Hello all, Gardener, Sandy, Member's. Can someone tell me Why Oat woodchips will change the PH balance of soil? I have learned so much from you and all the Tomato Forum members over the years. You and others have giving me especial knowledge, that keeping my Small Heirloom Farm Growing, even in wake of problems, especially this year. My husband and I decided to work with a neighbor that wanted to cut down a tree in my big garden, which over hanged in his back yard, along with 1/3 of this Oat tree growing on his property mainly the large roots too, leaving the wood chips. The company he hired gave me a good deal to cut a tree on my property. This tree was not Oat, and not as big as that Oat tree, but half rotten. I gave his company use of my Tomato Farm in January to cut down the tree, leaving the woodchips, and 250.00 to cut down that tree on my property with-out chipping because of its rotten conditions to avoid fungus or insect problems. This was the biggest mistake yet with my tomatoes, because the wood chips changed the Ph balance of my soil which I worked so hard over the years to obtain. I donÂt understand how that happen, because every month starting the end of January when the "Wood Chips Mountain" would reach about 164 F with steam coming from top I would remove the top layer an till into the soil February, March, April, First tomatoes in late May 2008 Died. The heirlooms died in only the area of wood chips, in that area of my big grader. I planted a thick crop cover, with over six thousand tomatoes plants growing in the shade area close to the house. The crop cover did its job of removing any sap from wood chips, but I have to replace phosphorous and potassium to the soil using Rosa Bush Organic fertilizer because of it large Phosphorous levels and Organic plant food drops during transplanting. Than transplant large tomato plants back to their location making sure I do not disturb dirt from root ball because they was around five to six feet. The last transplants was very successful, with plants green and growing about a month know, and I can facially relax a little, Amen!!! However, I will have very late season tomatoes coming soon. Any advice will save other farmers from making the same mistake. I am thankful and blessed that the lord gave me the ideal to plants all of the six thousand seeds I used to get my certification as a Professional seed saver last year. They saved my heirloom farm this year. Can someone tell me, why oat woodchips killed my Heirlooms Tomatoes? Because the apple tree woodchips did good for my tomatoes three years ago.

I found this one today. OVERNIGHT APPLE BUTTER mixture of apple varieties, rather than just one type, will produce apple butter with rich, complex flavor in this slow cooker recipe. Good choices include Esopus Spitzenburg, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Northern Spy, Rome, Stayman, Winesap, and York. Enjoy the apple butter over toast or English muffins, or serve it with pork chops or chicken. Yield 4 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup) Ingredients 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup apple cider 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/8 teaspoon ground mace 10 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks (about 2 1/2 pounds) Preparation Combine all ingredients in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 10 hours or until apples are very tender. Place a large fine-mesh sieve over a bowl; spoon one-third of apple mixture into sieve. Press mixture through sieve using the back of a spoon or ladle. Discard pulp. Repeat procedure with remaining apple mixture. Return apple mixture to slow cooker. Cook, uncovered, on high 1 1/2 hours or until mixture is thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon into a bowl; cover and chill up to a week. Stovetop variation: Combine all ingredients in a Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 1 hour or until apples are very tender, stirring occasionally. Strain through a sieve as recipe instructs in Step 2. Return mixture to pan. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently.

Re: cornmeal and ants. Have been having a problem with ants on my sunporch. They seem to be living underneath and coming up through cracks in the tile floor. There's no way for me to get to where they live to spray (and I don't like sprays anyway). So I mixed up some cornmeal and borax in a little deli container lid and left it near where they've been arriving. It's been about a week, and the problem has considerably slowed. BUT they seem to be 'burying their dead' in the cornmeal mixture. I've actually seen a live ant dragging and leaving a dead one there! and there were several little carcasses last I looked. But hey--if it works, without dangerous chemicals, or smells that will give me respiratory problems, I'm thrilled.

We gave my younger son a new chainsaw...the older one got the equivalent of cash...those were both well received...now if it would just warm up a bit so DS can get out there and saw up some wood for our fireplaces... I was at a small leather store in Indiana in september and had a notebook made for my hubster with his name on it...he writes everything down for work and really loved it...We gave my son and his gf dollars for a cruise this summer and they loved that! I sent my sister an 11 x 14 framed picture of her entire family from their 60th Wedding anniversary party in October plus a bunch of 8 x 10's of their individual children and families...She was thrilled...the photographer they hired was charging astronomical prices for enlargements so I made her day!