I already wanted to attend this from the post in gulf coast forum, but how can anybody not want to meet a guy brave and friendly enough to holler "Free BBQ" in the AL forum? All the way over to Panama City should be part of AL anyway, but this probably isn't the place to start such a mini-rant. "Want to attend" is a done deal for me, am trying to attend, that's as much as I can commit at this point at my end. Nothing against the swap in N AL, which I'd like to attend just as much, just a lot farther away from me in an area much less familiar.

I've always heard that gardening is very therapeutic for just about whatever ails you. So, enjoy, and enjoy some more!!! :) As for which part is seed, generally, once you get more experience collecting them, you can tell pretty much right away which part is seed most of the time (there are some annoyingly hard to tell exceptions, not to mention the really tiny ones). The first thing you should look for is what's left after the flower fades away. Ideally (and true for most, but apparently not all plants), you should wait until the flower head dries. That ensures that the seeds are ripe enough. Also, not all flowers end up producing seeds: Some can self-pollinate, some go so far as needing a "male" plant, while others are just really finicky about pollination. Seeds are generally made for delivering genetic material, so they often are rather tough, or have some tough parts where genetic material is (but not always - lily-family seeds, like lilies, tulips, etc. are flimsy all over), and often have some way to spread themselves (wings, fluffy materials, hooks, etc.). They are also almost always visually identical (sometimes not quite identical, but you can tell they are the same kind of objects - cyclamen seeds are irregularly shaped, but they are all irregularly shaped the same general way, and are otherwise nearly identical in appearance), so when you look at the chaff, solid, repeated patterns is something you can look for. For example, I collected some Campanula seeds one time, and there were lots of reddish, shiny tiny bits that came out, which were obviously the seeds. Some aren't so identical, though. Calendula can vary a bit, but you can always tell from the C-shape and the rough part on the outside of the seed that it's the seed you're looking for. Seeds are also generally tan to brown, to black in colour (again, with exceptions - some are very white, some are annoyingly green). Some plants have pods (irises, lilies, peas, etc.), sometimes seed heads (asters and daisies, some grasses, etc., sometimes something else. Experience with which is which helps, and it helps if you can compare it with seeds you know. Knowing the plant families help too. Composites (asters, daisies, sunflowers, etc.) always have their seeds at the bottom of some fluff, or leftover flower bits, or sometimes nothing at all, and always stuck to the base of the flower. Sometimes they are tiny, sometimes huge, but they are always stick-shaped in some way, sometimes real stick-like things (often with ribbing), sometimes wider and fatter, but the general shape is always the same. Mints, and family (salvias, lamb's ears, lamium, lavender, etc.) always form their seeds at the bottom of the calyx (the green "cup" at the bottom of the flower, which remains after the flower goes away), four per calyx, which you can see if you look down one. When ripe, they are usually dark brown to black (sometimes with contrasting patterns), cigar-shaped (like lavenders) to spheres (many sages). Peas have dangling pods with spherical (well, pea-shaped) seeds. Lilies (including tulips, Lilies of the Nile, grape hyacinths, etc.) and the closely-related irises, usually have upright pods (sometimes elongated, sometimes spherical), which open from the top when ready. Unfortunately, some families are wildly different in appearance, so keep looking and get experience. One thing that all seeds do have in common (unfortunately many are too tiny to be able to see) is the part where it used to be attached to the mother plant with, looking like a circular cut, like the circular thing that's left when you pull a grape from the stem, but usually smaller. That's where the roots would eventually come out from. I won't bother to tell you about fruits, because usually the seeds in them are easy to identify, as are the fruits. As for sowing, mostly read up about them on the net or in books, because their requirements can vary very much. However, if they are perennial where you are, you can bet that giving them a cold period never hurts (even some annuals). Try wintersowing. Some also need light, though, like columbines, and some need dark, like cyclamens, so you still need to research which is which. Some also take extra long to germinate, so you also need patience. Columbines, I find, can take a month, many composites take only a day or two, usually in warm, and some, like trilliums, can take up to two years or so. It never hurts to ask here, of course... :) As to how do you know it's viable, well, you generally don't until you try it. First hand, if the seeds are unusually bendable (works with composites and many others, but not lilies, as they are bendable to begin with), they are probably not viable. The floating method, I've read, doesn't work with most seeds, and not even always with the ones they usually work with. Reading up can also tell you how long you can store the seeds (evening primroses last pretty much forever, violets don't usually last too long), but, again, doesn't hurt to try. I've had hellebores germinate after two years of storage (but with very low rate - about three in 220 seeds), as well as corydalis (one out of twenty), both very short-lived seeds. So don't despair. Unless you need hundreds of them, it never hurts to give them a try. Giving them a cold period often helps to coax old seeds to germinate too. Oh, yes, and some will flower the first year, some the second, and some won't flower for three or four years. I just had some trilliums germinate (the hardest seeds I've ever tried so far), which gave me a lot of happiness and surprise, but I know they take at least four years to flower. Oh, well. So, here's the crash course. I hope this helps and is not too confusing. Again, good luck, and, above all, have fun with it all!!! And challenge yourself with other methods - baggie, wintersowing, GA-3 (a natural growth hormone required by a few plants, hated by some others), smoke treatment (liquid smoke you use for cooking supposedly works with plants that need smoke, which is very rare). GOod luck!!

FREE BBQ!!! Starting out with Free and following with BBQ usually gets most everyones attention and it is all true. Here the deal and there isn't a catch so don't worry about that. A little bit about that BBQ. I'm not having it catered by some run of the mill place and it definitely isn't straight from the grocery store and heated up. Nope! This is MY BBQ! This ain't no throw the meat on a grill and call it BBQ. No SIR! My butts cook all night long sometimes 20 hours till they are juicy, tender slide right off the bone pure pulled pork ecstasy! I'll put my yardbird up against any. Ain't none of that silly fancy skin off healthy chicken breast neither. Nope I go for the meat of the matter. Just large juicy smoked and then sauced thighs. Now I wish I had some good cajun sausage but we have some that ain't too bad. Especially when you cook it in a smoker. People don't even have a clue what sausage is all about when they throw it in a skillet and maybe half boil it to death. You bite my sausage you better be ready to catch some pure pork deliciousness cause it will run down your chin. OK I hope that got your interest up Now here is the plant stuff! It's that time again and hopefully we are giving a better heads up so more of you can attend. This year we are meeting at my house in Pensacola, FL. Most of the group is growing fruit trees other than bananas too such as Blueberries, Blackberries, Muscadines, figs, pears, persimmons, citrus, pawpaw, pomegranate, quince, pecans, peaches, plums, jujubes and Bamboo (edible shoots). I am growing all of those except pears, jujubes and pecans. I plan to add pears soon. We also have an interest in tropical "looking" plants and landscaping from small planting to hardscapes. I have recently put in a large waterfall that is open for discussion and I'm looking for ideas for the built in planters. I'm sure we'll probably talk about everything. You are welcome to bring a guest or two or three if you decide to come. I have recently acquired a what I believe to be a inground dwarf cold hardy Mango. That is all I'll say now. You'll have to come to hear more details. We are planning on meeting on Saturday October 12, 2013 starting at or around 0800 until we all get tired and go home. Of course you can come whenever you want and leave when you want. We will not have any kind of strict schedule. We just want everyone to have a good time and talk about our plants and anything else that comes up. Hopefully we can all learn a little something from each others trials and tribulations! My place isn't huge but I have squeezed a lot into it. I'm just a little over an acre and it is all open to walk around a look at. I currently have twelve banana bunches hanging and a decent citrus crop. I may have some figs left hanging too. I am providing lunch in the form of BBQ pork, chicken and sausage. We'll have BBQ beans, Cole slaw, Potato salad, Mac and cheese, and some kind of desert (maybe cobbler). This is a family event and children are welcome as long as you can watch them. My yard is not completely child proof and I do have a swimming pool near where we will be eating and relaxing. Of course you can swim but it might be a bit cold as it isn't heated. Unfortunately this is Florida so I can not share any type of Citrus so please don't make that request. I just can't legally do it. I will have banana pups but mostly common varieties and some dwarfs. I may have some rooted fig trees to share. I will have a few fig trees large enough to take some cuttings. I will have a few muscadines in pots. Also I have way too many 1 gallon pots that you are welcome to get some if you want. Also there will be a few persimmon whips available. None of this is for sale, so don't worry about that. We all try to share as many plants as we can to keep costs down. If you have something NON-CITRUS to share feel free to bring it! If not no worries come and enjoy the day. I hope you can come. Please bring someone with you. We are trying to involve the wives and in the case of female members maybe a husband or significant other. If you are a single female and feel uncomfortable I know my wife will be there and I fairly sure several other couples will be here also. Feel free to call me if you have any questions. If you are interested in fruiting plants, ornamental plants and landscaping this will be an excellent time to make contacts and we'd sure like to see you there. Thanks, Charles E-mail Darkman270@cox.net Phone 850-791-2336

I recently made fruitcake out of dried fruit too. I used some of our dried figs and dried apricots. I forgot one should use candied. I did use our candied citrus rind though. Other ingredients included currants, yellow raisins, cranberries, prunes, crushed hazelnuts, and marzipan paste. Brandy too of course. I sent a large fruitcake to a party and none came back, so I have to assume it was good (I know, I should have gone to the party...). I have a couple more soaking in the brandy cheesecloth, will taste them closer to Christmas. It smells so wonderful I really doubt it will taste bad.... I am posting to give the approximate recipe for the syrup and candied rind, since i have been using them quite a bit. To make the syrup and candied rind here is what I did. Mix equal parts sugar and water, heat until sugar is dissolved, and put the zested rinds of a basket full of minneolas after carefully washing them. Sorry, i did not measure, but you will see when enough is enough, when the mix turns a pretty orange color and you see lots or rind on the syrup. Boil for about 30 minutes and let the whole thing sit overnight or a few hours. Strain the rind and keep them in a separate container. The strained liquid should be orange and taste like minneolas. Or, any citrus that you want to preserve. My oldest (and most productive) trees are a giant Minneola, which is probably over 100 years old, and a not so large looking but incredibly prolific Meyers lemon tree. Both of them are super loaded (again). I am thinking about a similar Myers syrup and candied rind combination. I have used the syrup as a flavoring in citrus wine, to make the zucchini candies that were posted here, as a mixer with vodka, will use to soak the non- brandy cheesecake....and that will be it (not much left so it will be gone after that). The candied rind is used every time I make zucchini muffins, every time I make fig bread, and I used some in the fruitcake.