Mike Ciul

These plants turned up in our guerilla garden in West Philly. I was hoping one of them was a blueberry plant, but I'd be happy to know whatever they are. Can you help?

The first one is what I thought was a blueberry bush, but the flower bud structure looks different. The third one has leaves that look like mint - soft and wrinkly - but the stem is tough and woody.

Thanks!

Hi, I'm a total novice gardener. I read in the planting instructions for many herbs and vegetables that you should thin the seedlings when they're small. Is this good advice? It seems to go against the idea that you should plant in high density without leaving any bare ground, but it seems so universal I thought maybe it was the best thing to do anyway. Does planting vegetables too close to each other cause them to starve for nutrients? Is the idea to plant something else in between? Is thinning good for some things but not for others? What should I do?

Thanks! That's very helpful.

Hi there, I'm new here.

We have a lot of bones saved up - I've been making beef broth with shanks, knuckle bones and marrow bones every week for about 3 years. I've been hearing that you can burn bones and grind them up to make bone meal, but I'm wondering if you really have to. We don't have space for a big enough fire! Couldn't you bury them? If you did, what would be the best spot? Underneath the wood in a hugel? On top of it? Under specific plants? How deep?

Also, I have a lot of used deep-fryer tallow and bacon fat. What do you recommend doing with that? Can it be used for biodiesel or is it too sludgy? Can it be buried? I've used it in firestarters but it stinks pretty bad, and I don't need much of it for that.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.