Thank you EricaBraun! Thanks everyone, I got what I needed! So happy to be trading again. :) Emily

CCKW - What you talk about is a major part of the problem. The thing is, they are people mind set and world view. Its how they are taught is ok, or what is normal. We want the change now, but we have to teach the younger generations how to change, rather then passing on our bad habits and continuing the cycle. RE: those apples I am wondering if there would be a colour change due to growing conditions, specifically if organically grown fruit has had the level of difference as I showed in the pic above. Bamboo Rabbit - Its up in the air it seems. There are too many variables to think of to get proper controlled experiments. I dont think its safe to say it is or isnt more nutritious yet. I personally assume organic should be more, if a little, but thats my thoughts, not something that i read in a paper :P Drew - I think many advocates of organic dont understand that there are differences between some agro chemicals. There is a difference between the sulfer we use to acidify the soil and petroleum based fertilizers and sprays. The differences (As far as I know, and please correct me if im wrong) between the sulfer and the petroleum products are the source. I believe the sulfer we use is naturally occuring, where as the nitrogen fertilizer we use is usually based on oil byproducts. The oil industry has its own stigmas, problems and bias which translates to the agro chemicals made from them. I definitely prefer soluble fertilizer for all of my indoor potted plants. The soil leeches nutrients too fast, and if you dont supplement with something then you have to repot or top dress the plant quite often. I use seaweed fert mixed to 1 tsp per gallon, and add 1/4 dose 20-20-20.

i guess i am the problem neighbor on my street. i only have 1 neighbor unless you count horse pasture, and part of the 2 acres i have directly next to him is garden. the rest i cut when it gets high. i cut most of my lawn every week, but the area between us is VERY uneven and will bounce you off the mower. his father used to own my house, and that area was the dirt track for all the grandkids. i told him if he wants to spray it occassionally to keep the weeds out of his yard, that is fine. i will cut it before it gets more than 10 inches high, but not much more often. i HOPE to be able to level it out this summer. once it is level and smooth, i will cut it with teh regular rotation. since i have a corner lot, only horse pasture buts up to me on the other side. the guy who keeps the horses out there gets something to kill the weeds and i spray it for him. i think it is called graze-on, it has to be a certain type so that the horses can still graze and not have to be moved from teh pasture until the weeds are dead. this helps part of my yard, but the weeds still spread pretty quickly. i just round up the 2 acres around the house itself, and let the rest grow what it wants. the bermuda grows in fine, with teh exception of 2 small areas that are almost exclusively in the shade. i have to smooth and seed those soon.

We moved into this neighborhood a little over a year ago. One neighbor takes great pride in her yard, but is an avid chemical user. She also waters nearly every day, mows her grass nearly to the ground, etc. Though she had a "let me show you the right way" attitude with us at first, we have merely led by example. I'm sure she wonders why our grass remains so green and healthy when we never water it. She has asked me what we do about the hoards of Japanese Beetles, and I had to tell her that we don't have any.....that they all go to her house for her roses, purple leaf plums, etc. She now comes over to pick our brains! I haven't seen the Chemlawn truck over there for months! Next, I'll give her some pruning lessons, lol!