lynxe, hay contains weed seeds, so if you use hay as a mulch one year, then decide the next year that you don't want to apply mulch, you would have an extremely weedy garden. That's okay, though, because you're going to want to use mulch (the organic gardener's weed killer) forever. Mulchers don't worry about weeds, because if they get one, they just throw some more mulch on it, deprive the weed of light, and that's the end of it. (More persistent weeds may need a deeper, or more light impenetrable, mulch. When I killed a large area of blueberries once, for instance, I laid down cardboard and---forgive me, I was young---carpeting.) Ruth Stout kept her garden under a deep, perpetual, straw and hay mulch. She tucked her compostables under the straw out of sight, rather than use a compost pile. When anything that could be used as mulch came her way, it was laid on her garden. I would bet that the reason we associate hay/straw with her more than leaves or seaweed, say, is because she probably preferred it as her upper, eye-pleasing layer. My favorite eye-pleasing mulch is chipped leaves, although I really like the look of hay in a vegetable garden. (I've never liked Pat Lanza, the author of lasagna gardening, because she never gives mention of Stout whose deep mulch methods she copied, then claimed. Lanza tells how the idea came to her when she was gardening one day. I bet the idea came to her when she was reading one day.) lynxe, if you think those row paths are going to be the same configuration for awhile, you can remove a few inches of the rich soil in the paths, apply it to the garden rows, and fill your paths with a deep layer of your chosen mulch. That will break down and after a few years will become lovely soil under your feet.

Sorry to take so long to get back to this thread. Very happy to get so much input. Thanks! Sandy, good to know that you've used Seventh Generation and good to hear that Sears has one that seems to work for people. Thanks for sharing all the comments you have heard on different machines. cynic...Yes, I've heard that from the appliance store that we have dealt with over the years. They also do the service calls and he thought that a good portion of the probs people have are because they are either using cold water or too much detergent or not the right kind of detergent. Going to spend some time this afternoon looking into Speed Queen. Thanks mattstarr as well. Liriodendron....hello fellow gardener. [g] I LOVE to hang clothes outside. We bought two retractable lines for outdoors and haven't got them up but hope to soon. What's better than fresh sheets and towels off the line? We also try to buy no chemicals on our clothes and hate the 'no iron' clothes that are more and more the norm. No seasonal allergies here either. I also love sleeping with open windows. My mother used to tell me stories of how their family always had windows open in the winter but kept snuggly under thick comforters. I will make sure to look for that heater and figure out if it functions correctly. Thanks. Yes, I hadn't thought of the fact that using the front door dryer is already a fact of life, I suspect as suburbanmd points out, it would just be more of what we would like to avoid. Something to think about though. I have been told by the appliance dealer that with new Top Loaders you are not supposed to shove all the clothes in, but carefully load by dropping clothes in one at a time. Still they come out tangled and wrinkled according to some.

My favorite is really obvious - an old diaper pin I stick through the hand towel to keep the kids from throwing it on the floor every time they wash their hands. So simple! Old spice jars lining my window sills rooting plants (too cheap to buy them (plants and jars).) Jars of every sort to store rice, beans, sugar, etc. Sheets with those cool clip-on rings as curtains all over the house - give a prize to the one who invented those! Vinyl table cloth on floor in my daughter's art area. Blanket/quilt the movers left behind (they didn't want to come and fetch it) used as dog bed. Two terra cotta pots with a door on them as a table. A pottery chip/dip dish set on a log as a bird bath. Shoe boxes covered with pretty wrapping paper for art supplies. Ditto for photos. A wooden toddler bed used as a window seat - I covered the mattress with an old velvet drape - looks pretty elegant! Old coffee table painted and used as a bench in my entry way. Old cookie sheets underneath used as boot trays. Clothesline and clothespins running down the hallway holding my daughter's paintings. Book shelf turned on its side and used as window seat/toy storage. Video display rack from Walgreen's they were throwing away, got plastic bins, and now a place for the rest of the toys that rolls away. An old rolling metal typing table, painted cute and used as a tea table. File cabinets used as night stands. My dining table is an old conference table. Weighs a ton but takes a beating and looks great. that's all I can think of for now.... Best wishes to all my fellow inventors! Amy

Sorry Tom, I posted w/o ever reading your post. I wasn't riveted on what you had to say. You offer a perspective that I had not considered when posting and that is cutting with nails, etc. in the tree. We once had to cut a tree where somebody had had the great idea to fill a hole with concrete to slow down rotting (I guess) and when it was our time to cut, it ruined DHs saw, some concrete debris hit his face and removing the big chunk of concrete was a big chore. Sounds like you might have been in the lumber biz or in a situation dealing with trees/lumber freq. I am not. In my area, residential trees are (unfortunately) rarely used for lumber and typically go to a burn pile or hauled away. In a residential case like that, there is far less danger than in the situations you describe but yes, danger nonetheless, I don't argue about trees, I was simply posting what I do, and what has worked for me. In the cases where my action turns out to be monumental mistakes, I am never too proud to post accordingly, assuming the tree didn't fall on me...