kimmsr saying, "Harvard has a composting program that did not come even close to costing that much money. Cornell has a composting program that did not even come close to costing that much money." I'm sure. I read forever ago that the state ag colleges normally teach composting; they always have. It was a memorable article because it said that a student project was to compost a dead calf in six weeks. Dead calves are in fairly plentiful supply at ag colleges -- and dairy farms. Made me think about the potential of composting. Well, composting is getting more and more high-tech to separate homeowners without much yard from their money. Look at the latest Gardener's Edge catalog, jeepers. I'd be embarrassed to use those big cream churns instead of a straightforward series of bins! However....I suppose the whole crucial deal all the new systems and machines address is the turning. That's certainly how our local landfill gets the huge amount of sterile compost we can buy for $10, loaded onto the truck. They have huge scoops constantly turning the material in long windrows. Turning is presumably what separates hot, sterile composting from cold passive composting like I do, with nice black stuff but lots of weed seeds. These schools probably get a lot of pressure to be "green," so maybe it's worth the money just to shut up the greenies for awhile.

A very interesting article! I really hope they can find a suitable biofuel that can be quickly be put into use soon with the way the gas prices are climbing now! I saw on a TV show not long ago that at least one country in south america is almost exclusively useing biofuel made from sugarcane. I also read a recent newspaper article that mentioned someone was looking at the possibility of converting used coffee grounds into biofuel! Wouldn't that be interesting!

Lyra, Yesterday I was given (under the counter at a cafe where I know the staff well) an espresso cup full of homemade "hooch." 90 proof I was told. It was delicious and tasted perhaps of herbs but I have no idea what was in it, only that it was made by a Greek friend named Gus. This got me thinking. As you know I have a son and friend on a boat in the South Pacific. They are on a pretty tight budget and food and libations are astonishingly expensive. They occasionally splurge for some boxed wine and they are sometimes fed by locals in exchange for capable help but often they live on beans, rice, and any fish they catch. So alcohol is an infrequent treat. I was online with the Captain last night and I suggested they try making some homemade wine. They have access to an abundant supply of fresh mangoes and other fruit. I looked up directions for making homemade mango wine and they were fussy, purist, a bit arcane and required a year of aging and ingredients available in a wine store. Well, that won't do! So I looked up "jail house wine." That produced this: "Find any kind of cheap juice. I like cranberry. The way I do it is boil a few cups of sugar mixed with water until it becomes a syrup. I add this to about two gallons of cranberry juice. It sounds too sweet, but it evens out the sour taste from the cranberry. Then I'll take a cup of the juice, warm it up slightly in the mircowave, throw in a packet of yeast and let it sit until it gets a nice head on it. Then I throw that into the rest of the juice, mix it up real good and let set for about a month in a tight container with a small airhole so gas can vent. When the yeast activates, it eats the sugar as food, and the byproduct is alcohol. Its far from a fine wine, but its pretty simple. Its a loose recipe, so it may take some tinkering to get it the way you like it. And remember, the more yeast, the more alcohol. If you can get ahold of some bread yeast over there, that'll do the job, but leaves a slight "bready" flavor if you use too much. Juice+sugar+yeast+time=hooch" Crude but probably effective. There must be some middle ground. I doubt they can find wine yeast or other wine store specific ingredients but can surely find bread yeast and sugar and juice and other things in a grocery store on Bora Bora. Got any recipes or guidance? What do you suggest to Here is a link that might be useful: Will this be useful to send to them?

I'd like to know what the plants are (some are more susceptible to scale) , what type of scale it was, how big the plants are ... and what you are now going to put them amongst...and what you've been treating them with... but.. by way of a general answer(s) 1. The only way to keep those plants, and the rest of the garden safe, is to keep on top of the scale. You need to know a bit about their life-cycle. They can reproduce very fast and at first stage they are mobile and called "crawlers" and they go off looking for a nice juicy spot to anchor themselves. At this stage there are thousands of them - almost invisible to the naked eye - but they are at their most vulnerable. Light chemical sprays that reach all parts of the plant, will usually do the trick. After that stage they begin to settle and may be oval or flat or raised but often simply green or whitish or opaque and it is really hard to detect them unless you know what you are searching for. At this stage also they can be easily killed by chemical treatment, even by gently dislodging them with a cotton bud. Once they anchor, they set that hard shell and at that stage they are harder to treat. Type of treatment depends on the plant, and where it is - oil based treatments "drown" the insect but can cause burning to leaves in outside areas unless used carefully. Also some folk don't like using pesticides inside the house. But at this stage the scale are pretty "immobile" so can also be removed manually with a toothbrush or a toothpick, just very gently popping them off the plant. Anyway you know what to look for and to keep up the inspections every few days and even so, the treatments every 2 weeks at least for say 2 months, to make sure you have got them as they have a very fast reproductive cycle and the eggs can then still remain ready to hatch. The second thing is to try to keep your newly planted out things a little apart from other plants so there is no "bridge" (leaf to leaf) for the scale - or ants - to climb over while you are eradicating the scale. You must get on top of the ants, as they are attracted by the honey-dew that the scale excrete, and they actually "farm" the scale and move them around plants. If you don't object to more chemical help, dust the plants and the immediate soil with an ant-killer (not a spray) - I have found Hortico Ant & Roach dust very fast and efficient at killing ants on the surface. Depending on the type of plant, you could also try smearing vaseline (petroleum jelly) on the trunk of the plant from ground level to a few inches up - this also deters ants from trying to climb into the stems. 2. Yes, the ants do add to the problem. If you were only keeping the existing plants, then I would say you should treat for the ant infestation also and usually you can do it by (a) plunging the pots in a bucket of water to above soil level for say 15 mins till all air-bubbles come out, and the ants will usually evacuate...