Hey Kimmsr, so, I completed the soil in a jar test, and I was really surprised. Where I thought I had a LOT of OM/compost, turns out there is barely any. I would say it appears to be 1% or less, in a very thin layer floating on the top of the water surface. The rest of the results are harder to tally precisely because the sand and the silt overlap a little at their respective edges, but I can see a general trend. Together, the sand and silt comprise about 70%-75% of the mix. If I had to assign amounts, I'd say it looks like: Clay, 25% Silt 25-30%-ish (depending on overlap with sand) Sand 45-50%-ish (depending on overlap with silt) OM, 1% or less I also did the worm test and was shocked, shocked to find very few worms in the top 12 inches of the soil. I don't know if it's been the freezing weather (last week) or the biblical rainstorms (earlier this week) but I certainly was surprised by the lack of earthworms. The drain test is a little difficult to do right now because we just had a lot of rain, but it appears to be draining faster than 2 hours. So if I'm interpreting these correctly, I am in dire need of more OM, right Kimmsr? I am wondering if the mix that I started (a purchased mix from a reliable local soil company) with was either too light on the OM, or perhaps the OM was not fully composted and the soil food web gobbled it all up? Either way, it sure seems like I need some compost. STAT! And I'm guessing that I WILL need to dig it in rather than just mulch the top. And finally, after reading the PDF you posted earlier, I guess I'm not completely clear on whether to use a fully composted compost---which will provide longer term structure but not much for the soil food web, or a partially composted compost---which will provide more food for the SFW in the short term. help much appreciated! -kmama PS. I guess the issue of whether I need Azomite in this mix is cleared up... there certainly seems to be a rather adequate mineral supply, right? What are your thoughts on Azomite?

Oh, I forgot to mention I used to go out to Pearblossum & get peaches & pears to can & I could pick them out of those baskets- they really are made for carrying fresh fruit in from fields & displaying it. The market out there had about 50 of them lined up with all kinds of apples, peaches greenish pears, some softer fruit was in lugs which were wooden at the time. They had a year around Christmas store out there in the desert & so I always had to stop there for a bit, but I liked to get fruit ready to use(usually marked down too) so would go home the 60 miles & then can fruit until all of 1 kind were in jars & finish up the following day. Jan

Maybe a plaid something like this: sparrow orchard This might work to bring out the warmer golden/yellow tones if you wanted to do that: petit fleur de lys mustard A tiny floral print (provencal) would be another fabric to consider. And the suggestion from kmcg85 about starting with the coordinating things on the website is certainly a good idea.

Sawdust and glue do make a good filler-----BUT!!! Sawdust and glue will not stain at all. You said you might try to stain the sawdust before adding the glue, probably worth the try, but be aware sawdust stains darker than the wood. So, you get to have an adventure---I say that because you do have a wonderful attitude about finding solutions. The key to matching wood filler color is to stain the wood first and try to match the filler color to the final wood color. There are several options to filling and matching the color. Stain sticks come in several colors and some can be blended to make custom colors. They are similar to crayons. Another is to stain the filler before applying---this can be tricky as the fillers usually dry a different color. You could even learn a new skill---inlaying. With a router, an inlay collar set, and a straight bit with some guides, you can use maple wood to inlay and fill holes/gaps/knots/imperfections and have a nice conversation piece. Then stain away.