How much of a leaf cover do you need for that? I don't really know. This is the first time I am planting in the front yard woods, after picking up sticks and limbs, trimming up some trees, pulling up tree seedlings, pulling up 'some' vines, and digging out lots and lots of May Apples, and raking aside all the leaf cover. Stringing the rows and doing the actual planting is the easiest part of the whole planting experience. I'd say the leaf cover is at least 6" or so. I kept watching the weatherunderground on the computer all day, hoping it would get warm. Even though it wasn't warm at 4 PM (was just 34 though it was sunny) I headed out to get a few planted. Surprisingly, I wasn't cold, the soil was wet, but not clumpy, my hands didn't get cold, and I managed to plant 15 little bags, 47 total bulbs. so all those from the front yard (city tree) went to the city for composting. How I wish I had trees that weren't all in the woods or at the edge of the woods. All the leaves at the edges of the yard are full of sticks and twigs. I used to sometimes go to friend's houses and do their leaves, just to get to bring them all home for the veggie garden. I've got this wonderful leaf shredder that reduces them 13 to 1, turning leaves into what I call brown gold. I think the little willow leaves should be fine. Last year I remember "discovering" that the open areas were frozen solid while those with some cover were not. I might be able to exploit that some year if I knew what to aim for. How deep? I wonder if you couldn't just cover an area with either clear plastic or black plastic to keep the warm in and the freezing cold out, thus lengthening the planting season so you could get in on the late sales, like from B and B's.

Not knowing what you are dealing with is the reason I suggested getting horse tested for mineral deficiencies. She may or may NOT have a mineral problem. Test tells you that answer so you cross off that possibility. If you are in a selenium deficient area, you need to be adding selenium and Vit E(helper allowing horse to absorb selenium) to horse diet. You can buy both items at the local elevator. They are not mixed evenly, check with your vet for proportions. I find them fairly inexpensive, easy to feed in powder form. Not a horse special product, so way cheaper than a name-brand horse item. Horse needs selenium for muscle and reproductive tract. Being deficient can make horse very muscle sore, lead to poor heat cycles, sore backs, among other things. I also thought my good pasture, nice hay, clean grain was enough. Getting a lame horse, too sore to use from being selenium deficient changed my viewpoint. Dr. doing the mineral test had never seen one test so low and still be moving. He came right back out to give her a helping shot, then told us to get the powder. Amazing the change that daily tablespoon of mixed powders made to the horse. My case is extreme. My other horse, same field, diet, showed no deficiency. Horses had been together for 10 years. Just the way two different bodies use what is avalilable to them. If you have sheep, do they have a sheep mineral block? There is stuff in sheep feed that is bad for horses. The same way that copper in horse feed is bad for sheep. Horse could be getting wrong minerals from sheep feed or block, throwing her system off. This is where over-supplementing can throw body system off. Horse only needs TINY amounts of these needed minerals. You have to look at all the stuff being fed, read labels, not add a little of this and that. Complete feeds are just that, COMPLETE, if fed at the rates maker recommends. Horse shouldn't then be getting extra, other supplemental stuff.

Thanks to everyone who has responded! Toxcrusadr has an interesting point about earthworm toxicity studies for vet drugs that will end up on the ground, so I did some Internet research based on that, and discovered articles like this one, which make me feel much better about composting my horses' poo: http://santacruzwire.com/index.php/maria-gaura/162-is-horse-manure-safe-for-organic-gardens.html It's interesting to read the different ways that people use dewormers. At our barn, the vet comes quarterly for vaccinations, worming and Legend. Not everyone gets a vaccination each time, but everyone who uses that vet service is offered worming on that schedule. Our vet service actually tries to discourage horse owners from automatically giving horses dewormer without knowing if the horses have worms. They place articles around the barn with the scientific and environmental reasons for this. In theory, I think they are absolutely right, but in practice, it's nearly impossible to for the stars to line up so that my horse poos at precisely the right time for me to scoop it up and rush it to the vet while it's fresh enough to test. Either the vet hospital is closed, I simply can't leave the barn, or the horse just didn't poo at the right time.

My life was saved by not one, but two boxers! When I was very small and still in my crib my mother was on the phone trying to have a conversation while I was napping. But our brindle boxer dog Mike kept coming up to her barking and then would run back to my room. He did this several times. Mom finally told her friend that something was wrong and she needed to go check on me. She found me in my crib, blue and with a dry cleaner bag sucked down my throat. She removed the bag but was certain I was dead when my father, a professional Golden Gloves boxer and part time Seattle sheriff walked in the door for lunch. Having taken CPR classes, he knew what to do. And here I sit, 57 years later because of the two boxers in my life. :-) Jodi-