I'm in the science profession myself. I've done lots of toxicity work and know quite a bit about contaminates, exposure, risk factors, etc. I too wonder about the things people tend to panic about. For some reason (maybe lack of a solid science education in our schools) our society seems programed to never actually look at the facts or ask critical questions about the issues. It's somehow easier to believe the media hype, panic, and then sue everyone in sight. I think a lot of it is because most people just don't have enough understanding of the basic science and math needed to evaluate risks. So when they watch that news report the sensationalized the danger of lead from garden hoses, most people don't step back and think about it objectively. Rather they throw away their hose and run out and buy a new one that is 'drink-safe'. Never mind that they've likely just made the contamination load in their garden worse because of all the plasticizer that might come from a new hose. Most people don't take the time to understand the issues. It never occurs to them to go look up the original study that says drinking hoses are unsafe. If they did they might find out that the vast majority of hoses, used in a normal manner did not leach any lead. They'd also discover that in order for any amount of lead to be detected the water had to be in contact with the hose for hours or days. And for the most part it lead was leached only from hoses that were full of standing water and were then heated (such as a hose filled with water laying in the hot sun all day). So if you're really worried roll your hose up after each use and store it in the shade. If you do leave it out in the sun, flush the hose by running the water for a few mins and all the lead will be gone. You see news stories where some report went out and bought 10 hose, filled them with water, and then had the water tested. And 8-10 hoses can back with high levels of lead!!! It doesn't occur to most people to think about these studies in real world terms or ask critical questions. These studies never hold up to actual scientific scrutiny. Such as these tests were done on new hoses. A new hose is going to leach out most during it's first uses, so one that has been in use for years might not have any leaching lead. Did they test any hose that had 10g, 100g, 1000g, etc run through them? Also did they rinse the hose out before it was tested? The hose may be coated with some oil and dust left from the manufacturing process and maybe it's that dust the contains the lead. If so the 1st time you use it you'd be removing all the lead. Did they test the source water to determine what levels of lead were preset before the test? Was it tap water (most tap water contains some low levels of lead already)? Did it come from a faucet? What if the pipes and faucet were made out of old material with high levels of lead? Where did they get the hoses from, how many did they test? Is the sample size statistically significant? What about the lab? What type of test did they run (not all tests are the same)? Labs can make mistakes too so if one sample is particularly high or low did the person evaluating the data look for signs of lab error? Even if all of this pans out and it turns out there actually is some lead in the water. What does this mean for your garden? If lead is only present in water that has sat in the hose and lets say the hose holds about 1/2 gallons of water. When you turn your hose on that 1st 1/2 gallon contains lead but then you keep running it and water on 20 gallons into your garden. That 1st sample is not representative of your entire 20 gallons. To test properly you'd need to fill a 20 gallon contain and mix well. Or take a small sample every 5 gallons and mix those. So if you have 1/2 gallon with lead 10 times the safe level and 20 gallons with no lead. Overall your 20.5 gallons is actually 10 time lower than the safe level (the math here is a little oversimplified but you get the idea). So if you need to buy a new hose it makes sense to buy one that is 'drink-safe'. But should you chuck your old hose. Probably not. It really is safe to use. And if you want to be environmentally friendly it is always best to use what you have, buying new and throwing out the old is going to add to landfill space, use a bunch of gasoline to have it shipped to you, use up energy from the manufacture and potentially create more pollutants during manufacture, and so on. That's just he 'lead in the hose' issue. Each new issue has it's own set of facts to consider. Even if there are some risk, what is the cost vs the benefit? What level of risk are you comfortable with? Mostly it's too much work to figure these things out for ourselves so we follow the "media-hype", what all my neighbors are doing, what my organic priestess tell me to, what everyone on that garden forum is saying, etc...

Compost seems like a good choice but I always wondered if it would hold water from the soil or even wick away moisture, especially as the compost dries. A lot of people seem to use it so I'm sure it works, I just need someone to explain it to me. The way I understand mulch is like a physical barrier between soil and air. Non-absorbent materials allow most of the water to reach the soil without retaining any itself. It also doesn't transmit any moisture from the soil into the air except through the naturally present gaps within the mulch (where soil is in contact with air). On the other hand obsorbent materials act as a conduit for the water to move up from the soil, into the mulch, and inevitably into the air. Through this connection, soil can continually lose moisture more readily to the air rather than if it were under something like pine needles. The only reason I can see for composting to work is that it slows the transevaporation process better than soil, otherwise it's like adding soil ontop of soil (which probably does work). I'm sorry if this seems terribly technical, I just have an itch to figure out how compost works as mulch and hopefully someone'll be able to break it down for me. Thanks.

Be aware that almost without exception, all medicines come from something 'natural' and any 'natural' product that has medicinal properties can also have side effects including Neem oil "Potential Neem Side Effects in Children Neem seems to be fairly toxic to children. There have reports of very serious, sometimes immediate neem side effects in children. These reported side effects include: Vomiting Loose stools Drowsiness Overly acidic blood Anemia High levels of white blood cells Seizures Loss of consciousness Coma Swelling in the brain Loss of life." " Many people assume that neem is automatically free of side effects because it is a "natural" product. However, it is reasonable to assume that any natural product with medicinal properties is capable of causing side effects. Neem side effects can be especially dangerous in children." "Possible Side Effects of Neem A few clinical studies have reported side effects with neem. These possible side effects included: Low or no urine production (which may be a sign of kidney damage) Kidney damage Liver damage Yellow skin (jaundice), which may be a sign of liver damage Destruction of red blood cells Allergic reaction, which may cause symptoms such as: A rash or hives Itching Swelling of the mouth or throat Wheezing Difficulty breathing." That said, I've had exceptionally good luck eliminating fire ants with any of the baits that contain spinosad. Here is a link that might be useful: Neem side effects

Better than using a ladder is a scaffold--much more secure and safe. Easy to store, because they come apart, and take up almost no room in the garage. And they're not that expensive, you can get them for under $200 at most home centers--I picked one up for DH for only $140 at Tractor Supply.