I have inserted some peer reviewed research articles in response to nc-crn's statements. We have many more in our files and will be glad to forward them to anyone interested. Just email us at info@sludgefacts.org. _______________________________________________ "In fact, instead of killing pathogens, many driers actually PRODUCE antibiotic resistant germs, as the more vulnerable indicator pathogens are destroyed, letting superbugs survive and multiply." Chen, Yen-Chih et al. 2011. The effect of digestion and dewatering on sudden increases and regrowth of indicator bacteria after dewatering. Water and Environ. Research 83: 773 Droffner, M. L. 1995. Survival of E. coli and Salmonella populations in composts as measured with DNA gene probes. Zentralbl. Hyg. Umweltmed 197(5): 387-397. Selvaratnam, et al. 2004. Increased frequency of drug-resistant bacteria and fecal coliforms in an Indiana Creek adjacent to farmland amended with treated sludge. Can. J. Microbio. 50(8): 653-656. Torrice, M. 2011. Spreading resistance during wastewater treatment. Chemical Engineering News. March 28. doi: 10.1021/CEN031011143933 Pathogen regrowth after dewatering and digestion http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/41036(342)530 _______________________________________________ "NO amount of lead is safe in your garden." Very small amounts of lead can cause irreversible neurological damage to small children. Lead accumulates in soil. Is it wise to permit unregulated Class A EQ sludges to contain 300 ppm of lead to add to the lead that is already present in urban soils? _________________________________________________ "Current federal sludge rules do NOT regulate PCBs or related persistent toxic chemicals." PCBs in Milwaukee’s Class A sludge: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29463034.html Plants don't care about PCBs, nor do they translocate them. Not quite true. Although exposure from PCBs and dioxin- like chemicals comes mostly from meat and dairy products, there is new data that these extremely toxic compounds can also adhere to or be absorbed by crops: EPA PCB Fact Sheet: Some plants in the squash family appear to be able to accumulate PCBs from soil via their roots. Studies of tomatoes grown downwind from a PCB-contaminated sediment site demonstrated that lighter, more volatile, congeners released into the atmosphere can be taken up by the leaves and transported into edible portions of the plant. Generally, however, most of the PCBs remain on the surface of fruits and vegetables, often as part of the soil deposited by wind or rainwater splash clinging to the plant. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/004565359390324X: Field studies were conducted on PCDD/PCDF transfer from contaminated soils to lettuce, potato plants and hay. Contamination of crops by soil particles proved to be an important source of PCDD/PCDF in plants. _____________________________________________ "There is no credible science that supports using sludge as fertilizer. Instead tax dollars are used to wage a massive public acceptance campaign to persuade gardeners, farmers, the media , and the public that this practice is safe." Please forward specific credible science you claim is “out there”, published in the peer reviewed literature that indicates that the regulations governing the use of sludge are protective of human health, agriculture, or the environment. _______________________________________________ I'm not expecting to change your mind about any of this Of course I will change my mind if I see credible data that proves me wrong. I mean solid peer reviewed published research, not vague unsubstantiated claims. Show me your data. Two or three recent peer reviewed articles will do.

Great thread! Thanks to Mike for the idea about interplanting greens between the potatoes and tomatoes. I did spinach early between my tomatoes, but I was wondering where to plant some summer mixed greens. Between the potatoes will be perfect. They'll provide some shade and moist ground between the hills, and I won't have to buy a row cover! Thanks! I am planning to do greens around $8-10/lb for mixed medium salad greens and arrugula, selling in pre-measured bags of about 4oz. $2 bunch for herbs, $5 pint for raspberries. Cut flowers at $7, $12 and minis at $4. Flower prices include sales tax. We are synthetic chem and pesticide free (but not certified organic.) P.S. Anybody have a good source for pint baskets? I'd love the wooden ones, but will settle on the green compressed paper ones for price if I have to (would love an undyed paper one brown/tan, but haven't seen that at all).

Thank You Trudi!!! Bidding begins tomorrow Jan. 10th at noon and will run until Sunday Jan. 17th until 12 AM. Don't miss your chance at having that extra edge in the Giant Tomato Garden this season! List of Tomato Seed Auctions Lot#1 = N. Harp Lot: 7.18 C. Harp 09 (5.58 Timm 08 X Open) (Big Zac) 1 packs of @ 5 seeds each Lot, Three Seperate Lots. Lot#2: Timm Lot 5.58 B. Timm 08 (3.9 Catapano 07 X Open) (Big Zac) 1 pack of 5 seeds "known producer" 3.872 B. Timm 08 (3.8 Timm 06 X Open) (Delicious) 1 pack of 5 seeds 3.685 B. Timm 08 (3.4 Timm 06 X Open) (Delicious) 1 pack of 5 seeds Lot#3: Perry Lot: 4.83 Perry 09 (5.58 Timm 08 X Open) (Big Zac) 1 pack of 5 seeds "Held the 2009 Ohio State Record for a short period of time" 4.48 Perry 08 (Church X Open) 1 pack of 5 seeds "The 2008 Ohio State Record" 4.14 Perry 09 (BelMonte X Open) 1 pack of 5 seeds "Uni-Bloom, Beautiful classic tomato shape, only 10 seeds in this tomato" 3.59 Perry 09 (unknown) 1 packs of 10 seeds 3.50 Perry 09 (unknown) 1 packs of 10 seeds 3.36 Perry 08 (Church X Open) 1 packs of 10 seeds Lot#4 PGGC Member Lot: 3.59 Perry 09 (unknown) 1 packs of 10 seeds 3.50 Perry 09 (unknown) 1 packs of 10 seeds 3.19 King 09 (Domingo X Open) 1 packs of 5 seeds 2.39 King 09 (NJ Big Bill X Open) 1 pack of 5 seeds Giganto II 1 pack of 10 seeds Kilo Della Garfagnana 1 pack of 10 seeds BelMonte 1 pack of 10 seeds Lot#5 Genetic Diversity: Giant Belgium 1 pack of 10 seeds from Tomato Growers Supply Tidwell German 1 pack of 10 seeds from Tomato Growers Supply Florida Pink 1 pack of 10 seeds from Tomato Growers Supply Mortgage Lifter 1 pack of 10 seeds from Tomato Growers Supply Richardson 1 pack of 10 seeds from Tomato Growers Supply Amana Orange 1 pack of 10 seeds from Tomato Growers Supply German 1 pack of 10 seeds Collected from a greenhouse customer of mine in 2005. Brandywine 1 pack of 1/16th ounce @ 300-500 seeds purchased from Holmes seed company and packaged for 2008, I haven't grown whoppers off of these but they do taste good. Buy em and pass em around. Delicious 1 pack of 50 seeds actually more like 100 but we'll call it 50. The variety that Gordon Graham used to grow the World record Hillbilly 1 pack of well over 50 seeds Big Meaty Bi-Color tomato Old German 1 pack of well over 20 seeds German Johnson 1 pack of well over 20 seeds Russian 1 pack of 25 seeds Collected from a greenhouse customer of mine in 2005 OxHeart 1 pack of 10 seeds Given to me after the GlenMoor Country Club Tomatofest via Chef Scott Jones from a woman in Pennsylvania who collected tomatoes in 2004 You must be a registered member to bid on the auction lots. Register now at www.PerrysGreenhouse.com. For those who are interested we also hold a Giant Tomato Virtual Weigh-Off each year, all are Welcome to participate. Past prizes have included proven Giant Tomato genetics, Garden supplies and books donated by Tom at www.extremepumpkinstore.com. We also have dedicated Giant Tomato Diaries, Group Discussions, information on growing them Big fom seed to fruit, and Plenty of great people willing to help you grow your next personal best. Duane Perry Here is a link that might be useful: PGGC Giant Tomato seed Auction

The fridge is now at the recycling center. It was never necessary for me to know details. That this old fridge used a lot of energy is all I needed to know. Within a few months i will be able to compare my monthly power bill. This gives an order of magnitude. Assuming other habits remain the same, after 12 or 24 months I can see an average drop. A power meter at the plug is just-for-fun; it's too much detail if you already know the answer and you aren't trying to find out. We ordered our new fridge before today but it is not here yet. The old fridge is (was) on a pedestal 18" above the floor. To move it to get to its plug would have required a major operation of muscle power. Don't feel like calling my friend(s) in for that. Hope this explains why i never got around to its measuring power consumption. We knew it was a power hog anyway, and moving it was a bear. Hope you don't mind my guessing that a fridge is less efficient when 26 years old than when new. Hope you don't mind my not measuring my own consumption although I did respond to someone else's query "how can we know" by saying they can measure power at the plug with a meter. I have a power meter. Someone in my household misplaced it. One day it will pop up. I intend to use it for the new fridge and for other things. Just to satisfy curiosity. -david