kinz1j’s Recent Comments

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  Working through it

  For the past four seasons, I have mowed my lawn with a Scotts Classic reel mower with some succees, but can sympathize with your frustration.

  From what I can tell, any grass or weed that is higher than the midpoint of the rotating blades can be pushed down rather than cut.  Also, the wheels tend to push the grass down under them, which sometimes leaves them too low for cutting.  

  This is what I do to get an acceptable-looking lawn.  First, I cut the lawn twice, once in one direction, then perpendicular to the first cut.  Cutting in a different direction seems to catch a lot of grass that was missed the first time.

  Second, I make sure that the blades are adjusted to cut properly and are sharp.  The rattling you report doesn't sound good at all--the Scotts has held up quite well without any rattling.  There are sharpening kits available that involve putting paste on the blades and turning the blades backwards--they work fairly well.

  Third, if the grass has grown too long, and espcially if there are tall weeds, I get out my gas-powered mower.  Sometimes that is the only thing that will get the job done in a reasonable amount of time.

  Fourth, I accept that my lawn will never be billiard-table flat like a gas-powered mower lawnOn My yard, a source of shame posted 1 year, 6 months ago 18 Responses

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  US producer of organic cotton and clothes

  There is at least one American company that both grows organic cotton and manufactures clothes from it locally.  SOS From Texas offers t-shirts and other simple clothes made from organic cotton grown on their farm in Texas.  Their clothing selection isn't going to impress the ultra-fashion-conscious skinny rich chicks and they don't have jeans, but there are lots of t-shirts and some socks.  It's a start, and if they can get a viable business going, maybe others will take notice and follow their example.On The U.S. organic cotton industry has a tough row to hoe posted 3 years ago 12 Responses