"It looks like you switched to the Dyna grow 9-3-6 last year. Do you still use CRF in your soil mix if you are still using this fert?" Actually, I rarely use the CRFs at all. I like the near complete control the soluble fertilizers give me in containers. I'm pretty diligent about fertilizer applications, so I really don't need the CRFs to cover the 'in case I forget' base, or for any minor elements they might supply. I included them in the soil recipes to make it easier for others. As long as you're faithful to your nutrient supplementation program, you can easily do w.o them. If you think you'll be lax at times, I'd include them. 109 ppm alkalinity is nothing to be overly concerned about with fast container soils. It would be interesting to learn how the Ca and Mg levels are though. Alkalinity is related to pH because alkalinity (practically speaking and for our applications) determines your water's resistance to pH changes. If you have water 'A' at a pH of 9.0 with an alkalinity of 75 mg/L CaCO3, and water 'B', with a pH of 8.0 (a full point lower to begin with) and alkalinity of 300 mg/L CaCO3, it will take about 4 times as much 35% H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) to bring the water with the lower pH down to That aside - your water is better than mine, so I really doubt you'll have Fe/Mn issues if you're using either the 9-3-6 or MG. I will say though, that bark/peat soils have a potentially high Fe:Mn ratio, so applying Fe w/o Mn could easily create a deficiency of Mn. If I were in your shoes, I would do nothing until I actually saw evidence of an Fe deficiency. Then, I would acidify. Oh - the other likely cause of an Fe deficiency is too much P, which combines with the Fe to form an insoluble precipitate, so avoid the high P fertilizers - they are useless unless you are using them to supply the exact amount of P needed while intentionally (severely) limiting N. I used this strategy last year: I fertilized with regular dosages of 9-3-6 until the plants were well established. I then cut way back on the dosage and added ProTeKt to the solution. I rather like to envision that I used the added K (and got the benefit of the added silicon) to change the fertilizer ratio to 3:1:3 from a 3:1:2. This allowed me to reduce the dosage of N (reducing vegetative growth) while still having adequate P and K. Take care. Al

Summer Programs offered by the Monmouth County Park System at Deep Cut Gardens, 352 Red Hill Rd., Middletown, NJ. Register by phone at 732-842-4000 ext. 1 or online at www.monmouthcountyparks.com. Questions? Call Deep Cut at 732-671-6050 or e-mail dallen@monmouthcountyparks.com. Vegetable Gardening 101 (adults) It isnt too late to start a vegetable garden, and there are many reasons to do so! This series of classes takes the beginner through the growing season, from starting a no-dig garden through plant selection, controlling pests & diseases, extending the harvest, to using & preserving the harvest. Emphasis will be on environmentally friendly methods. One 2-Hr Session $10.00 Per Person Sat, Jun 6 10am-12pm H1193A Sat, Jul 11 1pm-3pm H1293A Sat, Aug 8 10am-12pm H1393A Vegetable Gardening in Small Spaces (adults) You donÂt need a lot of space to have fresh, home-grown produce. Learn about a variety of small-space gardening techniques like container gardening, incorporating edibles in the ornamental gardens, and plants that do well in less than full sun. One 2-Hr Session $10.00 Per Person Sat, Jun 13 10am-12pm H0293A Stretching for Gardeners (adults) Working in the garden is good for body and soul, but it can put stresses on the body that leave us with aching, sore muscles. Instructor Mare Akana will show you some ways to stretch, relax and massage those hard-working muscles. Please bring a yoga mat or towel to sit on, plus one additional towel. One 1-hr Session $15.00 Per Person Sat, Jun 6 1:00-2:00pm H2893A Growing Roses in Monmouth County (adults) Considered the Queen of Flowers by some, roses may be more hardy than you think. Diane Wilkerson, President of the Jersey Shore Rose Society and ARS Consulting Rosarian, will dispel some of the mystique with advice on selection, planting, pest management, pruning, disease-resistant varieties and tips for organic gardeners. Weather permitting, a tour of the new rose garden with discussion of selected roses will follow. One 2-Hr Session $15.00 Per Person Sat, Jun 13 1pm-3pm H1793A Fairy Houses in the Gardens (all ages, under 18 with adult) Spend an enchanted morning creating tiny fairy houses out of natural materials found at Deep Cut. We will begin with a story for inspiration, learn about fairies favorite plants and review fairy "building codes" before going outdoors to build. Bring your imagination, a blanket for relaxing outdoors, and any natural found objects (bark, pebbles, shells, etc.) you would like to include in your creation. One 2-Hr Session $7.50/Adult $5.00/Child Sat, Jun 20 10am-12pm H0393X Daylily Day at Deep Cut Gardens (all ages) The Monmouth County Park System and the Garden State Daylily Growers present Daylily Day at Deep Cut Gardens, Saturday, June 27, 2009 10am-2pm 352 Red Hill Road, Middletown, NJ. Daylily displays with experts on hand to answer questions. Come enjoy our large selection of daylilies on the grounds. Admission is free. What is Plein Air Painting? (adults) Judy Stach, President and Founder of the Plein Air Painters of the Jersey Coast will present a talk and demonstration on Plein Air Painting  painting in the open air. After the talk, members of the PAPJC will be painting at various locations in Deep Cut Gardens where you may visit the artists to see them in action. Works will remain on display in the Horticultural Center through July 16. One 1-Hr Session $10.00 Per Person Sat, Jul 11 10am-11am Summer Garden Camp (ages 6-8) A week of garden and nature-related crafts, projects and stories, including a garden safari. Five 3-Hr Sessions $85.00 Per Child Mon-Fri, Jul 20-24 1-4pm H1493A Mon-Fri, Aug3-7 1-4pm H1593A Mon-Fri, Aug 17-21 9am-12pm H1693A Garden Kids (ages 7-10) An introduction to gardening through fun activities! Five one-hour classes include: seeds  dissection & germination, plant anatomy, soil composition and composting, plant propagation, and insects. Five 1-Hr Sessions $50.00 Per Child Mon-Fri, Jul 27-31 10-11am H0493A Plein Air Painting in Watercolor (adults) With the grounds of Deep Cut Gardens as inspiration, the student will learn how to see as an artist and depict the light, color and perspective of the landscape. All experience levels; all materials supplied. For your comfort, bring water, sunscreen and sun hat. Instructor: Lizzie Schippert, NJWCS One 3-Hr Session $30.00 Per Person Wed, Jun 3 9am-12pm H0793A Wed, Jun 10 9am-12pm H0893A Wed, Jun 17 9am-12pm H0993A Wed, Jun 24 9am-12pm H1093A Botanical Art Series for Teens (entering grades 7-12) All art materials supplied. Many classes will be held outdoors; for your comfort, dress appropriately and bring water, sunscreen and sunhat or visor. One 2-Hr Session $22.00 Per Person Botanical Drawing Students will learn about the different plant structures, flowers, leaves and roots. Using pencils and paper, they will be able to explore them through drawing. Tue, Jun 30 9-11am H1993A Drawing Trees with Charcoal Learn how charcoal is made and how to use this ancient medium. Become familiar with art history, make tree rubbings and learn about different kinds of trees. Thu, Jul 2 9-11am H2093A Basics of Watercolor Painting Learn how watercolor paints are made, become familiar with watercolor art history, materials, techniques and different subject matters while creating a painting. Tue, Jul 7 9-11am H2193A Watercolors of Natural Light & Shadows Learn to apply the secrets of painting natural light and shadows by learning how to look at these features on subject matter. Thu, Jul 9 9-11am H2293A Watercolors of Pond Plants & Water Explore examples by noted artists and learn how to see the way light and colors play off water before creating your own painting. Tue, Jul 21 9-11am H2393A Watercolors of Skies & Clouds Explore art that shows the skies at different times of day, learn painting techniques and how to look at the skies and clouds artistically while creating your own painting. Thu, Jul 23 9-11am H2493A Pastel Class Exploring OÂKeefe, Van Gogh & Pissarro Learn how to use simple media to explore landscape in the styles of these artists from different eras and places. Students will get to experiment with their own imagination as well as reflecting on art history. Tue, Aug 4 9-11am H2593A Pastel of Still Life Learn about pastel drawing and how to use this medium to explore colorful subject matter. Learn about different fruits and vegetables and explore them through your drawing. Review pastel art history and still life painting. Thu, Aug 6 9-11am H2693A Sumi Ink Landscapes Learn how to use this different medium through an examination of Asian art depicting nature. Explore the different plants and styles of Asian art and how water, sky and land are portrayed. Tue, Aug 11 9-11am H2793A

Oh gosh I am so sorry I posted and then disappeared for a week. Ok lets see and thanks for all the responses I'll try to answer all questions best I can! I'll give verbal answers and then try to work out getting pictures posted sometime in the next day or so. Steam Oven info: The steam oven requires a single cold water plumbing line into the oven. So actually very simple, although its a lot easier when you are doing a new build than a remodel (a crawl space would probably help ease remodel pains.) No drain required! I can't tell you a cost because it was buried in our overall plumbing bid, sorry. I DID have to remind both the plumber and builder about 15 times to plumb it tho even though we noted it specially in the plans. Just not on their usual list of to dos. On the reliability front, we read and read and read and concluded (with some level of uncertainty still) that Kitchenaid had finally replaced the component that was burning out during the clean cycle of their ovens and that if you bought a new one, you should be ok. BUT we haven't dared run the clean cycle yet :-) and I still felt guilty buying their product when they had gone for years without admitting and fixing the problem. We bought an extended warranty for both the oven and for our GE Profile Fridge just in case. And we bought from a local well reputed appliance dealer who we felt would honor the lemon guarantee also. But we do use the oven almost daily with no problems 2 months in. As you'd hope! We paid $3200 for the single oven, which was a definite splurge, and cheaped out on some of the other appliances going the scratch and dent route with those. Advantium info: You have to switch from a metal tray to a glass tray when using microwave or oven. The trays have grooves and fairly easily catch on the metal turntable mechanism, and both trays easily wipe clean. We have a drawer under the oven in which we keep the tray not in use, and the stand you are supposed to add in to do broiling. So far, no one has forgotten to switch the trays, and the oven gives you a digital reminder when you set the cooking times to use the metal or glass tray. If you were only to buy this one oven, I'd be sure and get the 120 which has a larger size interior than the 240. Read through the dimension info carefully. This one was a craigslist buy, about half retail, you find them regularly on craigslist and ebay. We also got our gas cooktop (Dacor 5 burner) off ebay, one third retail. This one was a lower risk, since there is so little that can go wrong with a gas cooktop mechanically. Island info: Upper counter is 4'6 across and 8' long. The long side is fine, the 4'6 width is insane. The upper counter is 43" off the floor so to start with, if I'm standing on the floor I can reach about 2' of the 4'6. Even if I lean out while standing on the stool, I can't come close to the far edge. I think we should have held it to about 3' deep. On top of that width, there is another 2'5" of lower counter width which holds our cooktop and funny caboose sink/wet bar. So when standing at the stove, I can only just barely reach the edge of the higher counter to put something up there, and then its too far away for anyone to reach from the other side. However it does hold a LOT of junk. notebooks and scanners and mail and coupon clippings and pan lids and the dog treat jar.... you get the idea. (slobs? us? oooops.) There is also a lower counter on the backside which is the cutting and food prep areas wrapping around from the cooktop side. Imagine an L shaped lower counter wrapping two sides of the higher counter. The backside lower counter is where the cutting board is with the bins, and that section is actually another couple of inches lower than the rest of the L. So we have three counter heights on the island, 43" height eating/piling things surface, then 36" height with a corner "wet" bar, a cooktop, a prep area with the advantium below, and then a 30" height butcher block. The pics will come next. thanks for your patience. I hope this made sense so far.

I am in the middle of the planning stage of a kitchen remodel...I have been a lurker for about 2 years. I had planned to have a 36" integrated refrigerator with 2 freezer drawers on the bottom and add 2 refrigerator drawers to my island. This would have given me 18.8 cu ft. of refrig and 6.9 cu ft of freezer space. I recently decided to do a refrigerator armoire look with two 27" Subzero 700 TCI units, refrigerator on top, 2 freezer drawers on the bottom of each unit. This will give me 20.4 cu ft of refrigerator space and 10.2 cu ft of freezer space. I was afraid the 36" unit and 2 refrigerator drawers was not going to be enough freezer space. If you like the look of 2 drawers on the bottom (instead of the columns), SZ also has 27" units with 2 drawers on the bottom that can be all refrigerator or all freezer. Good luck!