Thanks Paul, I did some research and math around cornmeal, which I suspect is the worst case scenario with respect to amount of maintenance required and low protein concentration of the crop (assuming NPK is relevant). Link on corn yields and fertilizer consumption According to the link above, corn yields about 150 bushels and requires about 130 lbs of nitrogen. A bushel of corn is about 56 lbs so one pound of nitrogen is equivalent to about 65lbs of corn. Most of us will usually spread 10-20 lbs of corn meal for an application and treat it like a chemical 1 lbs N^2/fertilization. Other grains like alfalfa, soybean meal and waste products like cottonseed meal will have a more favorable ratio of lbs of grains to lbs of nitrogen (or environmental impact to process it) and are applied at the same rate. With corn a typical fertilization is about 1/6 to 1/3 equivalent pounds of Nitrogen to make it. Granted the manufacture of corn also expends energy in the form of tilling, harvesting, sorting and packaging. Any CO2 sequestering is destroyed with the yearly tilling. I have no idea how to quantify this but bear in mind that the chemical fertilizer you are buying are a more processed (commercial) version of this nitrogen product and additional energy costs have also been occurred with precipitation and drying of the chemicals into a user friendly easily spread able product. LetÂs call it a wash. Unless you are applying more than 270 lbs of corn per year you are not exceeding the 4 lbs of fertilizer/.1000 ft^2 annual requirements of a KBG lawn. Most of us add about 100 lbs of grains/seedmeal/sewersludge/other organic fertilizers per year. If corn is the worst case, we can assume that we are expending at maximum 1/3 of the chemical that one with expend with a chemical program. I suspect based on the analysis above that the numbers are much lower. Here is a link to how urea and ammonia are synthesized Keep in mind that this is just for the active ingredient in fertilizer and that additional processing is performed to turn these gasses and liquids into slow release pellet materials.

Gimme another day or so and I'll be right back pickin' with the best of you. I am hoping I feel up to getting out on Saturday. This is the day my #1 GS does his eagle scout project. I need to go cheer him on as he lays a sidewalk for a church. Y'all can always be depended on to cheer me...... one way or another.

I too grew up in Massachusetts. We always picked the pignut trees in the yard. I love pignuts they are very good after they have a had a chance to dry under the bed in a box. It seems we always had lots of nuts to eat around Christmas My dad alwayspicked them and he has been gone for 10 year. = ( I wanted to plant trees in my own yard in Vermont but I have not looked into this yet. Those of you who say this nut is bitter, did you really try the nut? As a kid I would eat the green nut, just because. It was gooey and not really appealing but I will still have to crack one open with a rock and peal the not ripe meat out just for old times sake. Pig Nuts Rock! So does the memory Loving the pignuts and looking to go and pick some in the following weeks.

Wow. Dancing with the STARS -- The word "STARS" leaves a whole lot of leeway for interpretation. It used to be that only folks who were in movies or on prime time dramatic television shows were referred to as STARS. A singer or a (gasp!) rodeo cowboy would never be referred to or thought of as a STAR. Personally, I still don't think of a rodeo cowboy, no matter how many events he has won, as a STAR. I don't think of an Olympic gymnast as a STAR -- I think of an Olympic gymnast as an athlete. Maybe we should all write in to ABC and suggest they change the name of the show to "Dancing with Folks who are Well Known Within Their Area of Expertise." For what it's worth, I thought Melissa was, if not THE best, one of the two best dancers tonight. And she only agreed to be on the show on Friday, and didn't get her first rehearsal until Saturday morning. With the exception of Holly Madison, who had FIVE DAYS to rehearse, everyone else had FOUR WEEKS to rehearse.