I just happen to live in the same city as Vickygrow, She is one of the inventors and owners of the patent which she and one other person own. This does indeed look like a viable product and one which would work. I'm not going to beat on her for listing her own product, and this is not meant as a "tattle" either. Our hillsides here are quite steep here, and some are ~40* which is not easy to walk up. Her product is not in production at this time, but I do commend her for seeing a problem and attempting to provide a solution. I don't know (or care to know) her, nor am I involved in marketing (anything) for anybody. I just looked at the website and it looks promising. I hope she makes a fortune and the product catches on with landscapers. Renron

Ok; back in February I mentioned rebuilding/replacing the floor in the old barn. There has been a delay in posting but the finishing touches on the floor/drainage were put in last week. As usual, first there was the plan, then there were the assumptions and then there is what actually happened. Got the old floor dug out early spring and installed 1 run of drain tile with sock. Drain tile set about 18" sloping to 10" deep under stall side of barn and run to daylight. After digging out the old manure and leveling the floor, we installed 8-12" of #10 crushed limestone over the native clay. This resulted in the interior floor about 8" higher than the surrounding. The new floor is completely level compared to the existing (sloped) exterior grade. Last week we finished installing the exterior drain tile with sock; due to drainage/slope the tile is only about 6-8" below finished grade but since the problem has always been surface water not underground I am as yet unconcerned. One exterior run of tile is tied in with the interior run and they continue to daylight; the back side has its own run. Both exterior runs have stub-ups for gutter tie ins but since we left the top gravel (#57 blue stone - 3/4 - 1-1/2")exposed I may not install the gutters. If so, I will cap the openings with Fernco's. Water dripping off the roof hits the gravel, enters the drain tile and runs out away from the barn to the existing drainage swale. Have not had much rain yet but seems to work well with what we got last weekend. The new floor has been blocked off and stock limited to first 20'; the crushed limestone is easy to maintain and there does not seem to be any difficulty with odor or manure drainage/removal. Next stop - replacing/reinstalling wood ends, sliding doors and damaged siding ... and new lightning protection for all of the structures.

I think I understand what you have now. I will say that blacktop patch would give you good traction and have other benefits. First, being black it'd absorb the sun, heat up so on a nice day it should melt, solving part of the problem. It's a rough texture so that would help. It's cheap, about $5 for a 40# bag (you'd probably need several bags). And it'd make a slope instead of the bump. I used it to build up in front of my garage skirt and my sister used it to build up her driveway next to the house to slope it away from the foundation. But you'd need it fairly clean and dry so you'd need a reasonably nice an sunny day and keep the patch in the house until you use it. You could warm things up with a salamander heater and a couple heavy tarps. That should bring the temp up enough to get a patch on. It probably wouldn't be very permanent but it might help you get through the winter. Looks like we're having an old fashioned one this year! Oh, and you could mix in some pea rock or something too. Even some larger stuff to make a rougher surface. Don't hesitate to overlap it onto the garage skirt if you wanted although if you wanted to take it off later, it might not be easy. Hope you find a solution! Permanent or temporary!

In New York, companies that usually supply meat and produce to some of the city's best restaurants are now accepting and delivering orders to the public. I just ordered a pork roast, a whole chicken and a hanger steak to be delivered in a few days by Piccinini Bros. and the prices were really reasonable. This seems to be working well for these suppliers, another one is mostly sold out. I also placed an order with Misfit Market for produce to be delivered on Monday and every two weeks thereafter. I've never used them before, I'm curious to see how it works out. So I should be set for a while with these two options. I have plenty of rice and beans!