I used to use Fit veggie wash, then would run out quickly. Now I use homemade veggie wash for mild cases of mites, it will work if used a few times in succession, about once a week for a month. here are a few recipes I've found since I can't seem to find the one I use which is basiclly lemon juice, baking soda, a drop of dish soap, and water. I spray on then about ten minutes later rub the leaves under running water, either sink or tub. I would be leary of using vinegar though since it is used as a natural weed killer. #1 1 tablespoon lemon juice 10 drops grapefruit seed extract 2 tablespoons low-sodium baking soda 1 cup purified water 3/4 cup vinegar Mix well in a sprayer bottle. Shake before use. Spray produce (except mushrooms) and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Rinse well. #2 Combine 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice to 2 Tablespoons of baking soda with 1 cup of water. I put this mixture in a sprayer bottle and keep it under the sink. Spray fruits and veggies and allow them to sit for a few minutes then wipe with a towel. This also makes for a safe cleaner to let your children use as they "play" scrub the kitchen with you! #3 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons baking soda 1 cup water Put this mixture in a sprayer bottle. After spraying, let produce sit for a few minutes. Rinse well. #4 add a few tablespoons of vinegar to a bottle of clean, cold tap water. Shake well and spray on veggies and then wash under flowing clean water as usual. Another thing you can use is a spray of fish emulsion which will suffocate the little nasties, but will also have to be repeated. I prefer the citrus type because it doesn't smell as much.

Hi Kitty: I'm glad you are back, I miss your tons-of-blooms gorgeous pics, and your years of experience ahead of me. When Alana in SC got sick bands from Burlington early april, this is what I wrote to Alana on April 19: "Fish emulsion is very acidic, best mix into your tap water to lower the pH for pale roses. It's great to water your roses with diluted fish emulsion, but NOT to spray the foliage. If leaves are kept wet and slightly acidic, you'll get diseases. Fish emulsion is cited as NPK is 5-2-2, with trace elements. University of Mass. research on marigolds tested chemical, fish emulsion, alfalfa pellets, or a combo. They compared Neptune fish emulsion NPK of 3-1-5, versus chemical fertilizer NPK of 20-2-20. Personally I think the marigold watered with fish emulsion looks better than others, the one with alfalfa meal is worst, very stunt and yellowish. Google that, and you'll see. Another organic way is to use blackstrap molasses, but only the Plantation brand has the highest nutrient. Plantation brand sold at Walmart has 17% potassium, 20% iron, and 20% calcium. Experiments on Soluble fertilizers showed that high potassium plus calcium yielded the best root growth, and the best flowering. Less is best with molasses. People with green plants use 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water for every 2 weeks. Since roses are tougher, 1 teaspoon would be fine. Too much sugar can make the fungi out-number the bacteria in the soil. A tiny bit of sugar stimulates the endo/ecto mycorrhizal fungi. That group of soil fungi increase the nutrients in soil, esp. phosphorus, potassium, and iron. I posted a thread on mycorrhizal fungi a month ago. " After I wrote the above to Alana, I went to find Plantation brand early April .... no luck. So I'll order low salt soluble fertilizer NPK 2-20-20 with molasses from Kelp4Less. Once diluted, that Mid-Bloom pack has 1/4 cup molasses per 50 gal., plus Myco++ fungi for best root-uptake of nutrients. If you can find Plantation Blackstrap molasses, its high iron will green up your plants. Here's the link to nutrients in different brands of molasses ... they vary widely: Here is a link that might be useful: Nutrients in different brands of molasses

I have a rental on a low budget to turn, but I have taste. 70’s dark brown muck cabinets...budget said we had to salvage them. They had NC tags on them, thought ‘they’ll sand ‘nice’. They did but the bases were not oak and the faces are oak. I opt’d to do the vinegar and steel wool stain and go for the drift wood effect. I did a water poly test and what a nightmare! my beautiful gray weathered cabinets went right back to dark brown (on nice mission furniture nice. On these cabinets NOT) Read blogs and got to the wipe on heirloom satin coating by Vermont. SO AMAZING! So happy with the outcome! I have the driftwood look, clear I didn’t add gray stain and it brought out the different grains of the mosh of woods that ended up being these cabinets. Not the original end we envisioned, but the best because Vermont Coatings allowed an amazing finish. They look custom! I’ll post pictures when done. Anyone wanting to preserve that driftwood finish...this is it.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. As fori pointed out, a higher level gives a little protection space behind a cooktop. It can also partially block the view of junk on countertops from an eating table beyond the island. If you love having a bar-height eating space then two levels is how you can get it. Personally, I like a single height. This gives you a larger space to lay things out (other than food) that you might be working on. It's great for cooking making/cooling. It invites munchkins to sit on the other side and talk or do homework while you're working in the kitchen. I just find it to be friendlier. The bottom line is, this is going to be pretty personal to you, taking into account who you share your space with and how you use your kitchen. Not to be mean to the guys (because we really did that the other day in the discussion of a previously disinterested husband who suddenly had left-field opinions), but if you're the one mainly in charge of what goes on in the kitchen, then make the plan suit you.