After reading several posts, I just skimmed the last ones so I might be repeating something here: Allergies aren't corrected through increased immunity. Allergies ARE increased immunity. It's hyperimmunity and an overreaction to foreign bodies. Usually people take something to dampen the immune system or dull the histamines. Or they take steroids. This prevents inflammation which thus prevents the uncomfortable symptom. All these brought to us by business men that have medical degrees because it makes financial sense for them. I would wear a mask to turn the compost if it is too bad. My allergies flare, too. When I was taking shots, they got worse when I missed a shot than they were before I ever started it. So, knowing that's simply not right, I quit. I started using a Neti pot and wonder why everyone doesn't own one. Unfortunately, the Neti pot does nothing for the itchy eyes that produce 1 gallon of mucous in a night. As far as a family getting sick: Yep. It could happen. Just like a few football players have been known to die of infected scrapes because the soil they scraped themselves on contained a form of MRSA. Bacteria grows in lots of stuff and the body can certainly react to that bacteria. I would have my doubts that the compost made the family sick, but I am saying that it's remotely possible. Now here's a crazy spin. I'm going to comment on the actual topic. Leaves attract worms because there is enough moisture kept just under them for the worms to breathe and of course there is the fact that it provides food. This food comes from the fungus that eats the leaves. The big earth worms (nightcrawlers) will even grab a leaf and pull it down into it's burrow for eating the fungus later. This is great because then you are getting even deeper feedings as castings are deposited in the tunnels. Ever take a cross section of a worm tunnel? Pretty neat. Just did it for a unit on earthworms a couple weeks back for a homeschooling project. Anyway, you are absolutely right that the leaves will help your garden, but be aware of some drawbacks. If you put them on in the Spring and then fertilize with nitrogen you will start bacterial activity that will heat the leaf layer. You mention "several inches" so that is the amount I'm talking about. I am guessing 4 inches. That's a lot. Anyway, that heat coupled with the heat of the changing season will deter worms from coming up that high to feed (probably why they take some food down with them). If you throw composting worms on there, that's different. They just won't survive the winter without your assistance in a garden setting. Leaves are great, but I am a much bigger fan of compost because it won't cause temperature fluctuations that worms hate in the spring/early summer. The worms will work the organic matter all day long in cooler temperatures and only at night in warm temperatures (hence the name nightcrawler). Either way is still tons better...

Annabeth, I like orange (and red and yellow) too. I'd say to persist with the Firepot. I got one this year with a collection of small, mostly cactus tubers. I really like this one. It was the latest to open of the whole collection (all planted in the same conditions at the same time). Here are some pictures. The first one really glows because of the way the light was. I also got Swan's Olympic Flame this year but it hasn't bloomed at all. That's probably because it got stepped on by a bear. I'm going to be posting some pictures of other dahlias from this year on the Discussion side of this forum - or - is it better if I put them on the gallery? What is the preference here. I'm visiting from the Hosta Forum. McTavish

I have had a shelf up in an effort to give some persistent barn swallows an alternative to my porch. A finch used it one year, but it mostly remains empty. I think it depends on the direction that it faces. I find that birds are particular about that. For example, barn swallows insist on trying to nest on my porch on little tiny window toppers about 1 1/2" wide. My s-i-l next door has a porch with huge beams and they never attempt to nest there. I thought maybe because their porch faced northwest. I have no reason to believe this, just this small sampling of info. All my bluebird boxes face northeast and they get used every year. I personally think birds like HOSP will nest anywhere.......which probably accounts for their numbers. If you are going to offer small boxes, it is always best to discourage HOSP from using them. No need to help them out. They do fine on their own and can nest with or without a box. By giving them a place to nest, it simply increases the competition on the natives.

IN the groups of birds, there were some that were similar to the Robins, dark gray, yellow beak and eye, but clearly no reddish orange breast coloring. They quickly moved away from my yard (still covered with a lot of snow and water) to another farther down that had more open grass and soil. The Northern Mockingbirds are too light gray, and I didn't see any white whits markings, though I could have easily missed them due to the distance. The Cedar Waxwings are a wishful possibility, but again, the birds I saw were of a uniformly dark color. Also, there are no berries around here. They were all gobbled up quickly in fall, and any drupes left on some trees were chased down by the squirrels on their high-wire act. The squirrels even go into my yews and eat all the little red berries. The birds I saw were clearly pecking and digging in the ground to find food. Today is colder and windy, and there aren't as many birds around