Aliska We grow in containers because even after we augment our soil for years it looks like this: It doesn't matter how much organic matter we put in. All it takes is a few gullywashers a year and the compost washes down the hill and we are back to trying to garden in rocks and coal. The only way to hold organic matter in the soil here is to augment very heavily and have a ton of perennial plants with huge mats of roots to help anchor it. So veg went to containers and in-ground growing is mainly used for hardy perennial flowers. To fill the containers, we have a great compost heap and we spend as much time growing soil as we do growing our plants. Here's two of our compost heaps in 2008 - that's after all the buckets were filled: Since then we've stepped up our composting a lot. We actually harvest our forest floors now. Two reasons for that. One is to feed the compost heap with the organic matter from the forest floor and from our annual leaf harvest. The second is to expose the soil on the forest floor so we can seed into it and grow more stuff for the animals to eat. This is our star compost producer. She's good for about 2 five gallon buckets of collectibles each day. (That's just the black gold she leaves in the back yards closest to the compost heap. She also leaves plenty out in the hills.) Connie the queen of compost: As for intermediate transplanting. Part of it is that potting up size by size is good for the plants. Part of it is that while potting up season is in full swing, we have to spend to spend day after day sieving compost and blending it with a little perlite. It takes time to get enough compost to fill close to 500 buckets. We use fresh compost in the buckets each year. That decreases disease risk for the plants and lets us plant them in soil that is so nutrient rich that we never use fertilizer. At the end of the growing season the compost from the buckets gets put in my giant flower gardens. The reason we have so many plants is that we grow most of our own food. Gardening isn't a hobby for us - it's dinner! We are both vegetarian so don't worry - cute Connie and the goats are working animals (landscaping crew and compost makers), not future meals. As we've transitioned to doing all of our food growing in containers, we've seen other gardeners in the area do the same. We get used buckets from our friendly local scrapyard dealer. He's a gardener who's now using more containers and he tells his other gardening customers about it. It's a lot of work, but it's usually better than fighting Appalachian hill soil. It also lets us control the soil moisture - not an easy thing to do if you are ground growing and the weather is cycles of drought and flood. We also use tire gardens for some of our growing: Most of the photos have additional comments with them. Click on any of them to see a larger image and the comments. Lynda

Reposted to show photos: I have a large Colocasia Tea Cups which I would like to divide before the winter (I live in zone 7b). See photo.. http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o4/psc2007/COLOCASIA%20TEA%20CUPS/DSC06470.jpg I noticed the plant has several runners like this- http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o4/psc2007/COLOCASIA%20TEA%20CUPS/DSC06466.jpg Since I do not want to leave it where it is over the winter I would like to divide it and repot the divisions and keep them in my greenhouse (min temp 40 degrees) over the winter. I'm guessing that the best way to do this is to dig up the entire plant then remove the runners. The remaining plant I could trim back and plant in a bigger pot. I would appreciate any info on what the best way to divide this fantastic plant is. Thanks, Pete

Pics? There is a lot of moisture in new construction, and what you are describing is beyond "normal" high moisture levels even for that. Engineered would have weathered the moisture conditions much better and is the product of choice for the MidSouth climate conditions. It's possible that the wood could lay down and be flat, but it won't occur overnight. It will take a couple of months of drying out with the AC on and dehumidifiers running to make that happen. One of the first things I'd want to check is the subflooring and floor insulation's appearance from the crawlspace. That will tell you a whole lot right there. With the heat and humidity and the extra water you're dealing with, I wouldn't be surprised to see that compromised with mold. If that's the case, all bets are off. I'd call in a restoration contractor who was used to dealing with flood remediation to get an opinion on the damage caused by your builder's negligence in controlling the site's water flow.

GO Active Living makes double-walled insulated beverage holders for hot and for cold drinks. You can buy direct from their website (linked) or from Amazon, an authorized reseller. If you go to the website and fill in the form to get emails from them, they'll send you an e-mail that will give you 50% off on your purchase. We have several of the 24-ounce and 32-ounce beverage holders and they are GREAT at keeping cold drinks cold. Haven't tried the ones intended for hot drinks yet. The 24-ounce and 32-ounce holders for cold drinks will also keep hot drinks piping hot -- it's just that they don't recommend sipping the hot drinks through the built-in straw because you'd be more likely to burn your mouth/tongue.