First off I'm not a gardener. Were your existing large bins filled as batch or continuous? If batch, I am going to expect a 50-60% reduction in volume by the time it's finished. If continuous, not so much reduction as some has already taken place. Is your garden for vegetables? I've heard that veggies are more demanding of nutrients and stuff. Do you till a lot? As it is your bins have a volume of 16 CY or so if filled. Shrinkage could take that down to as low as 8 CY or so but more likely into the 12 CY range. To cover a garden of your size with 1 inch of finished compost you would need just over 13 CY of finished compost. One inch doesn't sound like a lot but it should be sufficient if the compost has decent numbers and the garden soil wasn't dead to begin with. And with 5 of 7 years having compost added I would suspect your garden is in pretty decent shape. I don't think even 2 inches would cause any harm but it might be more than you require. Your compost ingredients sound fine to me with the caveat that the HM came from healthy animals. Lloyd

Leaf perfection in a landscape plant is a mighty hard thing to achieve what with the plant actually living in a complex interactive living system in which their main purpose is to be a food supply for others. Hard to say what exactly may have caused the spots, so many options, but it is more important to judge the overall look and health of the whole plant than focus on some tiny imperfections. In a planted landscape that kind of leaf speckling would not be much cause for alarm. Your Magnolia virginiana looks to be quite healthy. Treat it well and it will be fine.

If anyone is interested in the answers, you can find them here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/big-concerts/virgin-digital-spot-the-bands-answers/168652256528104/ It seems we have made some mistakes. For example, my "Lettermen" is not in there. Rather it's "The Postal Service".

Are there spots on the inside of an overall haze? Spots may come out. Here’s one formula. Few drops of dish soap and 1/4 cup vinegar. Fill vase with long-cook rice and shake. Let rest shake again. If the inside is hazy, I’d say it was used as a vase and it’s hard water etching which is permanent. Let me know if this works.