Hi Lisa, my opinion is that there's as many "things to do" with it now, as there are people who compost. Try something, see what happens, see if you like what happens, and if not, try something different next time, and if you do like it, keep doing it! :) If it were my pile I would: 1. keep adding adding adding until it gets to critical mass or more, and 2. turn it every few days. Of course others will/may disagree w/me - but that's how I like to do it. Sometimes I decide to "fill up" my pile all at once & add nothing more until it is "finished" - and just turn it to add oxygen (which it needs more of b/c it's in a rubbermaid), and sometimes I decide to just keep adding on a daily basis, even when it's full, b/c as stuff disintegrates there's room for more & more stuff (usually browns) still need to decompose. All depends what's going on in my home/garden/area & what I "feel" like doing, that helps me decide which path to take. And personally, I fall into the category of "love to turn" - again in part due to the container issue - and in part, b/c that's how I've had success & thus "bonded" w/the "art of composting." So, try something, and let us know how it goes, and soon you'll develope your own favorite ways! :) All the Best, Tree

personally.. i try to avoid eating insect poops ... intentionally anyway but on the other hand.. contemplating how they turn pine tar/resin/sap [since i have had them on pines] into sugar is bewildering ... maybe they can swap some dna with scale and solve the human waste issues .. double yuck ... where am i going with this??? even if i had been tempted to 'taste it' ... i might not be willing to admit such ... besides the ants... when everything underneath starts turning black ... is also a way to 'find' the scale... i think the sugars mildew .... rotflmbo ... ken

chisue asked: "Do potatoes ever freeze in the ground before they are harvested?" No. Potatoes must be harvested befoe the ground freezes. However, on farms south of the Illinois/Wisconsin border, the potato plant dies and dries in September and should be harvested by the time the vine dries. Harvesting can begin as soon as the vine dies. Potatoes can be stored outside in a thick potato mound, but the mound must be constructed in a way to keep the potatoes from freezing and elevated a bit above the average gound level; They should not experience standing water, but at the same time, they need the earthern atmosphere to preserve their moisture content. Potatoes stored in a mound are good to about mid-March following harvest. If the frost depth is 18 inches, then the walls of the mound must be thicker than 18 inches.

yayagal I agree, it was a great buy. loribee, I don't have a clue where they are going. For now I have them covered with sheets sitting in the corner of a spare bedroom. Polly , you need these but I will hang on to them and abra cadab ra...I believe I will have a brain storm and they will find their perfect area. My husband always said if you don't need it, then its not a bargain , well I needed them to get my heart back in rhythm lol. rafor and northsong, thanks for affirming I made a good buy.