First, you didn't flunk Lawn 101. You got a B in 2006, a C in 2007 (for late seeding) and an A so far in 2008. Nothing you did was wrong, but the timing for seeding was off a bit. 1) Round Up. We hesitate to mention specific chemical names for companies. The generic glyphosate works just fine and it's essentially the same stuff. Also, so many of us are organic and the R word stuff isn't. 2) Compost and peat moss will both decay away in about five years, so the soil is going to settle. Certainly you can mix either lightly (say, an inch or so every ten inches of soil), or skip it and use organic feeding methods. If your soil is really bad, I'd mix it. You can usually get compost from your local garden store, big box store, or delivered bulk from a supplier. The other option is to use 1/4" as a topdress for your seeding. Over time, the decay products work into the soil and enrichen it, plus you kill two birds with one stone and don't need to otherwise mulch the seed. Plus, the worms like it. :-) 3) Go right ahead and use it. If it was stored in a cold garage, it's completely fine. If stored in a warm house, you lose some germination but it's not that significant over six months. You can't wait too much longer for a spring seeding (and might want to consider using Siduron or Tupersan as a pre-emergent when seeding). So you probably don't have time to wait for the soil results. That's OK, you can work on correcting those issues afterward. Right now, get it sprouted--the seed has all the resources it needs for the first few weeks of its life. Once you get that test back you'll know what to add.

With hard shelled gourds (the ones with white flowers) The female flowers are only formed on the side branches. After the main vine reaches 8+ feet you should pinch off the tip to encourage branching and gourd formation. This is not necessary for ornamental gourds (yellow flowers) as they have both male and felamle flowers on the main vine. However you can always pinch off the tip if the vines are going where you don't want them, this won't kill the plant. I am not sure what you mean by the white flowers flattened out. The white flowers open at night and are very flat compared to the yellow flowers which are more cup shaped and open early morning. All gourd flowers are open for only one day. With the twine you are using be careful that it is not too tight and room is left for when the vine gets thicker. You may need some additional support for the birdhouse gourds as they form. I have never used chicken wire but it seems like it would be possible for the gourds to get scraped up on the fence if they move around from the wind. So you may want to put something between the fence anf the gourd if they touch each other. Try wearing long sleeves and gloves when you harvest your squash so you don't get scratched.

It loos as though it is wiped off very unevenly, leaving streaks that will be very visible when finished, as well as deposits of materials in the corners. With these products you pretty much want to wipe off everything that has not thoroughly soaked into the wood. Once you've gotten down to the stage in your picture use a clean soft rag (think old T-shirt material) to buff off the remaining streaks, and to get the stain out of the corners, unless that is an "antique look" that you're going for (something extremely difficult to accomplish well without a lot of practice and experience, so I wouldn't try it). This thorough wipe-off can sometimes have the unfortunate effect of differential capture of different components of the stain, resulting in unexpected color results. It's critical to test any stain/finish by completely finishing a test piece of the same material (say the back side of a seldom-used door in this case) to assess the outcome. That means use the same sanding regime, stain application and finish, in the same number of coats, with the same between coat treatment. Stained wood can change color a lot when finish is applied. Commercial cabinet finishers typically spray a color or stain layer on and do not wipe anything off, allowing them to achieve better color uniformity and reproducibility, albeit at a cost to the clarity of the finish.

These questions can't be answered. #1 and #2 - these are largely affected by regional tastes and regional economies. These two question can't be answered the way you've worded them. You will get a different answer in Chicago, in Miami, in Boston, etc., and those are big cities. You will get a different answer in, e.g., rural Illinois than in Chicago, etc. #3 - so subjective, it too can't be answered. Not only depends on regional differences, differences in lifestyles, and also each individual household and how they treat their counters - how they are being cleaned, how often and hard the kitchen is used, etc. #4 Again regional, subjective, who can tell. You also don't account for differences within the same material. For example, granite - there are thousands; some are completely non-porous and never need sealing and totally tough, while others are more porous and need more care. Soapstone - some are very soft, and chip more easily, some are harder. Butcher block - maple? walnut? is the user conditioning it or not? Is the user cutting on it or not? Quartz and other manmade material counters - same thing, there is variation not only in production, but in how each household uses it. Your questions don't take into account the individual perceptions of the counter owner. For example, people have soapstone counters that may chip. Bothers some owners so they sand the chips out; other owners don't notice the chips or don't care. Same thing with marble - some are bothered by etching, others look at it as patina. You would be better served by asking about a specific countertop you are interested in, and describe your household - how many, cooking a lot or not, are you the careful type or not, etc.