I would definitely advise filling it NOW. I have two rather large raised beds for growing vegetables and I filled them with Dynodirt from Denton county and donkey manure (of which I have an endless supply)!! I did add a small amount of sand to the Dynodirt and each fall I add more donkey manure to turn under. I cannot offer any advice on bagged soil, and I should think that would be pretty pricey.

Olive oil is sensitive to contamination by ferrous and rust particles. Olive oil is shipped in huge drums and packaged at plants - not on site at the growers usually. It often becomes contaminated if the drums are not properly cleaned between shipments. The drums are often used to ship other things and residue remains if not cleaned properly. This is how many food products become contaminated. Or, the can could have been damaged from moisture causing it to rust. Or, those are not black flakes but dead insects that made their way into the can and died. Fruit flies can be attracted to olive oil and then get stuck in it.

Iseltzer: We have jap beatles all around me yet luckily so far, they are not in big numbers where I am at. 30 miles away they are horrendous so I suppose some day they will be a problem for me. I grow grapes too so I hope they stay away. When they come, I will try carbaryl since I heard it is supposed to work great on jap beatles. I grow tart cherries too and find I must net at the first sign of pink on the fruits. If you wait a few days longer, it will be amazing how much of the crop just vanishes to birds. Even with a net I got one crafty robin who always walked around the tree every morning and finally found some way in. Very hard to remove the birds once inside the netting. Thankfully I only had that happen twice. Never did find any opening how it got in. My biggest pest with cherries is birds. I do spray for curculio, cherry fruit fly, cherry leaf spot (if and when it happens). I do not spray once the tree is netted so I have had an outbreak or two of powdery mildew if we get very cloudy and rainy weather for a long period at this stage but it was only bad once and more so on some varieties than others. Cuculio season here runs potentially from petal fall to about mid-June. Just before I net, I like to spray one last time at the first sign of pink on any fruit and that seems to do the trick for me (only found one larvae in all the fruit I picked and pitted over the years). If I get leafspot, I will spray chlorothalonil AFTER harvest as not cleared for cherries after shuck-split stage in spring. Not a huge issue so far except for one year and again definite differences in susceptibility based on variety. Most of this pertains to my tart cherries since I have only tried growing sweets the past few years. I do not think they will be much different that the tarts as far as birds,insects and disease issues except that I avoid using Imidan insecticide on the sweets due to phytotoxicity.

I had my soil tested and need to apply about 250 lb of calcitic lime to my lawn. I looked at my local Home Depot and also a landscaper supply business, but neither had the calcitic lime. Just pelletized and with magnesium, which I don't need. Can you recommend a source and maybe brand for a plain vanilla product that will work? I have a broadcast spreader to apply it, and will wear a mask on a windless day so a powdery form is ok, I think. (I am not experienced in this, just don't want to pay for anything I don't need!) Thanks.