It was baby steps for me. I started gardening and wanted to garden organically, which at first to me just meant not using chemicals. As I read and researched more, I realized it was a lot more than that - soil amendment and care, companion planting, etc. From there I started composting. I've always been a big recycler, and took it a step further when I started composting, by which I mean I took things that my city recycling program wouldn't recyle, and composted them. I shred every bit of used paper for the compost, and I compost all paper towels. (My program takes newspaper, and they recently started taking mail, so I now give all glossy mail and all catalogs/magazines to the recyling bin). I also rip up all paperboard - cereal boxes, macaroni boxes, toilet paper tubes, etc. This all goes into my compost pile or lasagna beds. I use recycled paper products and recycled and/or biodegradable garbage bags. I've started using a lot of organic foods lately. Last year I started working a few hours on an organic farm, and I also find in general that more local markets are carrying organic foods, as well as organic cleaning supplies and health & beauty products, etc., so while it's quite expensive, I get what I can afford organically. I'm trying to avoid GM foods, but that is difficult. I also conserve water by using buckets in the sinks and shower, using rain barrels outside, and flushing only when necessary, as well as not using as much water to begin with. As I continue to read, I find I've become quite the eco-nut, lol. I freecycle everything I can, I buy used - if I buy at all. I'm becoming my grandmother lol - you know the type. You buy grandma a beautiful cahsmere sweater to replace the old one she's worn since you were born, and she puts it away because the old one is "perfectly good", lol! I only eat free-range, organic, local meat, I use re-usable bags, I write e-mails to companies admonishing them to use #1 or #2 plastic in their packaging so it can be recycled. I subscribe to a couple of organic publications/e-letters, and I read a lot more on sustainable living than I ever did. So it's definitely something that has built up over time. Speaking of significant others and other people who pick up habits, it's so true. My husband was hesitant to start composting due to critters, etc., and now he loves the fact that we put out one bag of garbage a week. He is also the house chef, so he is the one that always fills the compost bucket next to the sink. He asked me to get him some reusuable bags recently (big shock since he was a big plastic bag guy) and he's still in the "trying-to-remember-to-bring-them-in-the-store stage, lol. And when he comes home with groceries, I notice that he has more and more organic items in the bags. So it does rub off. Which reinforces my feeling that everything that one person does has an effect. Kind of encouraging. Sorry to go on so long. I can talk about this stuff forever, lol. Told you I was becoming an eco-nut! :) Dee

The concept of a roller is good - it will flatten things out - but the practice could very well create additional problems. Weight will cause soil compaction and weight on saturated soils can irretrievably damage soil structure. Soils under lawns tend to be compacted anyway, due to the amount of foot traffic they get as well as the routine use of equipment like lawn mowers, etc. And a heavily compacted soil prevents water from penetrating deeply, causes the roots of lawn grasses to stay very close to the soil surface and contributes to issues like thatch build-up, soil infertility and diseases. Aerating the lawn (later in the season, after the soil has dried sufficiently) to alleviate compaction and then adding soil (or better yet, a fine, screened compost if you have it) to even out the low spots may be the most practical and economical approach. You could overseed at the same time if you have large areas involved or very deep depressions but the existing grass should grow through a reasonable thickness of soil or compost. And you wouldn't even have to till!

Things are really coming together for you! I'm almost at your point. My GC is hired, I've chosen my appliances. (Well, maybe I'm not quite sure on my cooktop yet. Need to do a bit more research to check out the chosen one.) Good luck! We'll be here along the way and expecting to hear about your progress! Here comes another GW kitchen, here comes another GW kitchen.....

I always like to put my new container plants through the ringer in the winter to see how well they do with no/little protection from frost so I can know where (and if) I can plant them in the ground. If they show bad signs I move them into the patio or indoors. I've had a few 25-28 degree nights already with a lot of frost (almost looked like snow on the ground one morning) so I've had some good tests. I was pleasantly surprised how well the "cattley guava" did. Hardly any stress, no dead leaves, and this plant is supposed to be picky and tropical (I'm wondering if they sent the wrong plant :P) It seems to dislike the sun here in the summer so it'll probably always be in a container. The okinawa spinach had a few top leaves slightly damaged by frost, but now it's a large plant and can handle that pretty well (it's slightly visible in the picture above). The longevity spinach got wasted by the frost. I brought it indoors and now it's starting a new shoot from the soil near the old one so I'll leave it inside for the rest of the winter. I don't know if it was just too young, but I'll probably test it again next year when it's large. The Ylang Ylang didn't fare well either. It'll have to remain on the patio. It lost all of its leaves but it already has new branches/leaves starting on the main trunk once I moved it to the patio. It really doesn't like frost. I ordered cherry trees a few months ago and they arrived on Friday! Here they are soaking: I planted them shallow with a basin around each. The Royal Lee, I planted it near a tangelo tree (on the left) that I'm planning on removing. The tangelo's graft died 3 years ago and now it's just the rootstock grown up. Minnie Royal: They're both on Colt Rootstock: I'm going to get some mulch around them before the next freezes come in just in case.