My favorite local garden blog is Jim Long's. He lives near the AR/MO border, near the new Branson airport, and runs an herb business. Someday I'm going to go visit his garden! Here is a link that might be useful: Jim Long's Garden Talk Blog

Congratulations, Donnakay!! I resolve to stop waiting for stuff to arrive and to actually have a kitchen. I plan (but not so strong as resolve) to have bi-weekly dinners for family and friends ostensibly for conviviality and to nurture relationships, but also to experiment on them as I learn to do all kinds of things with my gonzo new appliances that were just not possible with the half dead old kitchen. Cat_Mom, I had the whole recipe problem until one day I decided I'd just had it with the multiple pages of notepad paper with family recipes, and the clipped outs, and dumped them all on my desk. Turned on the TV to interesting but not very visual entertainment, and didn't get my desk back until I'd typed my way through the lot. My recipes directory as all kinds of sub-directories like a cookbook but with my own kind of categories. It makes it SO easy. I do print out ones that need specific following, and keep the print-outs in a basket in the kitchen, where they're handy to give away to those who ask, or to reuse. But when I'm planning, making shopping lists, etc., or when one gets just too grotty, I can print out a new one. I highly recommend this!! In fact, I also resolve to type up recipes that I like that are in books, because I can't always find the right one. And since I use them as a starting point usually, remembering the outcome doesn't always help (as in the bread pudding recipe didn't call for poppy seeds...so which one was it now?)

Dave, what books have you found useful/invocative/thought provoking? I read Bringing Nature Home and Planting in a Post Wild World which were both enjoyable reads and had helpful takeaways. I've liked what I read by Michael Pollan also and there was a neat one about a guy doing a big but small organic tomato farm I cant remember the author or title of... I definitely agree with the local garden clubs and neighbors being an invaluable source of information, second only to experience. When I worked for the landscaping company the older customers who used to maintain everything themselves were all a wealth of knowledge. Once they realized I was interested and enthusiastic they happily would give advice and talk while I worked, or normally while they prevented me frlm working. I had lots of classes about bees from Mr. Quinn while he stood infront of my mower. When I realized that the older gardeners had all the experience I needed to learn from, and that the Master Gardener course was offered at the end of winter during the slow time of year, I got involved there. I have learned a ton, and been able to help other people figure things out as well which is great. Its like in person GardenWeb. Maybe the pallets are chipped up and bagged for sale at a lot of the big box stores, and if that is the case maybe I shouldnt be so taken aback at McGraths objections to it. Most mulch around here is from yard waste recycling, dropped off by municipal utility workers, tree companies, landscapers, and home owners. From what I have seen it breaks down pretty well and makes nice stuff over time. Maybe not quick enough, I am using arborist wood chips in some vegetable beds and compost as mulch like McGrath recommends in some this year to see which works out better.

OMG Camp, I can see this graphically in detail. Bummer. Bamboo broke my opal, not my teeth. Wintertime is not a time for me to staY inside. We have a different kind of winter. No bugs and no snakes and no 100º+ so heavy garden chores are much more pleasant. It is time to do my woods restoration.. That means chainsawing thinning out of control Mountain ash Juniper. Creation of slash berms on slopes, wildlife piles, protect young red oak, madrone and escarpment cherry trees. clean out catalog nests in bird boxes. take photos and create a long report for the county to keep my tax exempt. I have been working on it for 4 days. Tomorrow I need to complete the report and get it to my overlords. I live in fear till it is done. I did get some seeds planted the other day.