Personally, I'd like to see a little bit of soil in there. Soil should be a matrix - a mix of different materials and different particle sizes. Don't get me wrong - many plants will grow just great in a pure compost mix - pretty much any larger plants and those that you transplant in there will do very well. Potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, etc. All good. Where you'll start to run into problems though is with smaller seedlings such as onions and plants that need to be direct-seeded (such as carrots). The problem is that pure organic matter can tend to dry out in the sun - not the best scenario for small-seeded plants. It's somewhat of a paradox because on one hand organic matter holds moisture when it's present in the soil. On the other hand, too much organic matter at the surface of the soil can wick away moisture. Can you mix some of the native soil from the bottom of the beds in with the compost/manure? -Diggity Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Imperative blog

It is unlikely that you will find a bargain in Grove. LOL Of course, I'm not sure how anyone could make any money farming or gardening in this weather. My garden is just pathetic this year. My peppers look great but everything else is suffering. The only thing I picked today was tomatoes and I picked them about 8 this morning. We did have a big chef salad for lunch that had tomato, pepper and onion from the garden but I couldn't even find a cucumber this morning. Of course it was supplemented from the grocery store with lettuce, black olives, ham and cheese, and some home grown boiled eggs. My tomato production is way down, and while I am getting all we can eat, I have not canned anything. It is just as well because I don't need anything else to overheat my house. I planted okra 4 times this year and got one plant each from the third and fourth planting. The last one is still tiny and the other still isn't producing. With the extreme temperture, I suppose we should be glad to have something to go on the table. We made a little road trip up into Missouri the other day and bought gasoline in Joplin as we came through both times. We pulled up beside a pickup that had about 10 gas cans sitting on, or near, the tailgate and he was filling them all. We had bought some hamburgers and my DH hadn't eaten his, so I walked around the car to the driver's side so I could drive and he could eat as we traveled. As I got near this guys truck I laughing made a comment about how much gas he was buying. He said, "I'm from Grove, so I drove up here to buy gas." I said, "So are we." He pointed to another man that was down on the other end filling up cans, and said, "He's from Grove too." Now that sounds bad for Grove, but the difference in gasoline cost that day was 30 cents a gallon. I wouldn't even try to guess what it would be to fill up a boat on the water, but you can bet it would be much higher. We just pull our jet skiis to town and fill them up when we want to use them, but we haven't been on the lake this year and probably will not be until more rain falls. I'm not anxious to get in the water yet. The moral of this story is, 'Never try to find a bargain in Grove'. (grin) There has been a lady with a produce stand on Sundays, and I can see cantaloupe and tomatoes as I pass but I don't know what else she has. Take Hwy 10 east out of town, and she has a small stand on the north side of the road just before the road turns north to Joplin. One day her sign also said she had Arkansas peaches.

Purging doesn't work too well, Luvs. Not with the Enablers here to help replace all the stuff that goes. LOL But letting go of things you don't 'love', so you can buy new things you do love, is a good idea. ;o) I don't want to say I actually collect S&P sets, I really don't in the true sense. And you know how many collections I've got without adding another one. However if I can combine things, that is my excuse. I only have a few Xmas ones, but have quite a lot of turkeys. Too bad I don't entertain and actually USE them. But I am happy just displaying with my other decor. I hopefully won't buy any more Halloween ones, LOL. But that seller's site has sooooo many neat ones, I can sure see why folks enjoy collecting S&Ps. Plus they are small and don't take up much room! I see lots antiquing, but manage not to buy any. Wow, some self-control, how's that for a shock! hugs, Karen

I'm sorry to hear about that, bulldinkie, but I agree with bcskye too about "keeping your eye on the prize" -- very few things are more precious than good health (maybe nothing). Maybe you can just chew the food very long and thoroughly and really savor it. I think this is what we're supposed to do anyway (not that I do!) It will also digest faster so that you can eat more food!