Before we bought a compost bin this year we just had a pile (lots of leaves). I posted before about some kind of cucurb in it. Turns out we have at least 3 different kinds - a striped green and yellow gourd or squash (2 fruits now), a patty pan squash (2 fruits), and something that looks right now like a miniature pumpkin (1 fruit). Plus one that I transplanted to the garden and has lots of flowers but no fruit yet. I had bought a whole basket (almost a bushel) of mixed gourds/squash for $3 at Wmart last fall for decoration, threw them all in the pile in December. Plants are spreading across the hillside behind the garden now. Also had a lot of tomato volunteers from the new compost bin. I planted a couple in pots, 1 has flowers so we'll see what comes up. Hope they're Campari and not the tasteless grape tomatoes that started getting wrinkly b/c no one wanted to eat them! I also can't explain this - I planted various kinds of indeterminate tomatoes in trenches with a trellis, trying to keep 1 or 2 varieties at most in each row. Yellow pear tomatoes seemed to have lots of root suckers coming up. But after a while I noticed RL volunteers that look exactly like the pear tomato babies coming up in my other rows with my PL heirlooms (and my Speckled Roman pastes and cherries which are RL but a much more delicate leaf)! Definitely tomatoes, not weeds, b/c when you rub the leaves your fingers have that lovely "tomato plant smell". I imagine these have to be root suckers from the transplants, but I have no idea why the leaves look different from the parents. I left some of them to see what happens.

Perhaps this might more easily explain it. I'm sure all who wear colognes or perfumes have noticed sometimes when you put it on, you can smell it for hours. Other times, you can't smell it for very long before it seems as if you haven't applied any. Part of that is your olfactories. You get used to it and don't notice it. Much of the time, it's because the conditions are too hot and dry so the scent evaporates. If you and the air remain warm and moist, the scent lingers for many hours, but let it get too hot, too dry or too windy and the elements which create fragrance volatize, dissipate, evaporate until they are no longer perceptible. It is precisely the same issue with scented flowers. Some have such intense compounds in such highly concentrated amounts, it requires extreme conditions to cause them to all evaporate. Some have combinations which evaporate at different rates so they actually have different scents in different conditions. Some have a lot of the same compound so when it all dissipates, there appears to be nothing left. Some have no scent compounds or so little, it takes very little for them to appear unscented. Duplicate the still, warm, moist conditions under which they SHOULD provide scent and you should be able to perceive it, at least to the extent of your physical abilities. Kim

Hi, Scaldude. It's no trouble -- it is, after all, a discussion forum. Your ice cream and orange juice freezes fine because your freezer compartment probably goes down to 10 degrees F. On the coolest setting, my freezer can go down to 0 degrees but I keep it around 15. "Any foreign substance added to water will cause a freezing point drop. For every mole of foreign particles dissolved in a kilogram of water, the freezing point goes down by roughly 1.8°C. Sugar, alcohol, or any chemical salt will lower the freezing point. Salt is used on roads and walkways because it is inexpensive and readily available." Anecdotally, the 4-to-1 mix seems to freeze around 28 deg F. The 3-to-1 mix starts getty mushy about 24 deg F. The sugar concentration in 3-to-1 mix is comparable to a few flowering plants and therefore not harmful to hummers, particularly when there isn't much else around to choose from.

OK well here....LOL I like that when people say "here" ;-) In this case, here would be CT = Connecticut = here (for searching purposes,eh) The word according to UCONN - seems the local aggie (CAES) does NOT have a Master Gardener (MG) program. Kind of disappointing. (Quote) Thank you for your interest in the UCONN Cooperative Extension System Master Gardener Program. Students enrolled in this program receive training in botany, plant pathology, soils, entomology, pesticide safety, integrated pest management (IPM), woody ornamentals, herbaceous ornamentals, vegetables, tree and small fruits, turf grass, invasive plants, water quality, environmental factors affecting plant growth, and diagnostic techniques for the home gardener. Becoming a Certified Cooperative Extension Master Gardener requires a completion of:  145 hours  85 hours of formal classroom training & 60 hours of supervised in-service training.  At least 30 in-service hours (mentioned above) to be conducted in one of the nine teaching locations during weekday business hours, answering gardening inquiries; the remaining 30 hours through approved educational outreach activities.  16 classes are held from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, one full day per week from January through April.  A written, open book exam, given before beginning the in-service phase of the program.  All office and outreach hours completed by September 30, 2007.  Tree/Shrub/Vine identification collection due by August 31, 2007.  Attendance of at least one summer diagnostic session.  A final practicum exam at the conclusion of the in-service training. The charge for the program is $350.00, plus a $50.00 manual fee for each participant. Scholarships are available based on financial need. Enrollment is limited and competitive, so please be complete in filling out the application. We need the requested information to evaluate your talents and volunteer commitment. We may telephone or conduct personal interviews to elicit more information. (/Quote)