I get my mulch from a local tree trimmer who lives around the corner from me. He told me he'd bring me all I want, for free. Saves him about $10 a load at the city landfill. One year he brought me about 15 loads in two weeks! I was crying "uncle"! I still have one load left to use and now it's deteriorate almost to soil. Perfect for raised beds. I line the bottom of my raised beds with several layers of newspaper and/or cardboard. It helps the recycle center clear some of it out and it helps smother out any weeds I might have missed. Over time, it biodegrades and enriches my soil. And of course, it's free--one of the best words in the English language. LOL Call some tree trimmers. They work all over the county or state. And if they're trimming trees out your way, they'll be happy to drop you a load when they're done, probably for free. Be sure to ask them in their blades are sharp. If they haven't sharpened them recently, they spit out shredded stuff that is too big to use as mulch. Asplundh dumped a load here last year that was totally unuseable. I couldnt' even get a pitchfork in it. My tree trimmer knows what I use it for, and he won't bring me diseased stuff or anything that's not properly chipped.

Just raise the price and if you R better than her last cleaning person she will pay the rate increase. Most of the people for which we clean have jobs where their medical insurance is taken care of and all of their taxes are taken out from their pay check. If 1 is self-employed, we pay our own and pay higher % in taxes as the IRS thinks that we R not paying what we should. I never take cash, only a check. I don't want any problems with the IRS. The thing is that I do give a full report to the Gov. and declare everything. I also use all of my deductions. I don't know where U live or what U charge but I just raised all by $50 to $75 and there was not a problem. The cheapest condo is $200 and the most $$$ house is $400. They had not problem. I have been with them 4 years and they did not even care. I have been with some of these people for 17 years or more and they really don't care. For what I do the will not be able to find any one as good. They even fly me to open their houses so they don't have to deal with a servcie. If U R good at what U do just raise them! Why would U have to defend yourself?!!! Steve

Hi lyfia! and congratulations on your baby girl. I have a 10yo dd. Both dh and I are introverts. I was painfully shy as a child. Neither of us had a lot of parental support growing up, and I think this is a major cause of our social insecurity. My DD is probably the most extroverted person I've ever met. She will go up to anybody and strike up a conversation. She went on a sleepover with a group of girls she never met last week - no fears, she said "It's another chance to make new friends!" So, your daughter is not absolutely destined to be shy or insecure. I didn't do anything special. I couldn't stand being cooped up in the house when she was tiny so we went to the park almost every day. I soon met lots of other moms (depite my shyness) and other kids her age. The going to the park and hanging out lasted for her first five years, by which time she had a large group of people she knew, and felt comfortable with the moms as well as the girls and boys. At five she started school, and that went very well for the first couple of years. She loved her teachers and got along well with the other kids. But in second grade the whole alpha girl/wolf pack mentality kicked in and she just didn't understand what was going on. The playground can be a really cruel place. In addition, she was getting tons of homework that seemed downright silly and timewasting, so we decided to pull her out of school for a break and try homeschooling. The homeschooling was my dh's idea. I felt dd was much to social to do it. As it turns out, the socializing she gets from homeschooling is far superior to that at school. DD has kept a couple of friends from school, some old buddies from the park days, and has scads of friends from dancing, science class, Girl Scouts, gymnastics, swim team, etc. - and is able to interact with them all without the kind of survival-of-the-nastiest mentality that comes when you put 50 kids of the same age onto a playground. And the greatest thing about homeschooling is that you get to stay close to your kid. When she was at school I really felt like my role as a parent was being supplanted by teachers, school administration, and most of all, by other kids. Now we are just as close as when she was younger, and I think that bodes well for when she hits the adolescent years. But I didn't mean to write an ode to homeschooling! Really, my main thoughts are: *Stay close to your daughter. There's no such thing as too many hugs and kisses. *Don't compare her to other kids. Yes, other kids will talk sooner, walk sooner, be potty trained - whatever. Let her go at her own pace. They'll all walk and talk sooner or later. *Take all parenting books with a grain (or a pound) of salt. In fact, I would minimize the reading of parenting books altogether. They make you paranoid. *Get out of the house. Expose her to lots of other kids and adults. *Let her be alone sometimes (as she gets older.) Let her learn to enjoy her own company. *Have people over. Family, neighbors - the more people she meets the more she'll feel capable of dealing with. *Don't worry about making mistakes. I sometimes think that my own concerns about dd - that she would be shy and extra-sensitive like her mama - actually helped her out. For example, I didn't want to leave her at kindergarten (the parents were allowed stay for the first day) until she finally said "I think this would be more fun if you went home." I guess what I'm saying is, let her be the one to decide when she is ready to fly solo, rather than pushing her out of the nest. Okay, this has been way too long a break from work! You are a great mom, and your daughter is going to be just fine. Amy

I just did a green manure over winter and then double dug the mass of Austrian peas and crownvetch deep into the bed this spring right before planting. They told me to wait 2 weeks but I didn't because I was already late. I figured it would be two weeks before any roots got down there.. GOD, everything is loving it. It could be all the rain too. I have never seen green beans so happy or cucumbers so quick out of the gate and fruiting so quickly too.. I will be doing green manure to half my garden next year. I missed having my winter garden last year. About the draining water. My raised beds are big enough and high enough so I plant in ditches around tomatoes and build hollows around my cages of beans. Everything gets a bit of a ditch in the summertime. When I water the ditches and walls direct the water to the roots. It does not spread out. I learned that from someone who gardens in New Mexico. I have been thinking of using some ollahs too as an experiment. There are ways to make them with clay pots and a plastic gallon jug with holes in the bottom variation.