Q: I found some five-year old sacks of lime, 8-8-8 and bonemeal at my mother-in-law’s house recently. Are they still useable? If they are, I can make good use of them!

A: On the farm when I was a kid, we stored fertilizer in an old, leaky barn. Each spring, it was my job to empty the sacks of concrete-like plant food and beat it into a powder with a hammer. My father knew that he could use the stuff just fine as long as it would pass through his mule-drawn fertilizer spreader. All of your products are eminently useable. A word to the wise however: wear eye protection and gloves if hammering is called for.