What lamulu said. You can use rough compost. (You can bury raw compostables, for that matter.) By late spring, a lot of your compost pile is going to look like compost. (If it doesn't, use the stuff that looks closest to compost.) Anything that is completely uncomposted can be the basis of your new pile. That's how microbes get introduced to my new piles. I haven't got soil or compost to spare. It's helpful to check out the list of greens and browns, but pretty soon you're going to want to compost everything you get your hands on. So you're not going to be turning anything away, no matter what----even if your pile is top heavy in kitchen scraps---greens (the worst of the scenarios), but it shouldn't become top heavy in greens because there are tons of browns (your junk mail, your neighbors leaves). I was raised composting, as was my father, and his father before him. It's how his family managed household waste and it's how his family kept their piece of earth in good shape. Pretty soon, it's second nature to most people who take it up. It's so amazing to see your old wool sweater turn into dirt. You're doing swell, but you can't go wrong anyway. If it falls on the ground in nature, it composts---leaves, twigs, dead animals, bird droppings, a feather, a clamshell dropped by a bird, a hunk of sheep's wool, etc.---and in nature, your carbon to nitrogen ratio is often not observed. And, of course, as the beloved Professor Dirt often reminds us "It All Leads Back To Compost."

hi, Although I'm not a tomato expert ( more like a complete newbie) I think I can answer some of your questions. Do russet mites over-winter? I THINK they over-winter on left over tomato debris or any other member of the nightshade family including bindweed petunias peppers eggplant nightshade and more. Sulfur spray will treat your problem however you have to start early. According to the texas extension service you should apply the sulfur as soon as the plants are big early june for your zone? and then reapply if you see any bulging of the stem at the base. Once you start to see the leaf symptoms it's to late. Does my setup look OK? As long as you get 6-12 hours of direct sun light and the soil PH is between 6.5 & 7.1 your fine How much water for "Jiffy Greenhouses"? the trick is to never let the "soil" dry out but don't let it be water logged I know this sounds hard but i would just let the surface dry out in between waterings. WARNING Things can dry out very fast in those greenhouses if they are put outside even in the shade. Potting mix or soil? I just want to warn you of a big problem that you could be getting yourself in to. That is to much nitrogen, Tomato's will just grow a lot of leaves with to much nitrogen. Dry grass clippings aren't a problem but fresh clippings are very high in nitrogen if your grass clippings are dry I would till them in as soon asap. Coffee grounds have something like a 30-1 nitrogen to carbon ratio I added 1 tablespoon of grounds to each planting area in the fall, If i were you though I would leave them out. eggshells are wonderful because they contain calcium but they take a long time to break down. Crush some up asap and apply them to your soil to give them max decomposing time. composted Manure can be high in nitrogen and contain weed seeds you may want to use some other type of compost. Ok now to answer your question I wouldn't put anything in the planting hole just take the plant out of it's pot and plant it in to your prepared soil. Alternatively you could build a Square Foot Garden (SFG) which is a raised bed no bigger then 4'x4'x6" filled with 1/3 peat moss 1/3 blended compost (from many things) 1/3 perlite or vermiculite. for more info SFG check out the fourm on this website or send me a PM. (thats somthing i know a little about) Sorry if i rambaled a bit It's just very important to get your soil just right Everything else look OK?/advice Ok well first things first Don't worry to much! last year was my first year growing anything edible I think I read everything that had ever been written about vegetables (ok maybe not But I read ton of stuff) I looked at every imaginable pest and disease and came up with ways to treat them organically. I didn't get any ripe tomatoes last year and it wasn't because of some pest or disease it was for some very simple reasons that I didn't even dream of being a problem. 1) sunlight: I thought I had enough sunlight Cause I had on a sunny day first checked the time it first got sun (7:00) then at about 11:00 I looked a gain and it was sunny and I checked the time it last got sun which was 6:00 It turnedout that becuse of tall trees houses and other obstructions those were the only time it got sun giving the sight about three hours of sun. 2) start date: I started about 2 weeks late I recomend you count back 6 weeks from your last frost date for your seed starting date and then transplant them 2 weeks after your last frost date. (the last week you should put your tomatoes in a shaded area outside during the day) 3) spacing: I planted 5 plants inside one tomato cageabout 6" apart. this didn't turn out to be a problem because 2of the plants were killed by verticillium wilt and a cherry tomato plant was shaded out by my two beefmaster plants. The beef master plants got to about 6ft which was tall enough to get 5.5 hours of sun on the toppart of the plant and they burst in to bloom in september but frost took care of my baby tomatoes. The reason I just went in to such detail about why MY tomatoes failed last year is becuase it makes the point that although there are more tricks for gorwing tomatoes than I could count, sucsess comes down to these basic rules. Sun: 6-12 hours start date: 6 weeks before last frost transplant date 8 weeks after start date with one week of hardening off spacing: about a foot apart water: from seed to harvest keep evenly moist but not wet fertilizer: only a little 5-5-5 after planting (tomato fertilizer is fine) sea kelp after first burst of flowers and sea kelp at the end of summer ( fish emulsion and geen sand will work too) Soil: not to rich (in my oppinon SFG is the way to go) I really hope this helps!

My local Home Depot had the rubber mulch, but it was almost $12 a bag. Yikes. I went with large pine bark chunks (they dont get caught in shoes), but have not seen a mold problem as you have had. You could always spray a little bleach and water on it, but that is beside the point. You could use sand, it is cheap (like mulch at about $3 a bag) and works well. There is always the option of just grass. The swing set itself makes little difference if "redwood" or not. If your kid is making it sway, short of a double tower or anchoring it to the ground with deep footings or spikes, it will always sway. I am not sure what type of ground you are going into, but mine has a pretty wide at the bottom A-frame on one end, and I just spiked it to the ground. It only sways when I swing on the set (which is not often!). Good luck.

My thanks to all of you who posted comments, both good and bad. I can't begin to tell you how feedback about my florals opened my eyes, so I was able to change things for my next set of photos. I'd never think that removable "props" would turn someone off. I also have to say that you're taking it well and seem to appreciate the feedback. Those of us selling can now see our house through strangers eyes and what a potential buyer might think when seeing our house online. How the photos look will dictate whether they take the time to actually walk our houses. The last time our house was for sale we did not get any feedback, so I'm very thankful for this forum and hope that the feedback you got helps you. I noticed that the wallpaper in my home got some of the most frequent and critical remarks and it's left me wondering about something. Is wallpaper no longer in vogue in new or remodeled homes or is it that my particular wallpaper is not to the liking of most of you? I've walked a lot of new communities with model homes and can say that here they are still using wallpaper but not in all of the rooms. You might pick the nicest rooms to keep the wallpaper. I love the foyer wallpaper but not with the door color and not with the flooring. You might think to leave some of it up and paint other walls, using it as an accent. Back entrance wallpaper - I would take it down. Half bath - I like the wallpaper but not with the light fixture. Study - I've seen similar paper used in homes I've walked. Utility - dislike the walls - would sheet rock & paint 1st floor master - would paint 1st floor master bath - I like the paper but not for a room like this. I would paint and think about putting up beadboard 2nd floor master - while I like the top paper, I think it would look better painted. The wood on the door is much too dark. I'd also think about putting up a scarf on the windows, then opening the blinds for the photo. While I like pink, others do not :( Second floor vanity/dressing area - this paper you could get away with leaving. Bath 2, second floor - I would try to lighten this room up or leave the picture out. Living Room - I would paint this I also realize that the paneled family room is dated but my thoughts on that is to either paint the paneling a neutral color or rip off the paneling, put up sheetrock and then paint. I also want to install engineered wood flooring in that room and perhaps extend it in to the foyer where, I admit, the tile color is also dated. Another area of critical comments was due to my home having so much carpeting. Has carpeting also gone out of style or do I just have too many rooms with carpet? We just did this in the master bedroom. I would sheet rock. The carpet wouldn't bother me here. I'm one of the weird ones that actually likes carpet, especially for my bad back. Walking on wood floors kills me. BTW, the Saint Bernard that appeared in at least one photo and brought about a comment or two that some people wouldn't even consider buying a home where a dog had been passed away on June 10 much to my hurt. I'm in the process of cleaning up all traces of his presence here. That is, everywhere but in my heart! Very sorry for your loss. After 22 years, I still miss our German Shepherd.