Steve, I used to grow spinach in both spring and fall, but now just in the fall. I direct sow seed mid-Sept to early Oct here in SC, harvest some individual leaves in Nov/Dec, it overwinters in the garden, puts on alot of growth in March, and I harvest the whole plant before it bolts in April sometime. I don;t direct sow spinach any earlier than Sept here, since the soil temp is much too warm for decent germination. Spinach seed prefers cooler temps to germinate than most veggies. I suppose you could grow transplants from seed in a cool spot inside and then plant out in mid-summer if shaded. I'm also thinking that the temp/daylength that these seedlings are exposed to indoors would affect they're growth/flowering after they're put in the garden. Dave

I'm not a genius with gardening, however I do know that direct sowing stuff in a plot in the ground, and container gardening are very different. When I tried to make a "soil" recipe that was like soil in the ground for container gardening, it was a disaster. I'm also a bit confused because when I asked if I should add sand to original soil recipe for container gardening for root vegetables somebody gave me the advice of "you shouldn't add something to the original 'recipe' unless the instructions tell you too. Yet at the same time, I have people telling me I should make it more like "soil" in the ground, even though initially I was told not to mess with the recipe unless the instructions said what variations I could and couldn't do. In regards to you should add more fertilizer to it, well the main problem is I couldn't find something for micronutrients, something my recipe was lacking although the recipe did call for it. I didn't add it cause I couldn't find it. I didn't even know there was such a thing as "benefical microbes that help the soil" until somebody mentioned it. I did find something called microbe tea; is this what you're talking about? How much of it should I add to the big batch of soil? In regards to the micronutrients here is this.... http://www.gardeners.com/PHC-All-Purpose/FlowerGardening_FertilizersSoil,34-976,default,cp.htm Could I just add that mix to my soil mixture as is (dry) and would it still work? http://www.tandjenterprises.com/CCPRO/ecom-prodshow/prebrewedteaoneqt.html I'm wondering for root veggies is the depth of my containers to shallow? In general my containers vary with their depth (it depends on how big the container is) but they're generally between 9-18" deep.

Your Briggs model number seems to be missing a "digit". Is the number actually maybe 446070, or maybe 46x070 (x being unknown numeral). Or even some other 6 digit number. Briggs model numbers are 6 digit numbers, except for the very smallest displacement engine families. I would certainly hope any rider cutting 42" will have more than 4 cubic inches of engine displacement. :^) Anyhow, I will surmise that the engine has actually broken a connecting rod. To determine this you would need to remove the spark plugs and WATCH the piston by looking into the spark plug holes with a flash light. Crank the engine (or turn by hand) and watch each piston for motion. One of the pistons may not be moving. If a piston is not moving, but the engine crankshaft is turning.................that connecting rod is broken. Only a tear down and look see will disclose the extent of the damage. Oil is cheap.......even if it's $10 per quart, compared to the lack of oil. This post was edited by mownie on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 12:23

ok -- sterile flowers. doesn't make sense to my mind, but i guess it must be true. (why the trouble?) treefrog -- it spreads well enough. i cut mine back so often (for salads, cooked greens) that it's hard to say how fast it grows. it does root on its own, so i could see my patch getting large. but it's not super vigorous -- unless you had a big patch of it, i doubt you could use it as a ground cover AND eat from it. i haven't tried malabar spinach. i've heard (from castorp) that malabar is mucilaginous. bill -- if you read this, you've tried them both. how do they compare?