Austin has some pockets of really truly cr@ppy soil, and some good stuff. Soil tests are our friends. Learning about the different solutions for amendment. I have heard that some people with red death clay have brought in some composted HARDWOOD native mulch and tilled 6" in and then not done anything with it for a year and let it rot. Others have loaded on 6 inches of compost and let the bugs cary it into the dirt. Sounds almost to good to be true. I used to live on clay. Not red death but a river cut bank with round river rock in it. Everytime I was out their with a shovel, I had compost from the Natural gardener to work into it. It got to be glorious dirt. I could grow everything. I thought I was a good gardener till I moved to 30 miles west of Austin on a high limestone hill with caliche and marl with mostly not much topsoil in the area around the house.. Many natives need to have the clay worked into loam by the bunch grass roots. that have broken it down. Find native grasses that want to break down the clay. Find a way to create structure in the clay. Gypsum, expanded shale, compost . Be aware the adding sand or decomposed granite has to be done in conjunction with more than equal amounts of mulch. One has to add at least 50% sand to have the clay not go back to cement. Research research research. I live on caliche now and I created raised beds in some areas where I grow vegetables because it was easier and immediate. I recommend compost tea. Geo Growers and the Natural Gardener for soil products. If you have a recurring bug or decease problem, step back and let the soil heal itself. I had to step back from squash because of the squash bug. I am giving my whole garden a rest this year and growing green manure. The arugala, leeks, kale and chard have not heard that I am not growing anything this winter.. When it is hot, I start vegetables in pots in the shade.

I'm adding to this thread because it seems like many folks who are posting comments here don't have a thorough background in the toxicity of a wide variety of home remodeling materials. Unless you buy your flooring (wood, bamboo, cork, etc.) from a well-known, long-running green housing material distributor, it is likely that your flooring is filled with toxic glues, sealers, and other chemicals that produce VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Bamboo in particular has a lot of glue because bamboo stalks are so thin (look at a bamboo cutting board to fully appreciate how much glue is needed). I have a MPH degree (Master of Public Health) and one of my areas of expertise is environmental health. I'm currently renovating a new condo apartment and for every material, I had to buy it from a specialty distributor that carefully vetted their product portfolio. The benefit of buying from green supply companies -- living in a healthy home. The challenge of purchasing green, healthy building materials -- cost. Green materials are more expensive. But, if you add up all the costs related to adverse health reactions and getting medical treatment to address them...then cheaper, less healthy building materials aren't so cheap, are they? A good place to start is Green Building Supply (based in Illinois, they have a great website), which ships all over the U.S. I bought cork flooring from them, they're great. Can't recommend them enough. They carry a wide array of building materials including safe paints, safe caulks and sealers, safe flooring, etc. If you want to get advice before a purchase, check out the website, 'My Chemical Free House.' Corinne is a building biologist and her site is filled with awesome tips for choosing safe and healthy building materials. Take good care & stay safe!

Sometimes, in the midwest, one might hear something like...it's not the heat but the humidity. I just checked our local conditions. 9 degrees at 9:00 p.m., with a high on Monday of -12! That's OK. The current wind is showing 42 mph with gusts to 52 mph. Thus...it's not the cold, it's the wind!! Nothing of significance will be open tomorrow around here until Tuesday at the earliest. East Central Illinois can have some bad weather. And as long as my furnace works in the winter I don't care; as long as the A/C works in the summer, I don't care. Jim

I bought a couple puzzles from Puzzle Warehouse, wanted more but did not want to spend more than I had spent spent. Next day I went to the thrift store and got 6 puzzles for $20. I’ve worked 2 of those so far, and one was missing one piece so I made a fake piece so it is complete in a way now. I’ll return puzzles to thrift shop when finished with them.