Funny, just today at a dog group, someone else recommended diatomaceous earth for giardia in dogs (drinking from mud puddles and creeks is one source for that bacteria), and said it worked for his dogs, so maybe the collies are not as reliable a judge as we want to think (who wants to drink that white powder in a smoothie, much less sprinkled over the main course?).

I'm intrigued by the hard, dry-clay look of your potting soil. The bags of potting soil I buy are so porous and full of what looks like white styrofoam chips, it's no wonder nothing thrives in it.

If I could get my compost heap to turn into "black gold" I'd be onto something, but it's a smorgasboard for possums and birds, and no compost is appearing. (Yes, I should do it by the book instead of tossing stuff in daily and Turning the Stuff only a few times a summer.)

I'd like to plant a half-acre of hemp to remediate the soil, but The Man of the House (and Yard!) isn't interested. (And he still spreads lawn chemicals.) Should I try harder to make a convert out of him...