Amy-- Yes that is the site I saw--kinda neat isn't it? Solstice 98-- You know what? I've been thinking of that too. I bought more bales of pinestraw than I will need I guess--I ordered 4 bales, turned out I will have at least one extra after I mulch up my beds--maybe 2. So I was thinking I could put some viney veggies on the little slope at the end of my yard in bags and then mulch so it looks ok. We live in NC where summer will be very hot--so everything will get mulched anyhow. I will be going around watering every morning with a water wand--I like it cuz I timed it and know how long it takes to get a quart of water out--and I can reach everything well with it. I use a watering can on my porch plants. But --I will also use the water can about 1x a week with a weak solution of fertilizer in it I think. That's my strategy. A few bags of compost or soil mix with plants in them would fit right into my routine. :) I like watering by hand cuz it makes certain that I am in the garden every morning checking on every plant. I can catch problems quick that way--and its relaxing and I do it early early before all the neighbors are out and about. Just me and the birds and my plants. I think I'll try that. It would work well, the vines could sprawl down the slope and make the back of the yard look more finished. I have woods behind the yard going down a steep hill behind us. So things like squash and melons and gourds would be good there. It gets full sun, but is in front of a backdrop of trees. mary

Katie, One of the things you need to start, and it's practically free, is a compost pile and begin to compost your yard as you go along. As you cut your lawn, set your lawnmower on its highest setting and let the grass clipping remain on the lawn. This is the first step to amending your soil, feeding the worms and building up your soil. As your begin weeding your lawn you have a few choices. I chose the more difficult route, weeding by hand, it's time consuming but in the long run easier on the soil and the health of the critters that grow there and work on your behalf. Using chemicals is a fast and easy way to kill a lot of stuff (weeds) quickly, but it's expensive and the drawbacks are sometimes significant. Instead I took each weed and threw it back onto the lawn and let it get 'mulched' by the lawn mower. The same thing for produce, fruits and vegetables from your kitchen. I built a compost pile in my backyard and put most of my kitchen waste into this pile. I avoid any meats, bones and dairy, it gets rancid quickly and stinks - don't put any in your compost pile. I water the pile lightly once or twice a week and I feel the heat, well over 120 degrees, generating from the pile. In a few weeks, sometimes months, I get good rich compost which smells like rich soil, and put it back on the lawn. Another thing I like to do is to feed the worms. 'Them thar critters' are the real saviors of my lawn, so I feed them. A few times a week I get some kitchen produce, say a banana peel and a few leaves of lettuce which aren't edible and I throw it in a blender, fill it halfway with water and throw the contents onto the lawn. Same thing for potatoes and most fruit. I blend it for at least 30 seconds and the worms love it. Now and then I throw on some corn meal, just as a treat. I've managed to tick off my wife and I take about two cups of rabbit food and run it through a coffee grinder a few times a week, making a nice powder which I throw on my lawn. My worms love it. I picked up a 25 lb bag at WalMart for $7 and it's lasted me a few months. During the fall, when my neighbors rake up their leaves, I collect a bunch of those bags and store them over the winter, taking care to pull out any branches. I spray a little water in there and this makes a heckuva leaf mulch to mow a bag or two into my lawn in late fall. By the time spring rolls around the soil is nicely amended and is overseed ready! If you've saved a few bags and made the leaf mulch, you can sprinkle it over the overseeded parts of the lawn and it will help germinate the seeds, giving a richer, thicker lawn. This approach is relatively inexpensive, the greatest cost to me was the black garbage bags I store the leaves in and then the space to store them. I got some old pallets to build the compost pile, free at my supermarket. Just don't forget to turn the pile about once a week to make a uniform compost pile. If you keep at it, this isn't as much work as it sounds. In my lawn I've also used some more exotic stuff, all organic, avoiding the N-P-K approach as too commercialized (promoted by the seed and fertilizer companies). Take your time, let the worms do most of the work...

I actually just bought a copy of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", I liked it so much! I didn't really like the other version quite as much, but I think it had to do with how I thought of the story in my mind rather than any fault of the film - it just didn't agree with what I thought it should be. I haven't seen it in years though - I should rent it to see if I still feel the same way. We just saw "Dogville" (with Nicole Kidman). It had a really slow start (we almost turned it off), but then it got really twisted and interesting. At the end we just kind of sat there stunned for a minute going "holy cow that was good!" It was not a happy ever after movie, it was actually kind of shockingly grim and disturbing, but it was really well done! It's also kind of an experiment in movie techniques - it resembles more of a play than a movie. The buildings are only lines on the ground with minimal props to indicate their function and dimension. It's really distracting at first, then you realize that real buildings and scenery would only distract you from the acting and story. If you hate anything resembling an art film then don't watch this - but if you like different things then give it a try (just remember it's slow to start). We also saw "Transporter 2". It was ok. Not great, but half decent for a hollywood action fluff movie. The first one was better. We now have a new movie at the top of our 'worst movie ever' list - "Serenity". Only a couple of good actors in the movie, a difficult to follow, badly written script, and completely ridiculous characters. This movie apparently has a huge fan following because it's based on some TV show. Those TV show fans all think it's the greatest movie ever, but I don't like or watch TV, so I really, really, really don't "get it" :-) I'll admit to being a big sci-fi geek, and that there are a lot of bad Sci-fi movies, but this was beyond bad for a genre with a lot of bad movies! BP

Is the fence the new white vinyl one? If that's the case nothing will grow ON it and although it's fun to joke and fantasize when you have a neighbor like that (I know all to well) it's best to let them be grumpy by themselves on the other side of it and be glad they have paid for it. To soften the look of it I would suggest a nice row of Lilies. My brother bought the most quaint little white sided house with green shudders and a real life white picket fence surrounding the property and the previous owners had put Michigan Lillies (free at the side of the road and spread very well) around the entire perimeter. Against the white picket fence the lilies looked FANTASTIC. You can also buy those gadgets that hang over the side of a fence so that you can put boxes or flat sided baskets on the fence but not bother your neighbor as only a tiny bit of the metal lays on the other side to clasp the gadget on. You can go cheap (Walmart) or buy fancy ones at a garden center in wrought iron or other metals. You could add a tiny wren/bluebird house, place a birdbath in front of part of the fence to draw the eye away from it and put a piece of statuary in the lush foliage of the lilies. I only suggest Lilies because you will get satisfaction this summer with them as they will grow 2-3 feet high in their first year and improve year after year. You might end up needing to divide and give away or sell some as the years pass but that's ok, just put them in a yard or plant sale and make some money off your neighbor's grumpy attitude and fence. With shade you have even more possibilities with the use of Ferns (ostrich grow up to 5' in good conditions), Hostas and the wide variety of other shade loving plants. The choices are almost unlimited and you could be planting for the rest of your life. Make your glass "half full" on this issue and appreciate that your neighbor gave you a backdrop for some nice gardening ideas (even if the backdrop is not that pretty at present). Barb Southern Ontario, CANADA Zone 6a