Hi Mas: I forget to answer your question if potassium sulfate, or sulfate of potash, at NPK 0-0-50, hurt earthworms and beneficial bacteria? Yes, if you use it concentrated and sprinkling around roses. No, if you dilute in water.

Sulfate of potash has 21% sulfur, versus gypsum (calcium sulfate) with 17% sulfur. I made a BIG MISTAKE when I sprinkled gypsum around roses, its acidity killed earthworms & beneficial bacteria, and my roses came down with rust, both due to fungal-taking-over, plus too much calcium drives down potassium. I have ZERO PROBLEMS when I use gypsum at 1 teaspoon per gallon, to bring down the pH of my VERY ALKALINE tap water (pH over 8.5). I would use sulfate of potash at 1 teaspoon gallon of water, that would supply potassium in a diluted amount, which won't harm beneficial bacteria.

Wow. Straw, you are such a wealth of information! Thank you so much for answering all my questions. I had no idea that kelp meal was high in salt.

have you tried corn meal or corn gluten as a fertilizer? I am planning
to switch to organic lawn care and that seems to be the main
fertilizer/weed preventer (corn gluten). I was planning to add some dry
molasses to the lawn too.

My fertilizer program is easy... I'm going to apply homemade compost in the fall every 1-2 years and do Nothing in the Spring/Summer...Every rose I ever had that was capable of blooming heavy did so in the Spring without any fertilizer applied and they bloomed throughout the rest of the season good enough to satisfy our tastes...

I did find a great source for horse manure though and I applied some around Thomas Affleck since he has the most disease problems...

Hi Mas & Jim: We use a Scott's spreader to spread fertilizer on our lawn. The spreader is made for SMALL & non-sticky chemical pellets, and one person besides me broke the spreader by using sticky milorganite (sewage sludge). So if you try an organic & sticky fertilizer, the setting needed to be WIDENED on your spreader, so it won't clog up and break the spreader.

What worked for me was using a chemical lawn-fertilizer HIGH in nitrogen, but zero weed-killer. Menards sell such for $9 per bag, 1/2 the price of Scott's Weed & Feed. What stops the weeds, and encourage grass is NOT weed-killer, but HIGH NITROGEN. Milorganite didn't work because the nitrogen was too low, and the phosphorus was too high, which encouraged weeds to flower and spread.

I can't use lawn fertilizer here or I'd be cutting grass every other day...lol... We need to cut it every 3-4 days now with no fertilizer... July it will start growing slower because of the heat...

Now my mom who lives about 4 miles from me could use fertilizer as there grass grows slow and looks like heck... I don't think we have a Menards around here. We have Tractor Supply, Lowes, Home Depot, various hardware stores, and of course the big box stores such as Walmart..

Hi Jim: Agree about fertilizer & more grass cutting. Folks no longer recommend early spring fertilizing, but only FALL .. that's for a less work lawn. I keep a record of how my roses are after what feeding. Same with the body. I keep a food-diary of my reaction to various foods: found that I'm allergic to cashew & sesame (the entire-body rash). Also found that fruits & veggies & beans help me with the best sleep, and white-bread & cheese give me the worst sleep. I always snack before bedtime since when I was "skinny-30's" ... I'm chubby-50's now. If I don't snack before bedtime, my blood sugar plunges and I don't sleep well. Internet is filled with "you are supposed to stop eating few hours before bedtime" .. but that doesn't apply to folks with low-blood sugar.

My sister is really skinny (under 85 lbs) and she always snack before going to bed.

I have family members that are diabetic so they have to eat late also as blood sugar plunges if they don't.....

Found a link from Health.com: a slide-show as to what helps with good sleep: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20306715_last,00.html

I disagree on Valerian: bought those in pills one time and they STANK !! They are right about high-dose of melatonin can cause depression. Instead of green tea, I use spearmint tea: makes me drowsy in minutes !! But Peppermint tea has 1/2 the amount of magnesium as spearmint, so peppermint doesn't work as well. I'll plant more spearmint this year .. so many varieties of mint: grapefruit, orange, pineapple, apple mint, etc.

The above link mentions Wild-lettuce and hops as sleep-aid: will research on them. Magnesium works VERY WELL for my sleep. I take magnesium oxide, since it's cheaper & more convenient than CALM (magnesium citrate powder). I also nap during the day, and I notice that foods high in magnesium, like beans & rice, really help me to get a good nap. I no longer drink tea in the morning, since the caffeine interferes with my nap.

I have to wake up so early to pack lunch for hubby & kid, so I need a nap during the day. I don't nap on weekends since I can sleep in. Question for Jim & Mas & anyone reading this: what helps with your sleep, and what helps with your good nap? Thanks.

Great info Straw!

Only thing I found that gets me a good night sleep is to do things throughout the day to make me real tired by bedtime... But of course we can't always do that each day... And of course I have not tried some of your ideas Straw or other ideas that may work... I will not take a sleeping pill! Even though some nights I wake up all night long and am exhausted and must nap...