Well the green house is filing up and actually contributing to the garden. The fever is broken! Yesterday my wife moved some cauliflower, broccoli and little gem lettuce starts out into the garden that I had started from seed. The warm weather really gave a boost to my tomato starts. They were looking pretty pathetic. The Amish melons I planted 3 days ago are already pushing up. I got to thinking about how much I have invested each year on plants, cages and the like. It is against my cheapo instinct. I think Ill make an effort to do it on the cheap going forward My cheapo Credo 1) I will not buy anything I can start from seed from the garden centers (except impatients & petunias this year). 2) I will use newspaper pots or Soil squares and not buy any peat starters 3) No miracle grow - leaf enriched soil is all. 4) I will shop for the least expensive potting soil I can get. 5) I will try natural pest control methods wherever possible 6) Next year I will grow my own impatients & Petunias (had a late start this year - gh was up March.) 7)I will do a fall crop and eat every bit of the bounty 8)Tomato cages are going to be my reused gate (wire type). Enough spending. Gone is the day is when people started with a shovel and a package of seed. They succeeded without all this stuff...Why cant I?

It only gets worse. Last summer I finally built the lean-to greenhouse I've been dreaming about/ planning / diagramming for the last ten years. It is 16' x 25' and I can walk straight into it from my basement in my PJ's. Filled it in 2 months with my orchids and now there are 9 flats of flowers and veggies, plus cuttings from last year's geraniums. Poor Husband doesn't seem to mind that I'm out there all the time- it is the only exercise I get all winter. Have fun out there!

That coupon does not work because it is counterfeit. Both my local HF stores have a copy posted telling you this. On the other hand, HF almost always has a printable 10% off coupon. Google "harbor freight coupon" and you can find what they are currently offering. Also if you get the catalogs in the mail about once a week like I do, they often have a 15% off coupon.

Hi d, My experience is that Hostas don't mind the moisture. I have several Hostas that I have sitting in pots, in soil that are submerged about five inches of water (above the pot) in my pond and are doing extremely well. I even have one that is just floating around in the pond (no soil or pot) and is also doing just as good. So I think that they don't mind wet feet. If yours start to look a little under the weather, then replant them in the ground. Good Luck!!