The dance did the trick here. Cloudy and rainy for the next 3-4 days. What do your pole beans climb up to get to the eaves? My Greek cookbook's recipe for stuffed zucchini: 4 med. zucchini 2 Tbsp butter 1 sm onion, chopped 4 oz ground lamb or beef 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp chopped oregano 2 tsps chopped fresh parsley 2 tsps chopped fresh fennel (I use dill) 2 oz cooked long-grain rice 2 tbsps grated cheese salt & pepper [If vegetarians are coming to dinner, I omit the meat, add a few Tbsps of bread crumbs and and egg to hold it together, and am generous with the cheese] - remove ends from zuc, chop in half, scoop out middles - parboil for 2 minutes in boiling salted water; rinse in colde water right away - cook onions in half the butter until soft; & transparent; add meat and cook till beginning to brown - chop remaining zuc flesh and add to meat - add all other ingredients, mix well, and fill hollows in zucs - melt remaining butter in large frying pan; place in zuchs in a single layer; add water to halfway up the sides; cover - cook over gentle heat for 20 minutes, basting occasionally; add more water if nec. - when zucs are tender, remove to a serving dish; save 1/2 cup of the liquid SAUCE: beat 2 egg yolks and juice of 1 lemon together in a small saucepan; add some of the hot cooking liquid from the zucs; cook over gentle heat, whisking, till slightly thickened; strain & pour over zucs I was thinking of trying this with my pattypan squash --- would be pretty! Cheers, Zabby

Hi mich5, Yes, the biggest problem with overseeding is that the existing grass wants to grow, and will only be encouraged by your starter fertilizer and frequent waterings. This may sound odd, but one of the reasons for mowing very low just before seeding is to shock the existing grass and set it back a bit, maybe even killing a few plants here and there. All good, this helps to give your new seeds time and room to establish, which is the whole point of course. And still the existing grass, once it recovers (and most of it will) will grow much faster than your new seedlings. Whatever that old grass does, don't mow the stand until you think most of the new seedlings can take it. Even then your first mowing should be very high, just to cut down the established grass to a manageable height Then if you want to encourage spreading and want a more uniform look you can start to drop the deck. No one could provide a schedule for this, you will just have to monitor how your grass is coming in and mow when you think you can. That said, the longer you can bring yourself to wait, the better for your new grass. On the grass clippings, I personally wouldn't worry too much if you can't bag, but only if you do use the slit seeder. I believe the reason people recommend bagging (or raking, could you do that?) the clippings is to expose as much soil as possible to encourage good soil-to-seed contact. But that is more important to folks who broadcast seed. The slitseeder will cut through all of that stuff and many of your seeds will end up below it, and may even benefit from its mulching qualities. Good luck, Paul

Frankly, the picture is so small, I really can't make out much from it. I read your earlier post and did provide a link to more information about fungal wilts, which I think may be a possibility.

It's fun to grow things, isn't it? I put cucumbers and eggplant among my flowers.