My duh! moment is that I planted some of that Trombone Squash that Ralph was promoting so heavily last year (brought some to the swaps, chatted it up here on GW). Everyone told me to expect a big vine. Everyone mentioned that it grew more like a gourd than a summer squash but everyone loved its flavor and its vine borer resistance. So I planted some. Now my yard is big (just over one acre) but the garden is tiny (the size of two living rooms). In that garden I grow a row of just about everything you can imagine and by this time of year it is very hard for me to squeeze in between the tomato cages and pepper plants without being ensnared in the kiwi vine or tripping over the cucumbers. So I made a simple fence like trellis hoping it would be strong enough to support some trombone vines. I sowed. They sprouted. I thinned. They thrived but stayed small for a week or so and then they took off!!!!!!!!!! I have finally resorted to snipping off the growing tips on the vines but I don't think even that will slow them down. I spend just as much time in the garden trimming other plants and moving things around just to make room for this monster (I yanked all but one of the babies). It is loaded with blossoms so I expect a good crop, but still... if I had listened I could have planned better. Oh, and I doubt aphids are the reason for your million bell disaster. Plants grown in greenhouses can suffer greatly with aphids but once they are put outside in the cruel cruel world of eat or be eaten their numbers tend to stay under control. I get big infestations in the early spring but by this time of year I hardly see any - but then I never spray and my yard is full of bugs (both good and bad). Oh, and if you plant million bells in the ground they are reliable perennials here - only needed minor protection during the really cold weather.

Don't dispair Mari! Any well planned soil building is ABSOLUTELY WORTH THE EFFORT! You sure can use those materials to add organic matter to your soil. Sounds like you're considering bulding a compost pile: Great idea. I'd suggest chipping those materials you mentioned so that they "cook" faster. If you don't have a chipper, you can use a lawn mower on those leaves. And, really, for all things composting I'd recommend the composting forum. On a practical note, most gardeners cannot produce compost on a scale appropriate for soil conditioning--mostly on account of our joyful exuberance in hacking out new beds and ending up with many hundreds of square feet to care for. I feel your pain about the shopping spree, but maybe you can consider a small budget for this project during the next few years as a smart investment. Here's a link to a compost calculator, and just for comparison, I pick up compost in a truck by the cubic yard and pay $23-25/cu.yd. If that's not an option, you can get a good start with what you have and keep an eye out for good sources of free compost goodies! -Hannah Here is a link that might be useful: Compost calculator

I had a problem with a day care dog turning over the water bucket. Everyday they'd go all afternoon without water cause he'd turned it over. Me, being smarter than a Lab wired the bucket handle to the faucet. Tada! Came home, the backyard is flooding, the faucet is on full blast. How fun was that jerking that bucket around AND turning on the faucet? Ok yes, it was a blonde moment.

Funny, since the canary, and then the chickens, loved the florets so much I used to give them those and I would eat the stems LOL. Although, I do like them (peeled, of course). Raw or cooked. Since seeing that chickens will eat just about anything (except for a few of my cooking adventures...did you know that a chicken could GAG?) and the canary has passed away, I eat the entire thing myself. Dances.