nc-crn, I have read somewhere that fertilization of corn needs to be done at the start of planting the seed and also at around 18" of height. If you are using driven machinery, how is ( the 18" requirement ) it done? The 18" height seems like a feat to me. Seems like the guy running the machinery would be mowing down the plants left and right. I hope those that are reading this had put down the soda pop before they laughed at my remark! Wouldn`t want them to have to clean off their monitor after spraying soda on it ). :) I thought about this tonight and was curious. pnbrown, I was talking about sweet corn. You were right. :) Is grain corn easier to grow and do you get a better yield from it? I am also guessing that grain corn is for feeding cattle and other commercial uses? It isn`t much for human consumption as the taste is probably not what most want? farmerdill, Have found that it is interesting to see 3 or 4 ears on a stalk but only 1, MAYBE 2 ears are usable. The first time that I grew it, I was drooling over the fact that I had so many ears coming off of each stalk. I thought I would be in hog heaven. When it came time to pick, I was soooo disappointed. I would pretty much get one decent long ear from each stalk but the rest were pitiful. Hehehe! Those corporate chemists ought to at least make a variety with one guaranteed nice fat ear and be done with it!!! LOL! What spacing is good to get 2 good ears? I am running mine at about 10 to 12 inches per plant. The rows are about 18 inches apart. :) BTW, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday! The turkey knocked me out for about an hour and a half tonight! Was doing OK until I got home from running the roads to visit family and friends. My couch and the turkey tag teamed me and I lost the fight. Sneaky buggers.......

Well, here's an update on teh garden. There has not been a whole lot ot harvest, at least not in quantity. A squash here and there, herbs, some cherry toms and both raspberry bushes seem to have a disease so there was essentially nothing harvestable from them. We've also been harvesting lots of green onions and scallion and more carrots. I honestly don't have the time to keep track of ti all but here's some pics of whats going on!! Mint and the left over onion seedlings we had which didn't grow much in this container. We've also harvested the mint pretty heavily and its beginning to flower: The strawberry bed: Fortex beans...what the baby bunnies didn't eat: Chard and celery, also been harvesting pretty heavy: Oregano getting ready to flower. Still any good after flowering? Big beef toms: Cherry toms: Bush beans (wax), parsley, and a couple cucumber vines that haven't produced anythign yet. The bunnies ate 2 of the vines already: More pole beans, had to be replanted.....twice....thanks bunnies!!! More toms: This bed has 4 toms, 4 peppers, salsify and some shallots and onions. I've reseeded more carrots where the straw is but its just too damn hot to get anythign to germinate: This bed has 4 toms, 4 peppers, and 3 honey bear squash that are just forming buds: Big beef nest to brandywines which so far are setting about the same number and size of fruit, just brandywine was slightly later: More toms and peppers, there are also basil plants between all the toms but they are hard to see, genovese and purple. THe genovese is definitely out producing the purple variety: More toms..... Closeup of two cherry plants pruned to a single stem: More peppers, I planted lipstick, poblano and a color mix and I honestly don't know which are which. So far only two have actually set fruti and they both appear to be lipstick peppers: Peppers in the next bed, I also seeded more carrots in both these beds...twice, zero germination :( : Whats left of the cippolinis, some have nice bulbs, some have not much and growth has been really varied, even in the same bed: San marzano toms, these are also pruned to a single stem, producing great: This bed gets the least sun and it shows, it has green zebra, cherry and san marzano toms and 4 eggplants which are just starting to bud as well as a second planting of zucchini and the rest of the leeks that we didn't harvest as babies: There are two honey bear and 3 zucchini here, all of which have been producing well. We've already had 3 acorn squash and a handful of zuc's: Mystery squash growing in the compost...: Kenearly beans (dry shell), mostly an experiment: Second planting of chamomile...and cosmos: Butternut, pie pumpkins, second planting of watermelons, and corn (and yes I know I'll have to hand pollinate) None of these have blossoms yet: Watermelosn and charentais: My little ones sunflowers and eggplant, he planted them all by himself!!! Tomatilloes that have me stumped. The larger one has not produced a single fruit. THe smaller one has a decent amount but also hasn't grown ahrdly at all and they were seeded at the exact same time: And the artichokes. I don't expect much here. I think its just too hot and something has broken off most of the leaves of 3 of 4: Other than that our crab apple is so loaded its leaning over so even though I'm not a huge fan we are going to pick as many as are easily reached and make some jam. So there is my super long update, hoep everyone elses summer is goign great!

i think what may have created the problem i have is the speed control plunger was stuck between high and low. the lever that the speed select cable is attached is two pieces. one of the pieces penetrates thru and pivots in a machined hole in one of the case halves. that lever was seized in place in an area somewhere between 1st and 2nd (between all the way depressed or all the way released). i'm not sure i followed what you were saying as far as the fluid goes - "OO" ? i know honda cars use motor oil in their manual transmissions so i was 1/2 expecting that to have come out of the trans when i opened it up, but it was definitely gear oil. i was hoping to find out how much to put back in so it stays adequately lubed but doesn't blow the seals out. any opinions on these mowers in general?

'I also acquired a HR214 SX and it smokes like crazy. I checked the oil and it looks clean but way overfilled. Is the appropriate amount of motor oil 20 ounces? I suspect the previous owner dumped a quart in it. Sounds like draining from teh filler spout might be the ticket. Any other advice?' 20 oz is a little too much in most Honda LM engines. I didn't know this when I posted '20 oz' above. 18.5 is the usual Honda fill, so 20 oz really shouldn't cause any problems. Anytime you encounter a high oil situation, you have to give it the smell test to see if it's saturated with gas, which indicates a carb problem. If the smell test is inconclusive, put a small amount of the oil in a good stout container and try to light it off - if there's enough gas in it to burn, you are flooding the crankcase with fuel. Otherwise just dump the excess out and make it right on the dipstick or mark in the filler tube, whichever applies. Alternatively, dump it all out and refill with the correct amount.