This is the lettuce in question (yeah, I know; it needs thinned.) Didn't my DH come up with a neat way to keep bunnies out? Anyway, hopefully this will make heads at some point, or DH is really going to be disappointed. Iceberg is his favorite kind of lettuce (mine is Buttercrunch.) Thanks for all your help!

Olpea, I don't think you read my endorsement closely because I was just excited to finally, after many years, to have a heavy crop on one tree, one site. I was hoping that it was finally fully mature (at 10 years old and a really big tree) but this year the entire tree has 12 plums. There are other plums I have problems with, like Seneca, but no other plum has been so reluctant to bear consistently on so many sites. How it does in Kansas is anyone's guess. I'm assuming it must have performed pretty well up by Lake Geneva because the Cornell people like Jim Cummins are so high on it. If it bore up there like it does here they never would have bothered releasing it. If it does bare for you, its appearance will definitely sell it. You'll know in 6-8 years. Hope you didn't order too many. Noogy, the only one of those you mentioned that I grow is Harrow Delight which is generally a very nice early pear that is easy to grow. Strangely, this year it hasn't done well at the couple of sites where I'm watching it and Aurora is superior. It has some scab issues this year. For many years it's been the most reliable early pear I grow.

Our backyard did indeed get all torn up during pool construction, necessitating re-leveling/recontouring (adding dirt), laying new sod, redoing the sprinkler system,etc. These were also additional expenses, done by other contractors we hired or done DIY-style. I also use few, if any chemicals and have a veggie garden. We planted no veggies that year in the back, opting for containers only set out amongst the front yard beds. The side yard was compacted in a major way but not from equipment, as they had access thru some vacant land in the back, but just compacted by the amount of foot traffic! Organic fertilizer/compost, adequate water and choosing to walk off that beaten path, allowed for the area to come back within a year. Same thing for the most beaten-up areas in the backyard that did not get new sod (there were some irregular areas that didn't lend themselves to new sod). My advice is to just expect a major disruption and deal with it post-pool. IMO, trying to get the pool crew to sidestep the garden or other areas will only lead to frustration for you and aggravation for them. We have a waterfall in a saltwater pool and have not seen any tendency toward mold. But the waterfall is also always in full sun and it's pretty windy most days in North Texas, so mold would have a hard time getting going. The chlorinated water from your SWCG also helps! :)

Hey prairiemoon, you started a food-fight! Fun!! I'll have to try to read through all the comments some day, but the signal-to-noise ratio is not so good in this thread. It's interesting to hear about the maple tree roots being so invasive and so bad for gardens. The up-side of maple trees is that their leaves make a hot compost if you rake them and shred them when they first fall from the tree. I'll bet they would be a good thing to till into the surface of the soil in the fall after harvest. Don't deep-till, just stir them into the surface. Interesting soil analysis. High levels of sulfur will inhibit the growth of mycorrhizal fungi. Magnesium is also high, so I wonder if someone applied gypsum to the soil. Personally, I don't think I would do that. In fact, I don't think your soil really needs anything to improve fertility. Because your organic matter levels are so high, I wouldn't worry about the remarks about phosphorous and potassium being high. I no longer till compost or organic matter into the soil. It stays on the surface. As it breaks down into its final form - humic and fulvic acids - those (mild) acids are absorbed by the clay fraction of the soil, causing the soil to transform. The roots of plants grow just beneath the surface of the soil where the 'organic horizon' provides most of the needed nutrients. The idea of using shredded leaves as a surface mulch for the earthworms is a good one. As you already know, they will come to the surface to pull them down. I'm thinking that a periodic application of shredded leaves through the winter and into spring would be a very good thing for lawns and gardens. I can report that leaving a layer of shredded oak leaves under an oak tree did good things for both the tree and the grass under the tree; greener grass and fuller, healthier looking foliage on the tree. I didn't see if you make your own compost. I make compost and my rookie mistake was applying it when it was not finished. I've also seen fresh wood bark and wood chip mulch stun plants. Just FYI. Paul