grasswacker: There are still a lot of useful facts that you could supply, such as: Are these newly-planted trees or older trees that have borne fruit in the past? Theoretically, the answers should be much shorter than the questions, but it always works out other way around as we engage in guesswork based on limited information. If these are mature, producing trees, you will have to begin spraying soon after petal fall, even before your first thinning. (Did I mention thinning?) One of the the worst insect pests of apples, the plum curculio, which you likely have wherever you are in Maryland, will attack the young fruits just as soon as they set. You have to have a cover spray on there to stop them. And, depending on the level of PC pressure you have, which will be followed by codling moth and possibly others, you may have to renew your spray every week to ten days throughout the growing season. That is, unless you bag your apples which is another subject. I am not quite as discriminating as the fruitgirl, and would probably use the spray you have purchased until it is gone. You still did not mention the chemical components of the concentrate, which are surely listed on the label, but lets just asssume they are the usual suspects such as Sevin, Malathion, Methoxychlor, Captan and one other which shall remain unknown. One of the characteristics of "combination" fruit tree sprays is that they contain many different components, but are weak in all of them. And for the targeted insect or disease, only one of them may be helpful. Nevertheless, if your insect pressures are low, and you don't encounter any diseases such as scab, cedar apple rust or fireblight, you may be able to get by with your vintage combination spray. You certainly won't do any harm with it. But get at it the day after petal fall, and keep an eye on the apples every day thereafter to see if anything is bothering them. When you thin, take off any little fruits that have the slightest scar or mark on them, leaving behind only the perfect little fruits to grow up. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Since BT is a member of the Bacillus genus, it exists in a dormant, sporulated state. These spores can persist for years, to re-enter a vegetative growth state when conditions are good. (Some papers report that spores that are millions of years old, are still viable!!) Bacillus spores are generally resistant to UV, cold, heat, and other stresses. It makes sense that a powder form would last longer, as moisture may induce the spores to re-enter active growth - and this would mean a shorter shelf life. I'd think storing them in the fridge would be good too. As far as personal experience though - I've never kept any on hand past a year - it gets used up before then.

"The reason Miracle Gro is thought to be bad for the soil is that it is not food for soil microbes." This isnÂt true. Microbes might not use the elements specifically for fuel, but they use them to carry out biological functions just like every other plant or animal. "The salty chemicals in Miracle Gro are not in any of the food groups (protein, vitamins, minerals, or carbohydrates)." This isnÂt true either. The minerals in fertilizers are minerals and are used by plants to make proteins, vitamins, and carbohydrates. As I said above, microbes use them as well. The deleterious effects of chemical fertilizers are way way overblown. Yes, if you inject anhydrous ammonia into the plow layer of your soil you are going to wipe out the microbe population and essentially sterilize the soil for a couple of weeks. If on the other hand you spray your yard with miracle grow in solution you are only going to stimulate microbes that will use the available nitrogen to burn carbon (organic matter) for fuel. " "Salts" defined in simplest terms, simply means that it dissolves in water." That is not a good definition. Many salts are considered insoluble such as phosphate rocks. A better definition is that a salt is a cation (positive charge because it is missing an electron) and an anion (negative charge because it has an extra electron) joined together (the positive and negative charges being drawn together). Table salt for example is a sodium cation bound with a chloride anion. Potassium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, etc are soluble salts that are used for fertilizers because they are composed of elements that plants use as nutrients.

There are a number of good ones. I find in a moderate temperature kitchen with middling humity, they last in the box just about as well as white. At least a year. I like Deboles whole wheat with Jerusalem artichoke flour for flavor, especially the spaghetti. Jovial Enkorn is great. Vita Reale is excellent. DeLallo makes a thin, flat lasagna that I prefer to Bionaturae, which is the heavier kind with the tiny ruffle. Trader Joe's is good too, and I wouldn't be surprised if DeLallo makes it. They all have different pros and cons. I haven't liked the whole wheat from the giants who have product in every big chain supermarket. I think they may be trying to make it more like white but then lose what's delicious about whole wheat. As for what else to serve with your chicken and sauce, this would be an excellent use for zoodles or other spiralized vegetables. If you want it to have more carbs, try rutabaga or other roots. Also caulflower "rice", roasted first. You can go way old fashioned and serve it on dense, whole grain peasant bread, letting the sauce soak in. Or you can use any kind of whole grain, from common rice, to wheat, to buckwheat. Or a small seed like quinoa.