Welcome to the wonderful world of violets! You'll really enjoy this forum if you get hooked on AVs...and that's only a matter of time! I found this out when I started about a year ago. The folks on this forum gave me some pointers, and tah-dah! now I'm scrambling to find room for my plants (my family call them my babies)! If I had to pick one pointer that I would've loved to have when I started growing violets, it would be that they don't like their feet wet. I almost killed my first violet by over-loving (and thus over-watering) it! Now I make sure that the soil is always at least a half perlite mix, so that it doesn't retain water as much, and that I let them dry out a little between waterings. When the pots feel light in my hand compared to when I watered them, it's time to water again. I find that my violets are much happier that way. Hope this helps you on the start of your venture! Enjoy the flowers, and the little thrills of watching them grow! And again, welcome to the forum! â« Meg

Teas, Chinas, Tea-Noisettes, Noisettes, Hybrid Musks will all do well for you, just for starters. For more pictures, check the helpmefind roses site: http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/ And please do help keep Vintage Gardens alive. You have Ashdown near you and the VG shipping is a lot for out here, but they have things no one else does. You might check their list against Ashdown's; if Ashdown has it, then you know the rose is in wider circulation. But Vintage has many, many roses no one else has and if they go down, we will lose those. Thank you for joining us.

Thank you for the welcome! The CSA we're trying to create would involve mostly traditional gardening techniques on large plots of land because several of the other families aren't too hip about more intensive methods. We *might* get as far as wide-row planting and we're working toward a consensus on organic whenever possible, but that's probably as far as we'll get... no Square Foot Garden CSA, but wouldn't that be awesome?? Maybe if our SFG does well we can invite the other families over and give them something to think about! Anyways, the CSA plans are on hold for the most part. We are doing a corn & potato field as a group effort this year though. It's a trial run to see how well we work together, if it's something we want to expand on next year, etc. There are so many things to work out with starting a CSA, even a small-scale one like we're aiming for, like how to fairly divide the crop share, what fertilizers and pest-control methods to use, what types of plants and how much of each, who is taking responsible for each task, paying for supplies, deciding on timing (when to plant, water, spray, fertilize, harvest) and so on. Basically take all the decisions a person normally makes independently about their personal garden and imagine inviting a dozen other people to not only give their opinions but have a deciding vote, too. It seems it would be a lot easier if you are just growing your own garden and donating a portion of the harvest to charity though! For now we are happy to get rolling on our own garden. Depending on how it works out for us we might just have plenty to keep us happy and not need to participate in a CSA -- that would really simplify things. We've been interested in SFG for a while and we think it will be a good fit!

Hi Patsy from Ottawa Canada! See me waving?? Hi Ya! Always happy to meet someone new. Pull up a chair at the table - hot drinks all round and sometimes you might find cinnamon twirls on the table too. Every once in awhile we take a 'road trip' together (a mental journey of escape of course) which is great fun. I hope when the next one happens you will join us on our mad adventures. Many, many great folk here, very supportive group. I love them all! Enjoy, Peggy