuade me to consider one of those but I said I didn't know anyone personally who'd had a great track record using it the way I knew it would be used in my kitchen. The rep said that was the reason the light granite stones were taken so quickly. Customers like me who wanted the light stone but felt more secure with granite chose them over marble and quartz/quartzite. I selected my stone 2 years ago. Since then I have seen a number of people here install quartzite and/or quartz countertops and give positive reviews about their performance with regard to being stain and heat resistant. I still think granite was the best look for me in this kitchen, and it sure has stood up to all manner of things like lemon juice, red wine, ketchup, blueberry jam, etc, that might have been bad news with other more porous stones and choices. That said, I think there's a lot to choose from other than granite & laminate.

I think one of the problems is you can't trust the 100% cotton label any more. I've used chlorine bleach for years on whites and the only time there has been a problem with something yellowing is when I think they've surreptitiously blended polyester into cotton. Poly is very prone to yellowing when bleached. You know - those t shirts that have a little lycra in them (too stretchy for 100% cotton) or sheets that you can actually get a shock from or see sparks when you raise the top sheet in the dark. 100% cotton doesn't shock or spark, so I know there is unmarked poly in lots of things these days. I have a front loader with a bleach dispenser and it only uses about a tablespoon or two of bleach per load.