I made at least 350 gallons of 5-1-1 and almost 100 gallons of gritty mix last summer. I transplanted more than 50 houseplants into gritty mix and grew vegetables and flowering annuals in the 5-1-1. I used a small compost tumbler to mix all my soil components after reading about it on GardenWeb. The one I got for about $110 on Amazon is a Composter Wizard Jr. that is supposed to produce about seven cubic feet of compost. It's made up of a three-foot wide barrel that sits on rollers. You load it up and turn the tumbler by hand to combine ingredients. It's really too small to be useful as a composter, but it's just the right size for me to use as a middle aged woman with a bad back and the upper body strength of a wet noodle. In past years, I mixed my soil components on our asphalt driveway with a snow shovel. It often took several hours over three or four Saturdays, and I usually ended up in major pain. Here's a photo of the compost tumbler: I was able to make about 21 gallons of 5-1-1 or 15 gallons of gritty mix at a time with this set up. (Since the gritty mix is much heavier, I wasn't able to budge the barrel with more than about 15 gallons in it.) The one thing that is a little tricky is getting the moisture level right. If the ingredients are too dry, the fertilizer and lime or gypsum don't seem to disperse as well. But if they're too wet, the tumbler is very hard to turn. In the end, I found it easier to work with fairly dry ingredients, so I had to water them very well in several layers as I filled my containers.

Thanks for the info on the BER. First year container gardening so this is a whole new experience for me. I made my mix myself, Peat Moss (1/2 bag), garden lime (3 handfuls), perlite (1 bag), composted cow manure (1/2 bag) and 10-10-10 (12oz cup) and 2 cups coffee grounds mixed up well in wheelbarrow. Buckets/Containers 5 gallon with 1 1/2" to 2" rocks in the bottom and holes in the bottom of the buckets for excess to drain.

Hi Jani: I originally thought that I had to have a Toto toilet. However, after looking at Toto toilets and trying them out in person, I'm not so convinced. At one local dealer, I had to flush the Toto dual-cyclone twice. Also, a skid mark is not acceptable, either. Here are my thoughts/desires: ~HET flush to get the local water company rebate ~map score of 800 or better ~single flush mechanism ~sanifloss finish for ease of maintenance ~soft close seat ~traditional looking (I like the looks of the Kohler Memoirs and Toto Soiree or Genevieve) ~moderately priced, not to exceed $450, less if possible Right now, I'm leaning towards the American Standard Town Square, it meets all of my conditions above. I found a two-piece with the soft close seat at my local plumbing store for $450. I don't know if that is a good price or not. I have heard that the soft close seats cost over $100 themselves, yikes! What are the relative benefits for a one piece versus a two piece toilet? I was surprised to learn that sometimes you have to buy each piece separately? Is the St. Thomas a one-piece or two-piece? I'll be interested in hearing about your experience once it's installed.

The guy on Oprah last week has his own show on organization, but I never got into watching him go through the messes people had acquired. I have my "stuff", but certainly not the grunge, dirt, tornados that the people he helps have. And, sometimes I think they stage these messes to make them worse for the show. He did say that 2/3 of the people are like this and most likely getting worse because our shopping habits are also out of control. Like you there is a shed and garage with boxes I need to go through....my excuse right now is winter cold. He made 3 suggestions which I picked up on personally while on her show. The first one was to totally empty whatever room/area you want to declutter. I get it regarding separating the keeps and throwaways. But definitely see the clearing out as an easier way to go through things and start over....rather than crawling over, opening boxes and moving stuff around. The digging through has always made me nuts trying to get cleaning out done. I also think having a friend with us would help in keeping the process of tossing out a plus to get through all....along with closing our eyes shut, really shut tight, to get rid of things. The second was never bringing anything into the house without getting rid of a like item. I really liked this idea. Know there are people who collect art and such, but he was talking about the overload of items we forget about, then continue to go out and buy more of. Third one was very interesting and hit home, I want to do this. He said the kitchen work triangle was just that, a "small" triangle to cook in. His was about 4 X 4, although a large kitchen. To unload unneeded items he got boxes and dumped everything into them. There was no order to the boxes, just a place to dump the stuff. For 4 weeks he cooked and cleaned. Whenever he needed something he would get it out of a box, the item would be something he used and a place was found for it. At the end of 4 weeks, anything left in the boxes was gotten rid of. I can see this process used somewhat in the bath, closets, garage, etc....just a larger triangle. In our small houses there is an ongoing need to find new places for much we just don't use. I'm not a minimalist, but order makes my head feel better. Am redoing my kitchen and bath, a perfect time to incorporate some organization.