I am down in the Bay Area, warmer but our nighttime temps can get into the high 20's. I just started my tomato seeds last weekend. I plant the seeds in 6 oz yogurt cups with 4 holes punched in the bottom (about 3mm each). I plant in plain old Supersoil Potting Mix. I put the soil in the cups dry then soak it through really good. Plant a seed in each one then spritz once more with a pump sprayer just to make sure the seed is good and moist. I keep the cups in a plastic tray with a dome, but any kind of loose cover to keep in humidity will work. I've used a plastic Rubbermaid bin that I've drilled holes in the top. That works. I leave them in the house until they sprout. I water them about once a week using a pump sprayer so as not to disturb the soil. Soak them until water starts dripping out the holes in the bottom. In the larger yogurt cups, you don't need to water more often than every 5-7 days, but when you do water, don't be stingy. The split second they sprout (and I mean split second to keep them from bolting for sun), I move them out to my workshop, which is a Tuff Shed unheated. They go under plain old shop lights. I have some reflective insulated panels I place around the seeds. The lights provide enough heat, and the insulated panels holds the heat in well enough even on those cold nights. I leave the lights on a timer about 14 hours a day (5 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and try to keep them about 2 inches above the plants, which means you'll need to be able to adjust the height as the seedlings grow. Below is a link to my gardening blog which shows my seed set-up out in the shop. I've never had a solitary problem, and all the plants I start from seed always outperform the occasional plants I might pick up at a garden store. I buy good seeds though. Johnny's is my choice, but there are other reputable companies. When the tomatoes outgrow the yogurt cups, I move them up to the Solo (keggar cups, I call them). By then, the weather is getting close to planting and I start leaving them in the yard during the day and bringing them in at night. You'll see lots of posts on my blog under the label "Seed Starting" that has plenty of pictures. Hope this helps! Incidentally, it's the folks on this forum who taught me most everything I needed when starting my garden, so you're definitely in the right place! Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Seed Starting

Here is a link to my picasa photo albums where you can see my WSing containers on shelves. Most of these orginail shelves are metal, which turned out to NOT be a great idea because they became rusty. I've been using heavy duty plastic shelving this year (from Lowes and from thrift shops)and have not had a problem with them blowing over but they are quite weighed down with jugs and containers. I think some of you are in areas with much more wind than we get though. Here is a link that might be useful: Nancy's garden and WS set up

My problems with the Purple Milkweed are tough for me to resolve. I planted a few of the small ones in the ground - the slugs ate them and they didn't survive. I left some in pots. They would get too dry and lose all their foliage. Some actually died, but others came back and refoliated. Those have now lost their leaves, and whether or not they will come back is a mystery until next year. It seems they did not like too much water, but did not like to totally dry out either, so watering was a very fine line between too dry or too wet. It was frustrating to say the least. I think I will order some more seeds just in case. If it doesn't work next year, I'll probably give up on this one. I tried it from a plant I ordered a few years ago, and the slugs ate it, too, and it didn't come back. So, it would seem they are kind of "iffy" in the first year of life. I also have some A. speciosa, viridis, and tuberosas. I planted a few, but some are still in pots to winter over. We shall see. Unfortunately, ladies, we are in a La Nina pattern, meaning drought for now that will probably extend thru the 2011 summer months. Little, if any, rain is expected next year, so plan on watering. Cathy, can you not add an extension to your hose to reach your milkweed? Not saying to water all the time, but when it gets extreme. If you can get an extension hose to reach, and use some drip hoses mingled among your milkweed to connect it to, you'll use less water, too. I went ahead and ordered some more pipevine seeds from Georgia Vines, of Aristolochia manshuriensis and A. contorta, both hardy here, and some Asclepias fruticosa. I am not sure if this is synonymous with A. physocarpa or not. Some say it is, some say it is different in that the flowers are larger in one and smaller in the other. Cathy, you might want to try the A. physocarpa and A. fruticosa. It takes a little longer to germinate than the A. curassavica, but if you start it indoors in February or March, it should be ready to go by the time the Monarchs arrive. After the Monarchs consume the foliage, I think it refoliates quicker than A. curassavica does, too. That's just been my experience this summer. This was just not a good year for wintersowing and trying to establish small plants. First, it was too cold and rainy in spring, and then we went immediately into the high heat and humidity. Lots of bugs this year due to the early onset of the heat, too. So, I'm focusing on Pipevines and Milkweeds and nectar plants next year. I attached a link to info on A. purpurascens from the Illinois Wildflowers website. They have lots of good, comprehensive info on their seeds. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Asclepias purpurascens

We started demo this week of our kitchen and family room. The refrigerator and some of the old base cabinets have been moved into the dining room to make a temporary kitchen. We first put down some masonite to protect the carpet. In our laundry room, we have a freestanding utility sink that will be removed and the old sink base cabinet, complete with the old sink and disposer, put in its place. We will at least have a sink for washing dishes, unlike our last kitchen reno where we only had a bathtub. We will plug in an extension cord to an outlet when we need to run the disposer. After the reno, that cabinet will get a new countertop and a drop in utility sink. Unfortunately, we will be without our dishwasher for awhile. So, we will be using paper plates and plastic utensils. We will also be without our range. So, we will have to make do with a microwave, hot plate, crockpot, toaster oven, and BBQ grill for cooking. We might consider getting a portable induction cooktop.