I strongly suggest you get the grow-thru grid supports for your peonies. I have tried tomato cages, hoops of various types, and pretty much anything else you can think might work. Only the grids really worked well at all; and there is still some damage since the rains always seem to know when there are peonies in full bloom.....The y-stakes are wonderful for lilies and many smaller plants, but simply can't hold the weight of a mature peony. You'd need about 10 of them per plant. I'll give you a link that shows 2 kinds, I don't know if these are good prices. I've seen them at Home Depot and Lowes and various garden centers too. Here is a link that might be useful: plant supports

I made this dish just last night. Its delicious! Although last night I added about 1/2-3/4 lbs of cubed pork tenderloin. CHARCROUTE GARNIE Serves 4 to 6 A blend of French and German cuisine from the Alsace region of France. Even if you hate sauerkraut, you will love this dish. 16 oz Hillshire Farm smoked sausage, cut into 1/4" thick disks 2 small onions chopped 3 cups sauerkraut 5 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cubed 6 tbsp butter 1 cup white wine (Riesling) black pepper 2/3 cup apple sauce Boil potatoes in a large pan over medium heat. Cook sausage and onions for about 10 minutes. Add sauerkraut and cook for another 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and add to pan. Add butter, wine, apple sauce and pepper. Simmer and stir until most of the liquid is absorbed. Serve with a strong German beer.

Probably the difference is the width of fabric, but maybe not. Most upholstery fabric is 54" wide. Apparel fabric may be anywhere from 48" to 60" wide. So get the fabric you like - but I would get as sturdy a denim as you can find. You will also need to get some heavy duty needles. Sewing multiple layers of denim fabric can be very bulky and you'll need a good strong thread and needle for your machine. You might want to even double stick the seams - for extra durability. That just means sewing over the seam twice. Welting does add complexity to the project - mostly because you have to make it and you'll need alot of it! The welting has to be cut on the bias, so it's a pain to make in my opinion. To buy enough for your project would be expensive, but worth it if you really want welting! I have made slipcovers for my sofa and chair, and have done a lot of sewing over the years. It's not hard, but does take alot of planning, measuring and patience. The fabric needs to be prewashed for shrinkage before cutting it out, so that is a job unto itself! Not to discourage you, but I would try and find someone who would make these for you, or go online and do a search for slipcovers. You'll have over $200 in fabric costs and may be able to find ready made ones for just a reasonable price when you factor in your time costs.

Hi, I'm trying out mineral wool/stonewool/rockwool for houseplants and indoor vegetables (lettuce). Hand watering (fertigating) when the solid block, or container of croutons or loose wool is getting dry (by weight). Just started, but everything is growing well so far (and it's certainly cleaner to work with than peat). I'm used to the idea of minimizing salt build-up in container plants, either with periodic very low-salt flushes, or for fast draining mineral mixes with, say, a 15-25% flow through with every irrigation. So what's the real deal with salt and this type of "inert" medium - when hand watering? Couldn't find specifics, but some manufacturer blather seemed to say that a low- or no- salt flush is bad as it would stress the plant since there is no "nutrient buffer" in wool, or tried to imply that salt just doesn't build-up in wool products. Thanks for any hints.