Been up to my eyeballs in work lately; I just revisited this thread.
About baking the soil and having it stink up the kitchen...I suggest getting a toaster over and use it outside to 'bake' the soil to sterilize it. Yard sales and thrift stores usually have a few toaster ovens for sale. The same toaster oven can be used for other non-food things like clay or 'shrinky dinks' and other creative stuff you don't care to breathe inside the house.
Pinkrose, you might want to let the Amazon seller know about the mold. They may make a $$ adjustment for you or at least learn to be more careful what they put together in a package.
