Nope, no bottom heat. I did finally get a good light set-up this year. Maybe seedling mats for Christmas next year? :) But I did do a little experiment yesterday that I think tells me a little more about what is happening. See, I was pre-sprouting these guys on paper towels (since I was pretty sure something was off with these little puppies from last winter). About 6 out of 150 sprouted, but there were white mold threads everywhere. So I divied them into two groups: "not really moldy" (they fell off the paper towel when I tilted it) and "pretty moldy" (they remained stuck to the paper towel, held fast by the mold strands, like the victims in some alien horror film). "Not Moldy" (NM) went into a 10% bleach solution for about a minute, "Moldy" (M) went into a 10% solution for about 10 minutes. After bleach, they were both rinsed with fresh water, then NM were placed in a container with a paper towel that had also been put in bleach, then rinsed with fresh water. M went in another one with a plain damp paper towel. The results? Some new mold growth in both containers, but way less than had been present the previous day (before the experiment). 5 new sprouts in NM, 1 in M. More mold in the M container than in the NM. And I got a better look at how the mold seems to originate. It appears at the pointy end of the seeds where the root tip emerges only. This is hard to notice when the mold is rampant because then there are strands everywhere. What did I learn? Well, even though this wasn't entirely scientific (I would have needed 3 more containers- NM, plain PT; M, bleached PT; and control (a handful of unsorted seeds left in the original setup)), I think I learned something useful to me. For one, a light bleach solution doesn't seem to hurt sprouting seeds. Two, a mold problem can be slowed down to allow more germintation of problematic seed using bleach. (That conclusion takes into account my previous experience with the moldy seed, which was that once you saw all that mold, there was no further germination.) And I think that the most obvious lesson I learned is: if you have a gardener sitting at home all day with a head cold, they will still find a way to do something with plants. Cheers! Sunni

I would suggest you visit the square foot garden forum too. I think it maybe more of what you are looking for. I think the corn would shade the melons too much. Also, without the 3rd sister, you would need to fertilize really good. Beans are commonly planted with corn, cucumbers, savory, carrots and celery. They HATE onions. From what I have read interplanting the kohlrabi and the turnips would be fine, because they use different soil stratas and they take the same kinds of culture and nourishment. Tomatoes like basil, marigolds, nasturtiums, onions, garlic. They benefit from carrots, but carrots get a little stunted from the tomatoes. Tomatoes do not like brassica family members or potatoes and fennel. Cauliflower should not be planted by tomatoes or strawberries. I hope that helps. You will also have to remember about crop rotation. when you start with companion planting, it can make crop rotations harder to do.

Don't forget TigerDawn's blog, too! Man, we're getting to be a bloggy group, arent' we? We've all got links to each other's blogs on our sidebars. I really like how that works. When someone posts a new blog, it moves to the top of the list. Helps me to keep current on everybody. I did finally get a reply from Gurney in my e-mail today. Surprised they waited all the way till Sunday to check their e-mails?? I thought the reply was kind of terse. They said: "A reship has been issued for the item(s) requested. You should receive your items by the early part of April. However, we ship the plants in their dormant stage. If you are not happy with the size of a onion bunch. We will be happy to issue a credit or a refund. While we try to make every effort to ensure that the items you order are of the highest quality, shipped to you in a timely manner, and with the best service, occasionally we stumble. Please accept our apologies. Again, I do apologize for the inconvenience and we ask that you consider giving us one more opportunity to provide you with world class service. " In the second e-mail I had sent them I told them that all my garden buddies had gone with Dixondale and that their poor customer service was making me wish I'd done the same. From the way it sounds, I'm just going to get one bunch of onions. But that's ok as long as the count is reasonable. I went out and planted the onions that were smaller than pencil size today, as I began to worry they weren't going to hold very long. The bigger onions, I will try to hold till after the last freeze. Yep, I'm gonna be a Dixondale girl next year. Spring before last, I found white Candy onions at Atwood's for a dollar and something a bunch. And that was the year I had so many wonderful huge ones. I just blundered into the purchase, didn't know anything much about them when I first bought them. The next spring, by the time I went to get some, they were all gone. Or maybe they never got any because they never got any this year. I don't want to depend on some store locally getting some in and ending up waiting till too late to order if they don't. But I notice Dixondale's prices get pretty reasonable if you order several bundles, and I can call Consumer Calls on the local radio station and advertise that I have some for sale and probably get my investment back. Paula, you're a sweetie for thinking about sending me some next year and I might even take you up on that. They don't weigh that much, postage shouldn't be too bad. I've got several things to blog about but I've been so dang busy I haven't had time. Today after I planted onions (forgot to check to see if it was OK with the moon! Dang!), I transplanted the Roselle, the pomegranate and quite a few peppers into their first styro cups. They're all warm weather things so they'll be getting transplanted a second time before it's time to go out in the garden. Gosh, I hope Ihave places for everything! Now Hubs has somethng built that needs painting and I'm the painter here. So gotta go do that before I lose my daylight. I too am so glad Steve is doing so well. Looks like you're having a time keeping him off his feet, eh Diane? That's a good sign though.

Hank, As Mary previously stated, it is best to give tomatoes lots of airspace to help prevent the foliar diseases to which they are so susceptible. The OSU factsheets that Julie mentioned have pretty much all the information you will ever need. If you can't find the info you need there, though, you can ask us. There are factsheets on different aspects of gardening in general and there are factsheets on specific crops, planting and transplanting dates for spring and fall gardens and much more. I've linked them below. Over the years I have grown almost everything. I don't bother with many cool season crops because we have too many hungry deer in the winter time. The crops growing in my garden right now include onions, leeks, chives, rhubarb, artichokes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, corn, green beans, pumpkins, winter squash, melons of all kinds, (including muskmelons, cantaloupes, casabas and watermelons) and lots of herbs. If it ever stops raining for more than 10 minutes, I still need to plant okra, southern peas (blackeyed peas, crowder peas, lady peas, etc.) and sweet potatoes. Plants you can still sow from seed right now include: green beans, melons, pumpkins, summer and winter squash, pumpkins, okra, southern peas, and corn. You probably could plant carrots now and get a good stand, but I think carrots planted later in the season don't have as good of a flavor or texture as those planted earlier. Some crops that do well in fall gardens in our climate include brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, turnips, spinach and other greens, and garlic. There is an OSU factsheet on fall gardening and fall planting dates. Some fruit is grown from cuttings, like blackberries and raspberries. Blackberries grow well here. Raspberries can be harder to grow in our heat. Blueberries do well here, if you have naturally acidic soil or if you are willing to do a lot of soil amendment to get the soil to the right pH for them. I have no experience with elderberry. Many people here in southern Oklahoma grow some of the common fruit tree crops, like plums, peaches, cherries, pears, nectarines, figs, and persimmons. Apples are harder to grow here because we have so many cedar trees which are the host plant for cedar apple rust. Good luck, Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: OSU Factsheets