With the mustard solution, worms come to the surface within 15 minutes. If they don't, wait a while and try it again another day. By worms "disappearing" it means they will die and decompose. In your garden it shouldn't be a problem. But if your dead worm concentration is too high, they will make a slimy mess in the pot. If you can repot, that's what I would do. I think that should take care of most of the problem. You can always get more red worms if you want to start composting. There is a lot of stuff online about worm composting. It's easy but you do have to keep at it or the worms will die. Dryness and high or low pH are the enemy of worms. But I don't know the ideal conditions for growing lemons, you wouldn't want to hurt your tree trying to get rid of the worms. Repotting seems like the easiest thing to do, or try the mustard treatment or an electrical probe, which I had never heard of! Cooperative Extension may be able to recommend a less toxic chemical treatment, one that breaks down easily. Pyrethrum is a good insecticide in that respect, but as I copied above, apparently it doesn't kill worms. Of course that is a GOOD thing if you are using it in your garden!

The posting window appears strange. I am having trouble in that all words keep on going right past the advertisements to the left of the page, so this post may well resemble one typed on a typewriter with the return carriage. We are being hit hard. Husband left for office at 6:30 and it was clear. He was hopeful - I was not - no way am I that lucky! Can't even see the car. Our Eskie of course loved eating the snow and scarfing down as much as possible before I dragged him back in. I am not even going to try and shovel until the snow stops otherwise it would be pointless. I did brush off the gas meter though because it was already seriously covered and there are so many wires. I chopped as much ice as possible on Mon. and Tues. but some of it was just too thick. I too took shovels full of water from the sidewalk in front of our house where it slopes right next to the electrical gizmo that I avoid due to the dog and possible electrocution. It gets very icy - hence my concern about someone falling. Then there is the catch basin - not in front of our house - that I am going to have to deal with. It is just being able to dig down deep enough to find it. If I don't OUR sidewalk gets totally flooded. The City knows about it - they have seen me in action but no action has been taken - not a surprise! Yes, the potholes are a nightmare. I found a new one the other day that was almost a sink hole - and it hadn't been there 2 days earlier. Fortunately I missed it because I actually watch the road - otherwise I would have had major tire/rims/undercarriage damage to the car. The sidewalk plows have not come by - usually they do just after I have shovelled and manage to make our situation worse by dumping a lot of the snow from "those that do not shovel" on to our sidewalk. I was so annoyed the other day that I rolled down the car window and yelled at a woman who was moving all of her snow right into the centre of the road. The edge of the road - go for it - despite the fear of fines that are handed out to just some people - but not to the centre of the road making things even more treacherous than they already are. But then we don't break the law - look where that gets us! Seriously, if my ticket to NY was a points seat I would cancel it and pay the $100 reinstatement fee - but sadly it was a seat sale purchase. The fellow who comes from a service to check the house and car (necessary) doesn't shovel and kids sure don't. The fellow across the street has a 14 year old son who stays with him on the weekends. He had hoped that his son would help him shovel - forget it - the kid stayed inside texting. I am afraid that I would not be able to deal with the entitements of kids today. Now if only the dog could shovel - other than shovelling the snow down his throat! He could clear an area fast but of course suffocate in the process. I do appreciate your offer to shovel - now if only you lived in Toronto. Keep safe. I hope that Cherryfizz doesn't get hit too hard and that you don't get more than you bargained for. Guess who wants to go out again. No wonder - drink a ton of water, eat snow, come in, drink again - rinse and repeat.

She was great with kids, for not even seeing a child until she was over 1 1/2 yo (kennel days). If they bugged her, she'd give a "huff" and move off to the bedroom. She was regal.....not so shy and not so quiet. She adored company, nose up the crotch. She was a great watch dog (not guard dog). "Oh boy, oh boy! Someone's coming to visit! ....Well, crap, they just walked past the house. Wait! I think they're coming back!" Aside from being blind in one eye, which is probably why she wasn't a good racer, she couldn't do stairs. She'd jump the deck stairs (only two steps) but would never come down the basement stairs to our "partay" room. DH carried her down once and she was a nervous wreck. I finally blocked off the stairs, for fear she'd try to do them like the deck stairs, and she just became our upstairs dog. LOL She hated anything out of the ordinary. No chairs out of place, no new rugs in a new place....she was fun to watch on vacuuming day. She was big sister to three rescued Chihuahuas at one time. Not sure how all that happened. The Alpha Chi certainly kept her in her place. Not unusual to see her walking down the hall with a Chi hanging off her lip. "Shake it off Girlfriend". When she got really relaxed on the couch, she'd roll over on her back, all four legs in the air, head off the couch with her tongue hanging out, one eye shut, blind eye open. We assumed she was to lazy to close her blind eyelid. Why did she need to? It's called "cockroaching" and most Greys do it. Ya couldn't tell if she was dead or sleeping off a bad drunk. She knew she was too big to be a lap dog and didn't really want to fight 3 Chis for the position so she'd just flop her head in your lap, wait for the growling and snapping to stop and fall asleep, standing there, until you had to either get up to pee or just move to get the feeling back in your legs. LOL She was great at TV News Time - she knew the news cuz we'd discuss it. "Well, that's the dumbest thing the governments done yet." "Rooooo" "Can you believe that dude?" "Rooooo. Rooooo." "What do you think about that stock market?" "Roooo, ooooo. I need to go rest." I will shut up. Just sayin', if you want/need a good sized dog, you can't go wrong with a rescued Greyhound. Even on your darkest day they will make you at least giggle. They come housebroken, leash trained, need no exercise unless you want to or can get them off the couch.

And here's the wild rice salad recipe WILD RICE SALAD 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 cup brown rice, or brown basmati rice 1/2 cup wild rice 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained 1 red pepper, diced 1 green pepper, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup diced red onion 1/2 cup toasted almonds 1/4 chopped fresh parsley DRESSING: 1/3 cup orange juice 1 tbsp grated lemon rind 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 large clove garlic, minced 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1/4 tsp salt In small saucepan, bring 2 1/4 cups water and the salt to a boil. Add basmati and wild rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add water chestnuts, green and red peppers, celery, raisins, almonds and parsley. Toss. In small bowl whisk dressing ingredients. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature.