This one's right down my alley! I'm happiest when I'm in my kitchen cooking and/or baking! TRI-TIP ROAST 2 lb. Tri-tip sirloin ⅓ cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) 1 jar sundried tomatoes, oil drained 8.5 oz. package feta cheese Place roast in crockpot. Place drained tomatoes over top of roast. Sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese. Pour wine over all and cook on low for 6-10 hours. Note: We all really like this! Its different and has a good flavor. Leftovers are very good on buns! Here's one for game. SLOW COOKER VENISON ROAST Very good! 3 lbs. boneless venison roast 1 large onion, sliced 1 tbsp. soy sauce 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp. garlic salt ¼ tsp. ground black pepper 1 (1 oz.) package dry onion soup mix 1 (10.75 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup Put cleaned meat in slow cooker and cover with onion. Sprinkle with soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the soup mix and the soup and pour mixture over the venison. Cook on low setting for 6 hours. And who doesn't like Cheese Danish?! CHEESE DANISH 2 pkgs. Crescent rolls 2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese 1 cup sugar 1 egg yolk, reserve the white 1 tsp. vanilla ½ cup sugar ¼ cup chopped walnuts 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 egg white, lightly beaten Preheat oven to 350˚. In a medium sized bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla together. Set aside. Unroll 1 package of the crescent rolls on the bottom of a 9x13 in. baking pan. Pinch seams together. Bake for 5 minutes at 350˚. Spread the cream cheese filling on top of the baked crescent roll. Top with remaining crescent roll. Brush the top with egg white and sprinkle with walnuts and cinnamon. Bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes. ~Sandy~

Thanks, I'll try mulching to build up the soil. I went to several of the website listed dealers in my area (up to 50 miles away) to check out the Toro and Lawn-Boy mowers. The dealers either stopped selling them or they can order the mower but they will not carry any of them in stock. One of the dealers dropped the Toro line to carry Husqvarna. I don't know any details about the Husqvarna mowers but, on the surface I was not impressed. So much for seeing the product before parting with the cash. If internet shopping is the alterative then fire up the bandwith. At least it was sunny outside and a good day for a drive.

The answer you are looking for kind of depends. What is the source of that Cedar Mulch? Does this come from a clear cut forest or from a tree farm? Your mulch is a by product of the lumbering industry and in some instances, like lumber harvested on a tree farm, it is sustainable and that would make it environmentally neutral. But if this came from a clear cut forest operation it would not be.

Gina, I have the same problem with ponies'poop because during the night they have access to an outside park of gravel and they poop there and then the otherwise great pure poop I rake is full of gravel. I tried to sort the poop apples but now I can see exactly where I put them in my garden. For example one artichoke is now surrounded with pure gravel ! All the poop has disappeared during the warm season and the poor plant is mulched with useless stones ! Obviously Tox's blower would make a nice mess in my case, a bit like in your american saying the poop hits the fan, so I now double rake : First I rake the upper surface superficially, and gather the useful poop, then I rake the remains, gravel and poop, and throw them in the prairie. I guess this is not very helpful for you now that you're stuck with gravel, acorns and leaves, but perhaps next time you could rake the upper layer of leaves and keep them, and then throw out the lower layer, leaves mixed with gravel and acorns.