I have Chioggia beets, if you're interested. Feel free to email me; I wouldn't mind some of those Marketmore cukes!

Hi Carolyn, I sent you an e-mail from my side. Let's see if that works.

Hold on here a minute Crabjoe. You have had trouble growing decent watermelons, so your response is to plant an exotic melon from the far East, whose description, in sort of Chinese/English, says that it requires "techniques and experiences" to grow, and that it can be "broken into pieces" when grown outdoors? I don't much like the "thin skin" part either, which is not an advantage that I can see. It seems like you might be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. There are lots of sweet watermelon varieties out there, if they are grown under the right conditions. You can do it where you live, if you provide those conditions. Avoid trying to grow the very large (20 lbs. and up) melons at first. Sugar Baby is a wonderful watermelon, and if you really want sweet, grow the Yellow Doll. I grew it one season and it was as sweet as perfume, which I did not like but I know you like your fruit on the sweet side. If you want to grow good watermelons: 1. Enrich your soil. Plant where there is good drainage. 2. Full, all-day sun is a must. 3. Lay down a large sheet of black plastic 10 days to 2 weeks before planting. This will warm up the soil so you can plant (either seeds or seedlings) at the end of May or beginning of June. Don't push the envelope on early planting. Leave the plastic in place all season long. Last season I produced so many melons from about 8 hills that we gave away all we could to the neighbors, and were still able to take two trunkloads to the local homeless shelter. In melon season, I eat one Sugar Baby per day, but my wife does not like them so much. I also like a hybrid version of Sugar Baby called Jade Star (think the seeds were from Burgess), and have grown some seedless types from Stokes that were surprisingly good. But if you want sweet, sweet, sweet, grow Yellow Doll or one of the other seedless or seeded yellow/orange types. For Herbert: Happy to hear your melon growing is going so well, as it ought to in Georgia. I no longer grow the larger melons, since they are harder to get in the refrigerator and deal with in general. And the smaller types are just as good or better in quality, as well as being more numerous on the vines. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I've been considering finding a trader who had a lot to trade, and was looking for about the same number of items as "wants". I would like a large variety in my garden this year without buying all of the seeds. I would be willing to purchase OP, Heirloom seeds of the varieties on your Wants list to split with you if you were willing to trade approx.equal number and quantities of items on your Haves list. Is this something you would be open to? (I know it's kind of a big project, but I figured I'd ask.)