Hi, I'm interested in your japanese red carrots and black aztec corn. check out my trade list. By the way, you have the beginnings of a nice website. I checked out your blog and so on. You and I have much in common. I just wish I had more time to do what you have for a web site and starting my own nursery too. You have given me some inspiration. I'm in Oakley, pretty close to where you are. Check out my trade list. I have an abundance of chocolate scented sunflowers (Helianthus tuberosus) right now that are pretty cool and they are edible too. Let me know if we can trade. Send me an email. -Alan

To everyone who has replied: I initially posted this back in December. I run a large CSA program (hence the reason I have so many vegetable varieties), and the growing season has begun for us. I am just too busy right now to spend a lot of time trading seeds. I have brought a huge selection of berry bushes and fruit trees on to the farm this year, and they are ready to be planted now as well. Add in the 10,000 onion plants we just received, and I just don't have very much time left over :-) Also, I did a very large trade for some Hosta's and grasses, and the germination was HORRIBLE. Almost to the point that I would rather just buy everything. But alas, I enjoy trading SOOOOOOOO much, so it is impossible for me to pass up a good offer! I currently have way too many emails to reply to. So if you would like to trade, please email me a list of unique flowers, grasses, japanese maple, dogwoods, and flowers (including bulbs). My flower beds are more akin to the cottage style of flower gardening, so please keep that in mind. If it is available at the local garden center on a regular basis, then I would have to pass. I would rather pay the extra for the guarantee. Also, no annuals please. They do not interest me. I will try to reply to a few emails that seemed especially interesting. However, it is easier if you just go ahead and send a list for me to look over. Happy Gardening & Best Wishes, Robert P.S. To the Canadians who have emailed me asking if I will trade over the border, the answer is......ABSOLUTELY! Now that Canadian seed companies don't ship to the US it is the only way I have to continue to add unique and rare varieties to my collection.

Fruitnut is right, what is causing the wet spot is definitely something you really need to find out; especially if it is anywhere near the foundation of the house. That should be the be the first priority. If you are 100% sure it isn't going to cause problems with your foundation or something like that, then mayhaws would be my suggestion as well. You really need to determine what the ph of the soil is as well, because that will pretty much dictate what you'll be able to grow there. Mayhaws like an acid soil, not as acid as blueberries really like it, but something between 5.5 and 6.5.

I mix my gardens - herbs, veggies, fruits, etc. side-by-side so I do exactly what you are suggesting. A couple of suggestions: 1.) DO NOT plant toxic medicinal herbs in with edibles. Keep those in areas where mistakes won't happen. Even if you are sure where everything is, others might go to the gardens and not know any better. I realized this when my youngest child (a budding gardener) got old enough to go to the gardens himself and pick lettuce, spinach, purslane, and manner of other edible stuff from the garden to munch. I plant various blooming plants in certain areas to attract pollinators plus they're pretty. That year I had some foxglove planted in one of those areas. Nothing bad happened, but I had to do some special instruction and ban picking anything from that garden bed. I no longer plant anything that "dangerous" near to the edibles. 2.) Plant your asparagus where you can mow the bed. We mow ours in the spring before anything sprouts. Clears all of last year's debris - necessary. 3.) Check the plant's needs. Not everybody likes the same soil. Blueberries are a prime example. I have to put them in a special bed and amend the soil because they love high acid soils. That is not what I have. See what sun, water, soil ph, richness of soil, etc. requirements they have. Put like needs together. 4.) I often have small areas in the veggie bed where I start perennials like coneflowers. It's a bit of a nursery. But I have to end up moving them before working the beds the next spring. It takes effort and can hold up working the soil. If I was smart, I would just have set areas for this but that never seems to happen and probably never will. 5.) Check out companion plantings. Sources like Carrots Love Tomatoes can give you great advice on what to plant together and what not. 6.) Blooming herbs, perennial or not can attract many beneficial pollinators to your garden. Pollination by insect is requirement for success with many foodstuffs. I have calendula, marigolds (tagetes), marshamallow, borage, chamomile, and other blooming plants always next to or intermixed with the fruits/veggies. 7.) Raspberries sprawl. Best to have them not intermixed. Have a dedicated area. But be sure to encourage some wild rubus species that grows around you which you enjoy to a wild corner of your property. They often out preform the specially bred cultivars I've bought and planted. Of note, wild raspberry leaves do make a nice tea. Raspberry leaf tea is often drank medicinally for women's issues. 8.) I would plant some pole or runner beans by your arches. Some like "scarlet emperor" and hyacinth beans are quite ornamental. Some peas are as well. I like "dwarf grey sugar" for its pretty blossoms and edible pods. 9.) Encourage your youngling helpers to suggest some additions to the garden. It makes it more fun for them. Many vendors sell "kids" collections of seeds if you need some suggestions. FataMorgana