I filled three new whiskey barrels with the "organic" raised bed and planter mix last year - first time I've ever used any Kellogs product. Didn't really like the look of it (I worked 12 years for a greenhouse and was used to the lovely commercial mix we used there)... I sure wish I'd seen this thread first!! I've grown in barrels with nice success over the years, but NOTHING I planted in that soil did well. Carrots never grew beyond 2" tall, no taproot to speak of. One healthy, stocky bush tomato plant produced ONE tomato and died. (A cherry tomato did semi-ok, but they're half a weed anyway.) Three different dwarf/bush type squash plants, and only one female bloom the whole season. Green beans failed to yield, I picked enough for one meal for two people. Container variety of corn got about 2' tall, and tasseled weeks before any ears appeared. Swiss chard, planted in the fall, got about 4" tall and stalled. Nasturtiums, bought in 3" pots, just stalled and never bloomed. Even my marigolds stayed tiny. The only thing that flourished was some chocolate mint, and after reading this thread I think I'll just pull it up and start again with some other kind of soil!! I'm going to be pulling all the Kellogs junk out of my barrels this spring and using it as fill dirt where I don't plan to plant anything important. Hopefully grass will grown in it...

Thanks Sue & Donna for posting follow ups after doing changes. I'm always yearning for more production earlier in the season because by mid August the sun lowers and my edible gardens receive less hours of sunlight from nearby tall fir trees. I've yet to have a soil test, but would if the cost was less. Various areas of my garden have been double dug and in production for varying lengths of time as I've expanded the garden area. Initially, I just used rabbit, duck, and chicken manure from my kids' backyard animals along with homemade compost. About 5 years ago I started using horse manure + sawdust bedding in huge amounts applied in fall or winter as available nearby free for the hauling. Spread on top of soils along with shredded leaves and other organic matter (shredded garden waste, grass clippings, used coffee grounds, chicken manure + bedding, hay/straw sweepings). Some years covered with burlap bags over winter. In spring that soil is amazingly loose, but I've still turned over the bed at least 1 shovel depth then let set before planting. This year I was turned soil over as deep as I could going down 2-3 shovel depths. Horse manure was applied in February rather than in fall and wasn't fully decomposed, so I wanted it deep instead of on top. The tomatoes are growing great and blooming with some fruit. In my cool summer climate it's slow growing until the heat is turned on after July 4 when we have more sunny days over 70. The other difference is we spread the red plastic perforated tomato mulch in the tomato bed and installed 5 more soaker hoses, so I only have to water part of the potatoes & beans in the newest part of the garden. In some of the beds I added additional rabbit manure (raspberries, SFG boxes, strawberries, squash). Time will tell how productivity will be different. A pic of one SFG box with the black water pipe hoops to extend the season with plastic covering. Red cabbage, red lettuces starting to bolt, transplanted flat leaf parsley from self sown middle of the bed, chives on edge, self sown or moved calendula, multiplier onions, broccoli & kale toward back of bed. In another box we used thicker white PVC pipe slipped in 1"x12" pieces of PVC clamped to inside of bed. view of edible garden along gravel driveway (realize the view is too small to really see much) fruit trees underplanted with strawberries, garlic & daylilies with cement blocks holding back soil & planted with herbs & sedums first tree visible is a large Rainier cherry tree and if birds didn't get so many we'd be eating more of them (always thinking of taking it out, but then the cherries come-- then they're nearly gone) hoses run to connect to soakers or other hoses that connect to soakers as spigot is some distance from garden SFG boxes with large orange pots of bush cucumbers + flowers in front, black earth machine cold compost for kitchen waste behind various pots of sedums & herbs on ground along with plastic tote of small seedlings row of raspberries row of tomatoes large zucchini bed between 2 small pear trees with bale of straw & white plastic used on tomatoes previously in the middle of pic (waiting for them to dry before storing, but we keep having rain) yellow raspberries with red blooming bee balm, Monarda on other side of pear trees potatoes here & there more potatoes in compost bins behind main garden squash bed in pallet raised area ladders for green beans, etc. Hope the pics help~ Corrine

B.U.M.P. The thread had been started and ended in 2012, with few posts. I guess not many people were growin KB and/or KBX. Finally, there was no consensus on which s superior. Because I am planning to grow a productive compact Orange/Yellow fruited tomato I brought this thread up to see if there are current grower of those varieties. --- What is its growth habit ? det, bush ? size --- Heirloom/OP, Hybrid ? --- any climate preference to grow better ? --- any difference in fruits size/color/taste in KB and KBX? I know I might be able to search the net and find answers, but I prefer a live interactive discussion. That is what I like about forums. . AND because I can only afford to grow just ONE of then, which one should be KB or KBX ?. Then of course, I can always toss a coin.:-)

They don't all apply to me, but i've taken note to a few. Thanks. A product I use different than the way it was intended is, I get dry scaly patches on my forehead and on the side of my nose. I tried a lot of OTC things, but one day I thought it looked like dandruff, even though I didn't have it on my head. So I rub some dandruff shampoo, full strength, on the area, let it sit for a couple minutes, then rinse it off. It went away on a couple days. Now I do the treatment a couple times a week, and it stays away. I had a couple weeks, a while ago when I was sick and didn't do it, and sure enough the scaly stuff was coming back. I've often wondered if it would work on psoriasis, at least mild cases.