Many local governments (city, county) in the US offer subsidized compost bins to their residents. I've seen the Biostack, Earth Machine, and at least one other model offered. Sometimes you can even get a worm box from these offers! Prices here in the Bay Area for subsidized bins run approx. 1/3 of retail price, give or take, so definitely check it out. I think the Biostack is retailing for $99 to $129, depending on where you want to purchase it, so $200 should get you some nice goodies, even if you have to pay full prices. Enjoy! Cynthia H. El Cerrito, CA

FWIW, when gardening organically, spraying insecticides is a last resort, not a preventive. The prevention is good, healthy soil, mulch & right plant/right place/right season. That said, I spray to foliar feed my plants which help protect them from insects/diseases by contributing to their health. I use Maxicrop seaweed extract. If you haven't yet, you might want to check out the Organic Gardening forum here on G'web. HTH

Well fiddlesticks! Another post lost due to GW/Houzz buggy code? I will type it in again without adding a photo to begin with. I think you need to hold off on the insulating until it gets cold. Insulating now seems like it would keep the sap up and the leaves on. I'd wait until they drop and are ready for winter. Maybe have your cage in place to add leaves/burlap or whatever. The folks in your zone can offer better advice. I don't have that problem in Atlanta. The problem we have are hot, dry summers. It's always going to be hot but a drought is every few years and we had it late this summer and it was brutal. Last year we had a lot of rain - almost 80 inches for the year and may have broken a record. Gee whiz, what is wrong with GW and photos? I tried adding one photo a minute ago and nothing. Yay, here is one more

If this is current picture from N. Texas, that would be called freezer burn, the vagaries of which you and most of Texas will be observing in landscapes all over the state until things start to grow back out in the spring. Time will tell who lived and who died.