Thanks, David!! And yes, it used to be a mess. But I don't subscribe to a "this vs that" method of trying to attribute success (or failure) to a single component. I've come to realize that the more I study things, the more the interrelationships are the critical items. In other words, it's not "soil chemistry vs soil biology", but how the two of them interact and support each other. A good soil chemistry allows a great biology to grow, which acts as a reservoir for food for the lawn. This avoids the "yo-yo effect" that we see in the regular long-term use of synthetics. A good chemistry provides lots of nutrients in good ratios to each other and massive growth. To answer your question about what I did, I concentrated on getting Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfur and the micronutrients (Iron, Zinc, Manganese, Copper and Boron) settled in the right proportions to each other. Notice that I ignored Nitrogen and pH. Once the other items are settled properly, the pH will find the "sweet spot" all by itself, and anything organic supplied will supply Nitrogen into "the bank". It's not a recipe for making the lawn (or garden) look great next week, but the soil will almost manage itself if you get the chemistry and biology working together. At this point, I can feed it some Milorganite or Soy Bean Meal and it will handle the rest all by itself. Then I spend my time trying to help others that want to do the same, or chasing the deer out of my Hosta.

What? are you saying the board is free no more annual fees? I have been coming here for maybe 8 or 10 years. Loralee

You rang??? Well I can say that there are a few things from Land O Lakes that I have made and enjoyed ..their marble cake is good..very good.. I've also made the chocolate Loaf cake with cream cheese swirl that AnnT shared some months ago..and "gluten free'd" it too.. I tend to stay away from mixes..just cuz it's just as easy if you have a semi stocked pantry to make your own stuff. I do love Shauna (Glutenfreegirl) and some of GlutenFreeGoddess...she has a very restrictive diet..so somethings I'm not interested in. Okay here's the Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake Not sure where AnnT got the recipe..or was it Jessica and then Ann made it?? Mixture "A" 8 oz cream cheese, softened 2 oz castor sugar (I used 1/4 c white.) 1 egg 1. beat cream cheese with sugar until light and fluffy, beat in egg until well incorporated. Set aside. Mixture "B" 13 T butter (1 Used 3/4 c of butter) 3/4 c sugar 3 eggs 3 T cocoa 1 cup of flour (I used 1/2 c pamela's pancake/baking blend and 1/2 cup standard GF Flour blend. 2 c brown/white rice flour, 2/3 c potato starch and 1/3 c tapioca starch/flour) 2.5 t baking powder 1/2 t salt Mix dry ingredients together. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until well incorporated. Fold in flour mixture. Pour half the "b" mixture into a loaf pan, then all of "a" mixture, then the rest of "b". Bake in preheated 350F oven for 45-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. I have two great cookbooks checked out from the library that I'm reading...picking recipes to try too...

About grinding einkorn in a Vitamix.... Yes, IF you have the DRY BLADE CONTAINER, which is used for hard, dry materials, such as grain, and for kneading dough. The container the Vitamix comes with is the WET BLADE CONTAINER. I have a "bevy" of mills, but I teach classes on the subject and have purchased them over the span of many years. I can mill any type of grain/seed/bean from tiny teff and amaranth to dent corn and garbanzo beans. Personally, I wouldn't use a Vitamix (with the dry blade container) because it heats the flour too much, but if you already have the dry blade container, chill your grain in the freezer and only grind it in small amounts with the least amount of time for processing possible to keep it from getting too hot. The heat destroys nutrients. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COOKIE8 - I use your recipe for FLAX COOKIES you shared on the Cooking group from 5-12-2014 (which also requires ground pumpkin seeds). Your recipe above looks great, too. :-) I sprout pumpkin seeds to make them easier to digest, and look forward to trying the recipe. -Grainlady