>"I am getting some orange/rusty mold on my grass" Take a tissue or white paper towel and rub the affected area. If the paper has red dust on it - Lawn Rust >"I get a white dusty mold on my lawn in the spring" Powdery Mildew >"Is there something I can do for my lawn to prevent these mold outbreaks?" Both are common to KBG and the results of excessive moisture / turf not drying out. Irrigate very early in the AM, preferably on a bright sunny and breezy day so the turf has the rest of the day to dry at the surface level. Rain during the PM? Nothing you can do about that. Other options would be to over seed with more disease resistant cultivars - trimming trees, changing the grade to allow better drainage, etc etc.

We have 6" cans with daylight led retrofit bulbs placed 3' from walls and then spaced 7' apart on a 17' high ceiling. The amount of light at the floor is plenty for everything- I dont even have reading lights. i highly recommend daylight color bulbs! I also have 2 ceiling fans - I dont use the light on them either. Just tell your electrician and he will handle it- no biggie. I would put a light in the shower. A dim shower is a bummer when you feel a rough patch of skin and have to leave the shower to inspect it kinda thing. That light can be on a vent fan though which should be in the shower to vent steam. Edited to add photo- its an old pic, but you can see its dark outside, and the amount of light from 17' up.

I think it is true that in principle huge amounts of precipitation can over-leach nutrients, especially the more mobile nutrients like potassium, nitrogen, and sulfur. On farms that have received unusually large amounts of rain, such deficiencies can occur. But in well amended soil, with organics breaking down steadily, I don't think you end up with deficiencies. I'm not aware that in regions that get more rainfall, soil nutrient levels are necessarily poorer, and in my blistering summer I water a lot, and yet my nutrient levels are right up there where they should be. If anything, that leaching can distribute nutrients better, as organics degrade most rapidly near the surface where there is air, and you'd really like to get those nutrients to depth. Percolating water also brings oxygen to the lower layers to aid aerobic degradation there. But yes, to warm soil, there is nothing like a tarp, especially a transparent one. I should add that a tarp provides some insulation, so the soil doesn't even get quite as cold in the winter.

I am in zone 7b in Georgia, and the "last frost date" for me is less than four weeks away. If your last frost date is also coming up soon, then you might want the head start that your plants would get from being sown indoors. They will germinate faster in the warmer temp of the house. What you choose to do may depend on the kinds of plants you are planning to grow. Winter Sowing can give you sturdier plants than starting them indoors, but if the seeds are for warm-season plants, that do best in summer heat, and if they take a long time to get to the flowering stage, you might prefer to start them indoors. Otherwise, you could have a longer wait for your flowers and/or veggies. The official WinterSown website shows/describes starting seeds in containers outdoors, but when I can, I prefer to put seeds right into the ground. In my yard, dill, beets, and 'German Giant' radish seeds were sowed into the garden several weeks ago, in cold soil and cold weather. The dill isn't up yet, but the beets and radishes are looking good. I don't use the baggie method, but I often pre-sprout cool-season crops like peas, back in February, before planting them. I start them in a flat/tray, in a seed starting mix, and transplant them to the garden on a less-cold day (we usually have a week or so of warm-ish weather near the end of Feb.). This pre-sprouting saves the seeds from rotting in the cold, wet ground. I would guess that the baggie method gives a similar result. This probably isn't enough to answer your questions, but it may be a start. Best wishes for great gardening! -Amy