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Garden in the kitchen

Wouldn't you just love to have fresh herbs at your fingertips? Even in winter? With an AeroGarden you can grow herbs and vegetables on your kitchen counter -- and there's no soil to make a mess. "Plant roots are suspended in air in a 100 percent humidity, highly oxygenated aeroponic growing chamber and bathed with ideal levels of nutrients and water for maximum growth," according to AeroGarden, which says you can grow tomatoes; salad greens; herbs, such as basil and cilantro, and much more. For more information, go to www.aerogrow.com. The product is sold locally at Macy's.

Get this

Warn feathered friends: Birds migrating through your yard or eating at your feeders can get confused about images they see in window reflections. Warning window decals can help stop that.

Duncraft's new Save-the-Birds UV decals are transparent to the human eye but reflect a solid blue image to birds, making the window glass "visible" to them so they avoid crashing into it. Space the decals, available in snowflake, star and leaf shapes, 3 feet apart. $9.95 for a set of six of one type. Available online at www.duncraft.com or call (888) 879-5095.

Lead testing

With all the talk about lead in children's toys, many consumers are probably wondering how they can test the products in their homes and which products really work.

Consumer Reports recently tested five home lead-testing kits and concluded that three of the five kits were useful screening tools.

Consumer Reports found that Homax Lead Check, Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit and Lead Inspector detected surface or accessible lead but didn't detect lead embedded below the surface. In Consumer Reports tests, the Homax Lead Check ($8); and the Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit ($18.45) were the easiest to use and identified accessible lead in toys, ceramic dishware, and vinyl or plastic. These two kits consist of cigarette-shaped swabs that turn pink when they detect lead. If lead concentrations are low, these swabs can take up two hours to change color, but in CR's tests, high concentrations produced immediate results. The eight-swab Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit pack is a better bargain than the Homax two-swab pack. Its packaging was also less susceptible to being crushed.

Consumer Reports advises parents that if an item tests positive for lead it should be removed from use. To ascertain exact lead levels, items must be screened professionally.

Go native

Encouraging native plants in your garden or natural areas saves resources, benefits wildlife and connects your garden to the surrounding natural community. You can learn about native plantings by attending a workshop by Gardener by Nature at Swiftbrook Gardens in Raleigh. Participants will get a chance to explore a woodland garden and learn about growing native plants as well as how to control invasive exotics. The workshop is scheduled for 1:30 to 4 p.m. Nov. 8 and 9:30 a.m. to noon on Nov 10. The cost is $25 and you must register by Nov. 5. Get more information at 828-2015 or www.gardenerbynature.com.

Backyard sighting

We saw this unusual cup-shaped spider web in our yard in Wilson early one Sunday morning. I have not been able to identify the type of web or spider.

Ann Lupton, Wilson