Bamboo! We spent 8 years fighting it at our last house. It would come up through the asphalt driveway, invade the gardens, and was threatening to come through the basement wall. We spent many years thinking unkind thoughts of whoever planted that monster. Once in a while someone would come by and ask for a cutting because they "wanted some bamboo for a quick screen". The answer was always NO!! We felt we had a moral responsibilty to refuse to give ANY to ANYONE for ANY purpose unless the bamboo was already cut and dried and going to be used for building something. We finally learned how to keep it under control through constant mowing, but of course we never got rid of it. Instead we moved. And guess what we found on a corner of our new property? Bamboo! And ailanthus trees, don't get me started on those....

How can you deduct what you're giving for samples? You're growing it same as the rest and deducting cost of growing. That would make me mad too - has this guy never bought from you before? Don't you have a sign with your farm name? I assume the absent vendor had. Some people are clueless. On getting it all done - I tied up all my tomatoes along the fences yesterday, counted I have 200 in ground (plus 1 volunteer that will have to be pulled b/c it's too close to a transplant - I didn't notice it among the weeds along the fenceline a month ago). 4 dwarf varieties trialing in 13 pots on the porch (plus 2 Cosmonaut Volkov in half gal pots that look leggy but healthy, I may put in 5 gal buckets to see what happens). Planted 16 more sweet (non-bell) peppers in east bed of tunnel to see what they do, that makes 96 in tunnel, 6 (5 of them superhots) overwintered in pots and need to be potted up, did just put 8 Hinkelhatz in 4" pots b/c they looked so good in cell pack and seeds are rare I'm hoping to sell plants. Have 3 Black Krim in 4" pots that look good, don't know if I can sell them now but I hate to compost them. DH didn't water the plants I moved into garage to shelter from Arthur so the rest are being composted. I didn't count the bean plants but have about 70ft of pole beans, about that of bush beans. Melons really aren't growing (do watemelon plants need LOTS of water when they're 3" across?), cukes are slow, squash is growing but no male flowers yet. Cilantro is flowering - I'm leaving it to seed and attract beneficials, will sow more, dill is just starting but I need to sow more, have to sow basil I never got around to. Been pulling bolting lettuce - trying to let kale flower (couldn't find Red Russian this year and used all my seed starting in March, got 2 plants in the garden and they're being skeletonized). Curly kale doing well but I'm going to seed more. Going to try carrots in tunnel since I have 36ft (x2ft) beds left on east side and that is nice fairly sifted fine composted manure (hope I don't get all tops, it tested Low in N but tomatoes and peppers like it). So I talk to my sister (now down from Boston staying with my parents) yesterday, make plans to take kids to my uncle's pool (1/2 mile from me) in afternoon weather permitting. I said I don't like DD to be out from 10-2, so after 2 sounded good. Said I'd probably just work til noonish b/c it was going to be too hot, call my cell I'll have it in the truck. She said she'd call after lunch. I don't have any missed calls when I knock off at 12:34 after frantically working (not even watering peppers in, not pruning tomatoes, no weeding or mulching that needs to be done out back). So I eat lunch, go pot up those Hinkelhatz in garage, run back in, no messages on house or cell phones, prune blackberries, weed in house garden, general putzing, at 2:30 I try mom no answer at house, call sis's cell no answer leave message but it's starting to sprinkle so I don't know if they decided to go to movies or something. Hop on GW and post on a few boards, read weekly Ag report from state, etc. 4:45 no answer my parents' house, call cell, my sister answers and says they're at pool, just ready to leave! My mom told her not to call b/c l"ikely I was busy". If I was busy I wouldn't answer, or I'd tell them I couldn't meet them! She had said she was going to call after lunch and I piddled around the house waiting, then was getting a little anxious if they'd been in accident or something (with my DD) b/c no one was returning my calls! We've got plans to go to concert at park tomorrow night, I have to get DD today to bring to fife and drum practice tonight, but I told them I was going to be busy today b/c it was supposed to be better weather than yesterday, I had things I needed to do that I had put off. How do you deal with people like this? My mom thought I'd be working and wouldn't have time but my sister and I had made plans to at least discuss the weather/pool/other ideas between noon and 2. If I had an office job and said I was going to take the afternoon off to be with them, even if the activity was dependent on the weather, wouldn't they have called??? I should have just gone back out and started seeding carrots. This post was edited by ajsmama on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 7:59

Everything is bursting into bloom here. The plum trees are in full bloom so the yard smells delicious. The peach tree should start blooming tomorrow. The Mexican plum is budding, so we expect blooms from it in a week or so. The water lilies have new foliage coming out. Lots of wildflowers are in bloom--spring beauties, anemones, bluets, wild garlic, wild onion, bloodroot, henbit, chickweed and others whose name I do not know. Some of the native Chickasaw plums are blooming along a few fencelines in the Thackerville area though not yet blooming along our road a bit further north. Some of the ornamental pears are blooming...either 'Bradfored' or 'Aristocrat' or both. Daffodils are in bloom everywhere, and I saw the first hyacinth blossom yesterday. I haven't seen any redbuds in bloom yet. The iris foliage is up, and lots of herb volunteers like catnip, lemon balm, chamomile, are up. Some of the chamomile plants are on the verge of blooming. The chives are just a handful of days away from blooming. A lot of the trees are getting that fuzzy look you notice from a distance when they're about to bloom or start leafing out. All the winter weeds are growing like mad and we're going to mow them down tomorrow. Down near the river, some of the native willows are leafing out already. The native blackberries have leafed out but haven't bloomed yet. We have honeybees and lady bugs all over the place, and a few butterflies and moths. Tons of birds are everywhere. Lots of frog activity around the ponds. Spring-like weather is here, but I still expect we'll have another freezing night or two at the very least, although I wish we wouldn't. Spring officially arrives in a few days, but the plants are acting like it's already here. Unfortunately, the bermuda grass here is beginning to green up too. Dawn

This one is $10 mil here in Austin. I have actually been in it many times since a friend of my daughter's live(d) there-she is in college now. The first time my daughter went there, she was so excited about the Chuck Close painting because he is her favorite artist! Her parents divorced a few years ago, dad kept the house and mom moved to another home in the same neighborhood. I don't think the pics do it justice-the views are amazing, they own lots of acreage around it, very private. I never really liked the furniture, though. Anyway, the owner is Steven Dell (the famous eye surgeon and brother of Michael who founded Dell Computer). He is not a nice person, had multiple affairs during the marriage and never seemed very interested in his kids. Sad because they have four kids. I wonder if he'll ever really sell it. Here is a link that might be useful: $10 Mil Home in Austin