I have 2 questions. Did the ground freeze and cause the potatoes to rot? Did you notice any problems with the plants before they all died off? I have left potatoes in the ground even when I lived in Minnesota (zone 4) but I covered them with lots of leaves to keep them from freezing. When we dug them in the spring it was just like digging new potatoes! I do agree that you may need to dig them up and destroy them because of contamination problems but that might be too late already if they were pretty badly rotted. BTW, sorry about the rotted spuds, that's very disappointing-I've been there too... Here is a link that might be useful: Vegetable Gardens

I just saw your posting on my thread about yellow leaves. Glad to hear you pinched back some of your plants. Don't worry, they will be fine! It is the right thing to do. For Valentines day, my husband and children brought me to a nursery, I bought two established mother geraniums, brought them home, and cut off all the new growth, 11 pieces off each plant. All that was left was a fairly woody stalk, and a couple leaves on both plants, to which, my enthusastic 4 year old yanked off! My husband was horrified, having no idea with what I wanted them for. He is thinking "Gee, I did good getting those plants for her" and then he walks into the room to see that I have hacked them to pieces! I potted all the cuttings, and then left the mother plants alone. I now have the results, 22 baby Pelargoniums growing and thriving, and 2 mother Pelargoniums sporting their own new leaves! It really is incredible!

Timmy, you sure got that right. Not the Honey Bunches of Oats sexy hair net but the advice about tissue analysis. I only wish I knew how to get a tissue analysis done. Everyone knows more than I do. For anyone who might be able to offer even a small speck of wisdom, here is my story: Last season was my first attempt at gardening. I learned that I am not blessed with a green thumb. On the evolutionary scale of gardening talent I dont even have opposable thumbs. I care for plants about as well as Godzilla cared for Tokyo. This year I have been trying to learn as much as possible so that I might do a better job. This is what I have done so far: May 27: Last Frost Date. 8 - 10 a.m. planted seedlings. 11 a.m. checked to see how much they had grown since planting. Noon, no signs of progress. 2:30 p.m. still no signs of growth. 5:00 p.m. everything still looks stagnant. May 28: Worried and confused I ran out and purchased MG Tomato Formula, Tomato Tone, Bone Meal, Blood Meal, Lime Pro, Green Sand, Triple Phosphate, Tomato Maker BER Solution, Fish & Kelp Emulsion, Peace of Mind Tomato Formula and a pH testing kit. (Soil test resulted in a pH of 6.5 on the Richter Scale) June 1: I erected a Scarecrow to stand guard over the garden. June 2: The next day there is a bird boldly perched on the head of my Scarecrow pulling out the hair to build her nest. June 9: I spotted a yellowing leaf with some tiny orange dots. June 10: Worried and confused I ran out and purchased Daconil, Mancozeb, Maneb, Bordeaux Mixture and Liquid Copper Fungicide. Worked some Tomato Tone 4-7-10 (3% Calcium) into the soil. Foliar sprayed with Daconil and watered with Fish & Kelp Emulsion 3-2-2. Trust me, I didnt catch the fish for the emulsion. June 17: Side dressed with Tomato Tone. Found that my spinach was being eaten by our local neighborhood ground hog. Borrowed my neighbors dog to stand guard. June 19: 2 days later I found a slug. Broke open my penny jar and lined all my wood-framed tomato boxes with a wall of copper. Remembered to feed the dog. June 21: 2 days later I watered with MG 18-18-21. As an afterthought I remembered to give the dog some water. June 23: 2 days later I am worried and confused. The dog is not looking well. My neighbor took him back. Our local neighborhood groundhog regains his territory. All my Spinach is gone. June 28: Watered with Fish & Kelp emulsion 3-2-2. Sprayed the perimeter of my garden with Fox Urine. I seriously doubt that our local neighborhood groundhog will even recognize the odor. Nobody has ever seen a fox in these parts. June 29: The next day a fox showed up looking for a territorial fight. I thanked God that I didnt spray my garden with Mountain Lion urine. June 30: MG and Fish/Kelp Watering. MG and Fish/Kelp foliar spray. I found an Orient Express cucumber 35 days ahead of schedule. It is 9 inches long. Ill give it just one more day. July 1: The next day my prize cucumber is gone. I purchased a faux owl. Even up close it looks very real. July 2: The following morning Ravens are raping the owl. My Scarecrow is bald. The local neighborhood groundhog is peeing all over the fox urine to reclaim his territory. Cats are pooping in my garden. I consider applying for membership in the National Rifle Association. July 3: MG watering and MG foliar feed. Fish & Kelp watering and F & K foliar spray. Daconil spray and my last Aspirin dissolved in a gallon of water for an Aspirin spray. Then I get a headache. July 4th: Plenty of crisp garden lettuce for the burgers. Fed my neighbors dog a huge steak cooked on the grill. Its the least I can do.

The cabinets look fine in the pic. So...you've got to figure out which look you'll like best in the long run. None of us will be living there-your opinion is the only one that counts. Almost any change will be appealing in the beginning because of its freshness, but if it goes against your inner style, you'll tire of it quickly. Do you love painted furniture or do you drool over the wood grain in fine furniture? Some of the white kitchens posted here are breathtakingly beautiful but my own heart lies with the warmth of wood. You'll need to figure out where yours lies. Another factor to consider is the overall house style and location. One pictures wood cabinets in less formal lakeside or woodsy locations; painted ones in beach or more formal sites or in antique or reproduction Colonial houses. Lastly, if you wanted to keep the wood look, you could lose the golden tones by darkening to a medium brown or espresso color by using gel stain or colored polyurethane. On my monitor, the golden color of the cabinets doesn't work well with the green or taupe walls. If that's how it looks in real life, I'd change either the wall or cabinet color to one that goes better.