One of the great things about fabric containers is that they act like small raised beds if you put them in contact with the soil and don't move them. The earth acts as a giant wick drawing excess moisture out of the pot. At the same time, it keeps the pot from drying out completely. For this reason, you can use a heavier soil mix in a fabric container in contact with the ground. I modify my 5-1-1 mix by replacing the perlite with DE (NAPA FloorDry) and replacing the peat with compost. I don't do that for my regular containers. I strongly recommend NOT moving these pots.

Love the stuff! (Can't stand the smell until it dries, but love the results!!!) Deer aren't too much of a problem here but the bunnies are atrocious. As others said, the longer you use it, the longer you can go between sprayings -- the animals really do tend to go looking for better-smelling vittles. They make a concentrate in a 40-oz size (makes 5 gallons) for $40 or a gallon size (makes 16 gallons) for $125, which can make it much more economical. (Note: don't confuse the ready-to-spray gallon size with the much more expensive concentrate in the gallon size.) Link below for their website if your retailer doesn't offer the concentrate. Warning -- this stuff stinks to high heaven until it dries! I had no idea just how horrible it would be, particularly on a humid, windless evening. I sprayed it on my morning glories about 4' from our pool, and even the kids got out of the pool, they were gagging so bad! (When it dries, however, you can't smell it unless you get down on the ground and stick your nose almost in the dirt.) Best way I can describe it to anyone who hasn't been blessed with the experience: combine that "nursing home urine" smell with "wet dog" smell with "fresh vomit" smell, stir it up well, then let it ferment for a few days... that's what this stuff smells like when it's fresh. (no wonder Bunny Foo-Foo doesn't want to nibble on it!) Once the kids have gotten a good whiff, you can always use the threat of a blast from your spray bottle to keep them in line, too. ;o) Here is a link that might be useful: Liquid Fence 40 oz concentrate

I have the whirlpool duet steam washer & dryer. I was pretty sure the steam on the washer was a gimmick. DH wanted all the bells and whistles (though I don't know why, I do 99% of the laundry). I do use the steam option of the washer on the white loads, but I don't know if it does anything. For the whites I use every option available, whitest whites, sanitary, steam, bleach, etc. (A certain person's tidy whities are often neither of the above. Something nobody warned me about before I got married! LOL)

I use a top loader that does HE with my diapers - the Fisher & Paykel AquaSmart. I love the machine. I use prefolds, polyester/PUL covers, and polyester pocket diapers (I also use a wool cover but I hand-rinse and lanolize it). I use Charlie's soap and Calgon to wash the diapers (we have slightly hard water). I don't do any soaking or bleaching and rarely wash a poopy diaper anymore, just urine ones (I potty my 8 month old and have since 4 months, called elimination communication, infant pottying, etc.). Even when I get a diaper with poop, I just throw it in the washer and do my normal loads. Then again, I'm not completely satisfied with the washing process because none of the preset programs match exactly what I'm trying to do. What I want to do is a simple soak, short agitation, and rinse, all on cold with 1/2 the normal detergent. This gets out the urine and stuff without setting the stains. Then I run a hot cycle with full detergent. What I have to do with this washer, though, is run a full cold cycle with a 2 hour soak (because there's no way to shorten the soak). I usually set this going overnight because it takes so long! I love so many things about this washer, including the delay feature, but I need a shorter cold rinse cycle with maybe 1/2 hr soak. I also love how this washer can flip between HE and conventional. I wash the diapers using the conventional method, which is not too water-piggy compared to true conventional washers. I've been using the hot cycle on my pocket diapers for 8 months and the elastic is fine. I think I can contact the F&P techs to program my own cycle. Anyone have experience with this?