Bpgreen asked: "What about no till organic farming?" Although they donÂt state the size of the farms, I would guess that some kind of weeding technique is required to control weeds. The point is that minimum tillage (digging) does no harm to the soil, according to the study. In my own personal experience, it didnÂt take me twelve (12) years of study to learn what science made official last year. "Part of the reason I ask is that most of the no till advocates here are probably doing no till + organic (sounds like that's more or less what you're doing)." Again, I would guess that the sizes of the farms would require a huge amount of mulch to get the same results we enjoy in our home gardens. This is one of the arguments made as to why no-till organic farming is not feasible for large-scale farming. However, I would reason to state that we donÂt need a study to confirm that a shovel is not needed to work a "lasagna bed". Although you may remember a few members admit they built lasagna beds then ran a tiller through them to "mix that puppy up really good" a few years back. When I started organic gardening (composting) most of the techniques I use were learned here on this forum, or as a result of comments made by members then researching them myself to learn what works for my climate. Bpgreen, you and I both know how much joy and ease of growing we both enjoy each year. Personally, I use fewer amendments each year including compost because of my practices learned here. I use compost tea, alfalfa tea, milk sprays, cured compost, charcoal, mulch, seed meals, seaweed, sea-salt finds, never ever tested my soil, and make compost in the winter too. I am not arrogant enough to state this is the best/only way to grow good "maters"; it is just the way that brings me happiness. Too many other members who use their own techniques with success keep me humble and willing to listen to their point of view. I have a lot of room over here; the biggest room is room for improvement Blutranes

Special? It's widespread around here - it's our normal soil. That was extreme during the 2011 extreme drought, but yes, it does that. It's TX black gumbo clay. You'll find about the same stuff in parts of Montana and, believe it or not, Hawaii. Nearer the coast where humidity is higher the cracking isn't quite as severe, but it still will get impressive in the drought periods. When it's wet it swells enough to be self-sealing. Rice farmers love that. Building on it is a bit tricky. To dig it you want it moist and plastic, then you take it out in slices working near vertically using a rice shovel. The funny thing about our coastal area is that soil like that is the widespread stuff. But there are sizable pockets of very clean sand. It seems there is a commercial sand pit about every 10-20 miles, and in those pits there is no sign of that clay. There was one ~ 60 acres in size being worked for years about 5 miles from me. About 10 years ago the remains of a Columbian mammoth were found in the pit.

Very Nice!! have you ever heard the term "high key"? "High Key images are those where contrast and shadows are supressed, while the levels of exposure and brightness are high. It can be done in camera or more easily during post processing an image editor" check out the link below to a gallery at pbase, she does some really nice high key Here is a link that might be useful: high key gallery

Well, I would hope that if a person has become a real estate agent they have the ethics (or the desire to earn a living) not to do any of the things you've described. Maybe you could call the office or broker of whatever agent showed your house and just nicely ask that they be sure to get the key put away in the future, as you came home and found it on your welcome mat. As for the alarm system, can your agent put an addendum in your listing saying that there's an alarm system in place and agents need to call for the code before showing? One would hope that, again, ethically they wouldn't give it out or anything. Maybe you could tell your agent how to reprogram the code and have her do it every few weeks or month? Is there a neighbor you could give a key and ask to stop by the house every so often, just to make sure that the AC isn't cranked to 60 degrees 24/7 and that everything is secure? Good luck selling--this all sounds incredibly frustrating and I would be worried, too.