Question: how much space do you have? If the answer is quite a bit, then Steve Solomon is probably your next step. His books are arguably the finest resources for those trying to run a dry garden. The key is giving each plant enough space to grow their roots and find their own water. As for the alluminum sulfate, I would hesitate to use this stuff without a) a proper soil test (that would be a professional test, not a Home Depot ph kit) and b) awareness that exposing yourself to increased levels of alluminum may be detrimental to your long-term health. You are better off with elemental sulfur. It acts more slowly, but is much safer. Raised beds are the way to go. And unless there is good reason to use the tiller (i.e. breaking up sod or large tangles of weeds), you may consider doing the "old fashioned" way using hand tools. Again, depends on the area involved. Soil additives really depends on your soil test results. Without a specific profile, adding anything to the soil could do much more harm then good. For instance, I had purchased all the ingredients for a complete organic fertilizer prior to my soil test. The results indicated high organic matter (14.5%), magnesium deficiency and a ph of 7.8. Suffice it to say that had I added the compost, lime and bone meal that I had planned on adding, I would have done some serious damage to the soil balance. In other words, get a soil test, now. Best of luck, Michael Here is a link that might be useful: Steve Solomon: Gardening When It Counts

My veggie bible is "The North Carolina Fruit & Vegetable Book". I have an older edition, the newer one has very few photo's (so who needs to know what broccoli looks like?) but has the same info. Each section is about a specific vegetable or fruit and it gives variety names that do well here and which ones don't. I have found that info to be right on. I have marked it up with companion planting and specific sowing and harvesting dates from other sources relative to where I am exactly so it is pretty tattered. I give this title as a gift to those new to North Carolina gardening. Nancy the nancedar

Sounds like about what it normally looks like- some of the apples take years to break down for me- but once they've aged for a few mos i don't think you have to worry about them burning your plants. I think some of them just hold together better for whatever reason. You may have also gotten part of your load from a corner that wasn't as old- she collects from the one giveaway to the next 6 mos later, so of course there are differing ages, though it is mixed from time to time. i think 50/50 topsoil/leafy compost is fine, so long as it isn't the horse manure. I'd still only add a bit of it- it's more of a way to organically feed than build the soil. You can get a pickup truck load of woody/leafy compost from any number of area places- there's one down on 42 close to old stage that a load is about $27. I'd mix your topsoil with that- no danger of burning- and topdress or mix in a bit of your manure. Of course the older the manure is, the more you can mix in. 1 load for me is enough to feed most all of my beds up front with a thin 1" layer. If you can't use that much now, let it sit and age and next fall you can safely work twice as much in. You can also use some of it to activate and hurry up your regular compost pile if you keep one.

Bensdad Of course you can call me Dawn...it's my name so you might as well use it. All of Barbara Pleasant's books are excellent and she's written many magazine articles too. She is one of my favorite garden writers. I've read many of the other authors you mentioned, and Louise Riotte was a particular favorite of mine. She lived and gardened in Carter County, one county north of me. I think I've read ever book she ever wrote. Of course we all have space issues, and it doesn't help if you move to a larger space because you'll just plant more and more and more. In late winter and early spring, my flats of plants take over the guest room, the screened-in back porch, the patio, the potting shed and the garage. My husband, who is not a gardener, is a saint to put up with it all. Have you been to the Half-Price Books store in OKC? When I lived in Fort Worth, I went to all the HPB stores in the D-FW metro area on a regular basis and bought tons of books there over the years. Gardening with children is so much fun. Our son enjoyed it until he got a driver's license at 16 and suddenly had much more important things to do, and now I'm getting to enjoy it with his two-year-old daughter when she comes to our house. She loves it more at this age than he did. Suzie, The book was out-of-print, I believe, for a while, and Dr. Cotner himself once remarked that he didn't think it ever would be reissued or reprinted because the size (over 400 pages) and the many photos were too costly to print 'nowadays'. While it was out-of-print or hard to find, Amazon booksellers began asking and receiving incredible prices for the book. So, here's the secret... The book is directly available from TG Press, its original publisher. I've linked it below. It is a wonderful book. If I could have only one book, it would be this one. I'm on my second copy. I flat wore-out the first one, which was a softcover, and then I bought this one, a hardcover, from an online seller at Amazon, and I think I paid $24.95 for it about 3 or 4 years ago, but I watched Amazon for a year waiting for a used one to pop up at a good price. I would have bought it from TG Press and not wasted a year looking for one if I'd known TG Press was selling it at the time. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: The Vegetable Book at TG Press