Here are two possible substitutes for the crushed granite IâÂÂve found near Northwestern Indiana (but they are probably fairly widespread): Nature Wise Poultry Grit -- Rural King (Niles, MI); $6.49 for 7 lbs (~$1/lb) Insoluble crushed granite. Particulates are white-ish and measure 1/16 -" 3/16 inches so a little smaller than ideal. Also, fairly dusty so they will definitely need to be sifted and/or rinsed. (This is just another brand for the same product as from Manna Pro, I believe.) Akasha Natural Coarse Sand -- LoweâÂÂs (South Bend, IN); $3.94 for 4 lbs (~$1/lb) Particulates are more colorful (orange-pink to brown-black with some white) and measure about 1/8 -" ü inches so a little bigger than ideal. It looks pretty clean and consistent in size so IâÂÂd say it is probably good to go without sifting. At $1/lb, they're both fairly pricey in the long run (think $50 to match the same amount of turface from John Deere at ~$20/50lb bag). IâÂÂm only planning a small batch for now to experiment with so I was ok paying a bit more. IâÂÂm definitely leaning toward the sand for the colors, cleanliness, size, and consistency. I hope that since LoweâÂÂs and Rural King are pretty widespread this may help people who are also in the market for making more small scale batches of the mix. Cheers, Nathan

I live in the northwestern corner of CT and had a fair amount of trouble with vine borers and squash bugs last year with my zucchini plants. But this year the infestation of brown marmorated stink bugs and squash bugs has been absolutely discouraging. I am a "newbie" when it comes to organic gardening, so having an infestation like this felt really devistating. Until reading about all the problems with stink bugs that were reported on this forum, I thought I was alone and doing something terribly wrong! They started on my zucchini plants and then seemed to "overnight" take over the pumpkin patch, gourds, tomatoes, cukes, and finally (although maybe it was something else)the eggplants. The stink bugs and squash bugs lived in harmony with Colorado potatoe beetles, all sharing the fruits of my labor! When the hurricaine came through last week, I decided not to continue trying to eradicate them, but to just pull everything out and start fresh next year. Too bad I didn't see this forum earlier, I don't think I have enough left to create a trap crop. One thing that seemed to work, although it was very short lived, was a mixture of 1 gallon of water, 2 Tbsp dish washing liquid and 2 tsp peppermint oil. This killed them on contact, but I imagine it would need to be applied on a reular basis, and I don't know how good it is to use the dish soap repeatedly. Thanks everyone, for the input and ideas. I'll make notes of what seems to work for others.

If you are serious and you want to go "wholesale", try these companies for seed starting supplies. Some deal with smaller companies, some not: Fred C. Gloeckner Company, Inc. 600 Mamaroneck Avenue Harrison, NY 10528 G.S. Grimes Seeds P.O. Box 640 Concord, OH 44077 0640 Park Seed Wholesale Cokesbury Road Greenwood, SC 29647 VaughanÂs Seed Co. 5300 Katrine Avenue Downers Grove, IL 60515 A.H. Hummert Seed Co. 2746 Chouteau Ave. St. Louis, Missouri 63103 Griffin Greenhouse & Nursery Supplies, Inc. 1619 Main Street Tewksbury, MA 01876 Tel: (978) 851-4346 Fax: (978) 851-0012 NURSERY SUPPLIES, INC. E-mail: sales@nurserysupplies.com Phone 1: 1-800-523-8972 (Eastern Sales) Phone 2: 1-800-367-7687 (Western Sales) 1415 Orchard Drive, Chambersburg, PA 17201 534 W. Struck Avenue, Orange, CA 92867 2515 N.E. Orchard Avenue, McMinnville, OR 97128 2050 Avenue A, Kissimmee, FL 34758 HARRIS SEEDS/GARDEN TRENDS INC. P.o. Box 24966 Rochester, NY 14624-0966 Phone: 585/295-3600 Fax: 585/295-3609 GEOSEED 121 Gary Road Hodges, SC 29653 Phone: 864/227-5117 Fax: 864/227-5108 Henry F. Michell Company PO Box 60160 2225 W Church Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-0160 (800)-422-4678 Grimes Seeds 11335 Concord-Hambden Road Painesville, Ohio 44077 1-800-241-SEED (7333) 1-440-352-1800 (fax) Joe

Buyorsell, I just looked at your location. I think some different ideas would be helpful. We sponsored 9 horse shows a year for about 20 years. Some were local 4-H shows, some were larger shows for our saddle club, and one for a regional (Northeast Kansas) circuit. Over time our shows became to be regarded by trainers and other folks as a stepping stone process by which advancement in riding ability could be guaged. If the person placed well in the 4-H sponsored shows(the show classes were basically the same in all three types of shows---but the level of expertise increased) they would then attend our club sponsored shows. Doing well th=ere indicated an advance ment to the circuit shows was the next step. From the circuit shows, people often advanced to AQHA show---the big time. We had a rather loyal following who attended all the shows---for fun, companionship and practice. Trainers loved our shows for training young horses---our arena was 300 feet long and 120 feet wide. Now, as to clothing. It depends on the class and how the rider wants to dress. A simple long sleeved western shirt, tie, western hat, jeans, and boots will be just fine for Horsemanship classes when you want to find out how well you ride. Reason for that is simple---a judge has seen hundreds or thousands of riders dressed in fancy clothes and plain clothes---and should be looking at the judging points and not the garb of the rider. A good rider in plain clothes will be much more noticeable than an average rider in fancy clothes. Example---one of our sons was required to enter a Horsemanship class he did not like. He did not do his best riding and the judge chewed him out(This was a schooling show and we asked our judges to comment on how the riders did so they had some good feedback). That judge had a particular riding style he wanted to see---so when our son went into the next class, he rode with that riding style on the side of his body facing the judge---meaning he changed sides with the ring direction. He placed in that class and got a kudo from the judge.(Our sons were quite experienced showmen by then, however) As you get experience, you will see what the local trends are and it will be easier to 'fit in'. Oh, one more story. We put on a circuit show----our shows often started at 8AM and did not end until 8PM---and had a fellow show up to show in a Pleasure Class.(80% point on the horse) Circuit members often has $20,000 horses, $5,000 saddles, and dressed in chaps and vests along with the shirts and such. This fellow had well used chaps, a well maintained by used saddle, scuffed boots, a plain Western shirt and hat. He won the class( about 30 horses in that class, as I recall)---and almost every circuit member was impressed with him and the horse. So, learn what you need to know to ride well and don't worry about clothes yet.