Part of the reason for not feeding the fish in winter is becuase even though the fish seem hungry, the filter bacteria is not working correctly and cannot handle the ammonia the fish will produce by eating. Also, a winter fast is good for the fish because it forces females to absorbe any unlaid eggs, thus helping to prevent egg impactions in the spring.

Let's see, yesterday I added to my hot compost pallet bin: 1 bag of spinach, 1 bag of "mixed" greens, the skin and bones of our thanksgiving turkey, pumpkin pie crusts (I'll eat a whole pumpkin pie and still leave the crust), a bunch of fuzzy carrots,and a batch of green beans that had real bacon bits and real butter. That is all ialbtc

Let's start with the basic answer. NO! NEVER use weed n feed products. If you have weeds, use a spray type herbicide and spot spray the weeds lightly. If you need fertilizer use a fertilizer only. Weed n Feed product are too hard to use and typically don't give the effect you think it will. Too good to be true. If the grass started to germinate at 2.5 weeks it could be either fescue or Kentucky bluegrass. Rye would have popped up in a few days. Now if you had not been watering it 3x daily for that 2.5 weeks, and it popped up after the rain storm, then it is either crabgrass or rye grass. Time will tell. Spring is a poor time to seed in the north. If this does not work out for you, reseed in early September. Oh, where in NY? Long Island is much different from Buffalo.

I have been spraying Bayer Complete Insect Control for years for the hated rose midge fly, my absolutely worst and hardest pest to deal with. Aphids, mites, rose slugs, thrips, and Japanese beetles are a cinch to fight by comparison. The chemical in the 12 month Bayer product is the same as in the Bayer Complete Insect Spray, only much more concentrated to last 12 months. I have posted my rose midge fly regimen in the past on the Roses Forum. It gets to be a drudge like no other. Every 10 days to 2 weeks from spring to fall. I only spray the growing tips down to about 4-6", and completely stop spraying that stem once the flower buds forming at the tip are the size of edible peas. The midge females leave those growing tips alone to continue growing and flower, seeking maggot friendly younger growing tips. Putting granules down once a year can make more sense: no spray drift every spray session; no finding MISSED, infested shoots, that were accidentally missed, overlooked from the last spray session which midge flies inevitably found, uncanny how they do, and makes me think, "all this spraying, and STILL the midge gets the last word in!" ; and lastly, having to walk into my wide rose bed to spray those young shoots, especially those hidden ones and just emerging basal shoots, getting stabbed and jabbed all season long, is eliminated. Moses