Elisa, the premise of BTE is that tilling destroys the soil structure and bio life. Tilling removes the covering; the soil rapidly dries out and top soil erodes. The "magic" in the wood chips is it is a covering that first retains moisture, and secondly feeds the plants as they decompose. It's why a mulch of smaller nutrient rich branches with needles and leaves is necessary and not just chipped trunks or bark chips only. The fungi that develop in the wood chip mulch help feed the plants. The mulch develops a helper system of organisms and other plant life that assists your fruits and veggies. In turn, your plants feed them. If you till composted organic material into your main garden, I'd suggest another experiment. Set aside a small section of your MG (maybe as small as 5x10 feet) for no-till. Still don't use wood chips, but layer your organics on the top (composted manure, yard waste, etc). Paul is very specific that if you don't have wood chips, just use whatever organic materials you have. (You can even use rocks) The most important part is to create a covering and not mix it in. Layer on top. When I tilled, I had virtually no earthworm population. Now, by not tilling, I can't dig a 4 " planting hole anywhere without killing several earthworms. And my soil (mostly red clay) is always damp and soft I destroyed a small tiller in two seasons trying to break up the clay. I then rented bigger tillers that beat me up for 6-8 hours trying to a 12x40 garden in which one half barely produced b/c of the rock hard clay. And it was back just as hard in the fall as it was in the spring. So it wasn't getting easier with time. Now with the wood chips, that area stays moist and soft. Everything grows there and I save the expense of renting, tilling, and fighting the soil every season. The fact that you got 25% more production is huge. You can get that in your MG using BTE principles but without adding wood chips. Paul no longer adds wood chips to his main garden b/c of his difficulty in walking. He uses them everywhere else. But in his MG he uses compost from his chicken pen as the covering.

I'm just surprised you talked him into giving it to you it if was supposed to be reserved for the parks and recreation board. Where you use it depends on how you use it. If you are going to put it directly on top of the ground, then yes, I think stuff will sprout in it. The only way to avoid that would be to put down a layer of something between the ground and the soil/mulch mix. That "something" could be newspapers laid 12-20 pages thick, cardboard, or woven (not perforated) landscape cloth fabric. That layer will keep anything that sprouts in the soil/compost mix from rooting down into the soil underneath up to a point, but you'll still have to pull up whatever sprouts because eventually the roots can work their way down through the newspaper, cardboard or woven cloth landscape fabric. Mulch in and of itself, of course, never means that you'll never have weeds--just that much of the weed activity is suppressed, weeds that sprout in the mulch are easier to pull than those that are in the ground, the ground is kept cooler and the bed has a more finished look. Mulching never stops either. The mulch breaks down and continually replenishes the soil so you keep having to add mulch on top of old mulch. I add mulch to one garden bed or another almost every week during the growing season. I'd go ahead and use the stuff I picked up as mulch immediately because, if you don't, then you run the risk that rain and wind are going to start blowing/washing away the soil in the soil/mulch mix. Wherever you use it, it will keep weeds down somewhat but weeds eventually will sprout and, at that point, you can pull them up before they get big and then go back and get plain wood chips to lay on top of the wood/soil mix. I hope your husband can just relax and tolerate the piles for a while. Creating a nice landscape takes time and all those piles that might seem a little unsightly now are an investment in your yard's future beauty. That's why I call my husband long-suffering...because he tolerates my piles and my experiments and, whenever there is a crisis, he drops what he is doing to shoot a venomous snake, rescue a guinea from the talons of a hawk, cover up tomato plants in the face of an impending frost, repair a fence that a deer has crashed into (but not sailed over!), etc. Sometimes I think non-gardening spouses have to be the most patient people on earth. Of course, he gets to be the "good guy" too, carrying tons of excess produce to work to share with his co-workers, which makes him a "hero" in their eyes. Dawn

I found this one with the same ingredient list except the yogurt but those should be interchangable. Mini Banana Whoopie Pies (Adapted from Martha Stewart) For the batter 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana 1/2 cup sour cream 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 large egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla For the filling 16 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla To prepare the batter Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, stir together banana and sour cream. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add egg and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla. Alternately mix flour and banana mixture into the creamed butter, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Scoop the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" round tip. Pipe batter into 1 1/4" rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Place into the oven and bake until the edges are a light golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and transfer sheet of parchment to a wire rack and allow the soft cakes to cool completely. To prepare the filling In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth and creamy. On the flat side of half the cakes, spoon about one tablespoon worth of the filling on top. Top with the unfilled halves to form a sandwich. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar before serving. Makes about 36 whoopie pies.

Another vote for good old fashioned flat pure aluminum cookie sheets. I didn't mesn to imply that warmth was the only cause of spread—just that no matter what you bake on, if the butter is too warm and soft in the dough, you will have spread. That's also why oil doesn't work well in most cookies. Chloebud, what I do know about a long chill/rest time is that the flour soaks up the water from the butter (and eggs if there are eggs). The result is just druthers. The different level of absoption will give you a different texture, though the difference might be subtle. One problem is that in a long soak, gluten will develop more, making your flour choice more important. You need some gluten for loft and chew, but you don't want tough! I know Chloebud has this down. I'm just pointing out some places where the complexity of it all can trip up people who just change things. I can't even fathom how many thousands of lovely cookies I've baked, but I've know people to use the exact same recipes and fail.