My Okie father, who was born in 1910, composted his whole life, as had both his dustbowl farmer parents before him, so I figure that my family has been composting continually for well over a century. (When someone was in college or in WWII, some other family member was running a pile somewhere.) In almost 56 years, I have only lived in one home that didn't have a compost pile---during a nine month stint I spent in Boston once. In the summer when we went to our camp, we put our compostables into a bottom-less trash can that my father sank into the ground. That was in operation for fifty years until an overenthusiastic snowplow guy plowed well into our back yard and drove it out of the ground. The lid was unscathed and I still have it. For some reason, my father or someone stamped a neat "1945" into it. The bin in our backyard at home was a three-sided, wooden box about 5 feet x 10. We dropped our household debris into the bin from the garden crib above it. When my father (the gardener) died, my brother, mother and I continued to add to what my family called the "mulch pile", but we never harvested from it. It was just the way we managed waste. For years and years. I moved out and began to compost at my new apartment. When my mother moved in the 80s I moved the contents of the bin along with her other household items. I planted a garden with some of my father's plants---Blue Flag and Solomon's Seal and bluebells---and used all of the compost in the new garden. Someone gave me a huge wooden box from Lockheed and I set it up at the new place for my mother's new bin. My stepfather later built another bin 5' x 8. Over time we added three mobile, wire bins. I have five bins going now here at our former cottage, plus an area about 7'x 20' that is under three feet of packed leaves and grass clippings, an area that will be planted someday. I covered an area about 15'x20 last year under about 50 bags of leaves, about, I can't really remember, I think over 50 pumpkins, six contractor's bag of seaweed, four bales of rotten hay, and a few bags of pine needles. It's shocking how much that shrank by summer's end. It's good looking stuff, though, so I thought that I should head to another area. I'm going to heavily mulch that area with chicken house litter this spring and plant something there.

Thank You Skygee: Here is a great link by the way, explains a lot esp why meds don't work... now I used only non ama medicine on myself going way back - concept of balance, intestional floura, diet so on, and this site posts research that basically states the same. IE, the store bought betta with flex has been battling it for months now... Rule number one, I will never buy from this store again, (although I see the same stuff at other stores) as they are already infected and in spite of my thinking I could heal them, it is a losing battle. (there is much at this amazing site, after reading much on it, esp the types of bacteria and how it balances itself and different cycles - even the colonies at the surface of the water. http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/bactin.shtml (and why not to put infected fish although 'cured' back into community) Therefore won't put my gourami (parasites, treated and now several months later, same spot erupting again) will go by himself in tank that used to house albinos. (This site also had information on gourami cysts - described it exactly as mine had, never really are cured, parasite lives in liver and other organs, and crops up again (as mine has) ( due to their breeding in filth) (with guppy mom and three baby guppies) The breeders call them ticking time bombs. Not a nice way to treat fish, I'll say. Now with re to cories. No more losses. I put them in ten gallon with rocks (guarantine tank)(Rocks safe, I've had for decades solid granite) (filter and water from main safe tank and slowly over a few days added fresh. Checked all paramentors aok. No more scratching flashing...hmmmm. (reason why they had been put back in 20 long in first place) So something in that tank that is causing this??? In tank they came from: I noticed when there was only a few snails (pond) there was a lot of 'castings' - ie snail pooh. I think, looked like castings. A lot of mulm on floor. Can 2 -3 snails pooh that much? Could this have been causing nitrite/nitrate spike in gravel (which was reduced in amount, gravel that is) because I didn't cycle right? Ie bacteria would take care of snail pooh? Even before I put in fresh gravel and it was bare, I noticed a lot of these. Before the guppies, which I know pooh a lot, lol. Or since I had part sand, part small rounded gravel, could this have caused irritations. I had noticed it in their gills once in a while. That said they were recovering from septesemia (SP) (which due to this site I found I now better understand) My salt is very little. Per old fashion Dr. Innes... About 1/2 teasoon in 10 gallons. Up to 1 over a few days.... That's it (have done it before and they can handle a very low dose esp if done gradually)... Since I didn't want the gouramis/bettas spread out in extra tanks, I now have more tanks then intended and will not be buying any more fish, esp since the tanks at my local stores have dead and dying fish - all the time. Also at new one I went to for Annubias they had in stock, fish with the same columinaris, or water mold. Seems to be in a lot of stores, and guy at second store said they come in with it on them, yikes! (New World Aquarium, had some not for sale, beautiful white as white female bettas given to them by a local breeder. What a difference it makes. Like cream. There fish all healthy but mostly marine) What is sad but interesting, is that on another forum (vivarium) someone had posted an article where due to this species and it's variations, there is a mass die off of amphibians world wide. Within two weeks they are all dead. It is virulent. Due to logging and other inbalances in environment. This article also states that like in a hospital due to over treatment of antibiotics, esp in the fishing industry, these bacteria have become highly mutated and resistant. I knew this had occured in people but didn't realize it was so much used in fish. When younger all I used was salt. Fish rarely got sick even, just the one that jumped out occasionally. So, to conclude, not sure what is/did cause them to scratch in that tank. I have used same source of wood in 4 other tanks, with no problems... for over one year? (all wood from red wood forest, guy had it out in 'yard' for decades, solid root parts then I aged it for months but really didn't need it) They will stay in bare bottom tank, with rocks and annubias since they seem happy and well there. They are swimming wonderfully! I guess the cold snap started things off... but relieved all seems settled, and can stop fussing, lol. Best and thanks again, Sherry

Had some Labrador Tea tea at bedtime last night. And it was a good thing that I had all night to "think" about it, as any definition initially failed me. The best one word description is smooth. I wouldn't call it sweet, yet adding sugar is not necessary. There is a light taste of a tannin, reminiscent of the earthy bog where it grows, but not strongly astringent or biting. Quick brewing, the color is golden. Unlike pekoe teas, brewing more than a minute doesn't seem to enhance or strengthen the flavor. I include Basswood tea here because Labrador Tea tea is similar. Both seem to have the same base tanin flavor: Labrador Tea with the earthy bog twist, and Basswood with the added flavor of its flower's aroma. Not surprising as the tea is made with the dried flowers themselves. If you have ever had Basswood honey, the same flavor is there too. Basswood tea is even more smooth than Labrador Tea tea, but there is a quality about it that, for me at least, was not offensive yet it needed a bit of getting use to. In North America, Basswood (Linden) is Tilia americana. In Europe, it is Littleleaf Linden (Tilia cordata). When we visit our relatives in Slovenia, this is the tea they had and used almost daily, gathered from the nearby woods. And since I don't like coffee, this is why I got used to it. Littleleaf Basswood is also the national tree of Slovenia. Unlike our state tree (any guesses?), they take it very seriously. The two species of Basswood teas taste the same to me, although I have never tried them side by side. Rick P.S. The Minniesota state tree is the Norway pine or Red pine (Pinus resinosa).

Yes Andrea, I would like the name of the supplier so I can ring Bunnings in Penriff to make sure they have it in stock before I make the trip down the hill. I've tried many different mulches over the years on my exotic garden and find they all seem to fade to a certain extent, but by the time this happens, they usually need topping up again. I think the reason the tea tree mulch I put down last year is still there is because I put a layer of newspaper underneath it, (easy to do with a hedge as it's in a straight line), so the mulch has been quite a while coming into contact with the soil.