I think focusing the discussion on organic vs chemical is an imporper one. Both a carrot and arsenic are organic materials that are totally natural. But I would never eat arsenic. Just because something is organic does not make it good for you. My comments werer focused on what is best for microbial life in the soil to support worms. I was taking a much broader approach to gardening. I know plenty of people who have wonderful veggie gardens using Miracl Grow. But I also have a neighbor who waters his garden using an overhead sprinkler system while not mulching. I ground water my plants and I mulch the soil with a two inch layer of grass clippings. I try to be as organic as possible; but I am not a commercial farmer who has a thousand acres of green beans. There is simply no way for a person who farms on a large scale to go out into their field and physically place compost around the plants. Reality has to be looked at, and people have to be reasonable in their approach. Chemical fertilizers have their place. Yes petroleum is an organic compound, however, nature does not refine petroleum into NPK - never has and never will. This discussion was about how to get worms into the soil - not an argument for or against organic vs chemical fertilizers. iam3killerbs wrote, "The exact antithesis of this region's native soil. Especially since the deep, southeastern drought of the past several years only receded this past winter. :-D". But therein lies the beauty of the home garden. Because the home gardener typically operates on a small scale we can transform our native soil into whatever we want it to be - regardless of what the native soil consists of. That does not mean however, that a person who lives in zone 3 will have much luck growing veggies that require lots of heat and a long growing season or flowers that do not tolerate cool nights. One still has to match what they grow to their local. But,unlike the large commercial farmer, the home gardener can totally transform their soil into something the commercial farmer could only dream of. I can understand how some people might not be able to, or have the time, to set up a compost bin or work compost into thier garden bed. If all they want to do is to water their garden with MG that is fine. I use organic fertilizers (fertilizers made from manures, bone/blood meal, vermicastings, poultry waste, bat guano, etc) because I get more than just the NPK one gets from chemical fertilizers. I get a host of bacteria, humic acid, minerals, etc. Chemical fertilizers only provide NPK. They provide little for the microbes in the soil. I don't use organic because I feel chemical fertizizers are "bad" but because I feel the organic fertrilizers are far superior. And with oil prices going up so high the cost of chemical fertilzers is now the same, or exceeds, the organic ones. So I can use chemical fertilizers and get NPK or I can use organic fertilizers and not only get NPK but a whole lot more. One is not good or bad, one is simply better than the other. Tom

Sweetmelon, interesting data. Out of the 10-12 lakes in mid to north Georgia Lake Lanier stands out at 13' low. The only other lake that is low at all is Hartwell 7.5' low. If the drought were the main cause, more of the lakes would be low since the drought affects the entire area. It seems more of a distribution problem. All of metro Atlanta can't be supplied from only Lake Lanier. There are lakes east, south, west and north that can contribute to those corresponding parts of metro Atlanta. Just like roads that are built to accommodate more people, we have to provide additional water if we allow more population here. That is part of the infrastructure that we pay taxes for. I followed the Lanier info on the site and it says that Lanier will lose only about 2" in May. That's not too bad.

Thank you all for your suggestions. azzalea, I do many of the repairs. I am more handy then most men and can do a lot of things except electical and appliance work. In the past month I've hung a new door on our coat closet then painted it and put in a new knob, which meant moving the striker and redrilling the striker hole in the jamb. I've also removed our handrail on the stairs going to 2nd floor because the original builder didnt' sink the screws into studs, just the lath and plaster, and after 50+ years the handrail was hanging by a thread. I patched the holes, sanded them down and painted, found the studs, moved the brackets & re-hung the handrail. I also patched the plaster in the downstairs bathroom ceiling when the upstair toilet overflowed & leaked through, then sealed and painted it. So construction type work doesn't scare me. I grew up in the 60's and 70's who while Dad was taking my brother to job sites with him, it would never have occurred to him to take me or teach me anything. What I know I've learned through "osmosis." I did replace the light switch in the bathroom but the problem isn't in the switch - and I am not qualifed to tear into the walls for the wiring or the service box. And the lamp is far, far away from any water. We have a 6' counter, with sink at one end, and the lamp is on the other end. And at 75, my dad can run rings around most 50 year olds. Through exercise, eating right & right living, he's never taken and Rx, never had a major illness, and is more physically fit than I am. He retired because he and his partner just finished a 15 acre development, and his partner ran for a state-level polical office and won. Dad decided rather than do it all himself on the next develoment since his partner would be tied up most of the time, he'd just end the partnership. I give it 6 months - he'll be buying more land and doing another development on his own. My dad can't sit still for 5 mintues. You are all right - my dad is who he is and I will never change that. He is not the way I want him to be and that will not change. I need to let it go - and let go of letting what he thinks of me bother me. What is hard is that I call every Thursday night and have for the past 25 years. My dad answers EVERY TIME (in his world, women don't answer the phone). Before I can talk to my mom, I have to hear him groan and moan about how awful the world is for about 15 minutes. He grew up dirt poor and has become wildly successful by any measure - wealth, status, friends, etc. Yet he still complains to me every week about how the world isn't a fit place for my sons to grow up in. I bite my tounge every week and every time they visit or I visit them (2x a month). I tell myself, it's only 24 visits a year and 52 phone calls a year. What bothers me the most is that if my brother, who also lives in my town, calls and wants Dad to do something on his house, my Dad drops everything to do it. He has helped my brother finish his basement, install sheetrock in his garage, build an arbor and porch swing, and finish the "bonus room" over hisgarage. He says it's because my brother's house is new (new build develoment house - about 10 years old) and it's easier to work on a newer house. My brother fits my dad's expectation of what a Man should be - he works in a factory, rides a motorcycle, is the "ruler of his household," etc and his wife is the traditional wife. They don't have kids.

Sometimes it seems to me that everyone around me has their whole future planned, and I do not because there are too many contingencies. And who knows how life will change. We bought a snowbird condo here in FL 12 years ago and gutted the place since it hadn't been touched since 1982. We figured we'd live there until we moved to one of those retirement condos. Then we got a dog who hated walking downtown. And then the condo board decided we didn't need to install hurricane windows since we all had louvered metal slats that were grandfathered in. Never mind because the windows were so old you could hear every sound from downstairs. So because of those two things we started looking for a house. Wound up building a house and moved in 4 years ago. Actually almost 5 years now. I appreciate that the updates will be for us and not the next buyer. Still, I'd rather stick with timeless hard finishes so that future updates can be more cosmetic. I'm beginning to doubt that timelessness can be achieved. No such thing. Do what works for you and try not to be trendy. The natural maple flooring has to be replaced due to damage from a water leak. So we thought we'd go with a medium brown ash hardwood in the kitchen and extend it into the living room to replace the carpet. Double check that as I believe ash while beautiful is a soft wood. You might be better off with something harder. The laminate perimeter counters need to be replaced with quartz but I don't want to be bound by the dated speckled quartz on the island. So it seems that needs to be replaced too. Everything is connected to everything else, it seems. Personally I think quartz is a trend. Everyone is doing it now. Just like 25 years ago everyone was putting in Corian. And 15 years ago it was gray speckled granite. Find a natural stone you love and go with that. The bisque appliances are 15 years old and will likely need to be replaced in the next 5 years anyway. Stainless has now withstood the test of time. MMiller, great thoughts about the stained range hood, though our current painted hood cabinetry has held up fine with no staining. I love the idea of a refresh/reset. The SS range hoods are beautiful! I have a painted wood range hood and I've had no issues with it. You can absolutely get inserts that are deep enough.