ssfkat, I am doing seeds for the first time in my life (pretty much newbie to ALL gardening except for house plants), and my seeds are doing the same thing. Some of them started sprouting in just a couple of days, to my great surprise and delight. I'm in California's Central Valley, and we've had some very lovely sunshine-y days and nighttime temps in the upper 30s and low 40s. I have the tray in our sleeping porch - LOTS of light and sunshine, with windows all around, and I can open one window up during the day. It's been getting really warm out there in the middle of the day, although we're supposed to get a cold storm tonight or tomorrow. My seeds are all from Seeds of Change, an organic mail order company, except for one row: lobelia, which I found at Lowe's and planted just the day after the others. It hasn't come up yet, but there's still plenty of time. I planted them all in one of those trays with plugs in them (composted bark fiber "inoculated with beneficial microorganisms") that I ordered from the same place. I keep telling myself "So far, so good", because I've been reading about "damping-off", etc., and realize that there are still a lot of things that could go wrong. Also we had a terrible and prolonged cold snap earlier this year, very unusual, so I feel like anything could happen weather-wise. Nevertheless, I got SO EXCITED when I saw them coming up! I have to restrain myself from going out there every hour on the hour to look at them. Hurrah for Spring!!

Ha ha. Pretty awful when a big event in your life gets to be a trip to Walmart to get your dead battery checked and charged. I need to get out more. Obviously. I thought I saw something about Walmart on the cheap seeds thread but never would have driven out there just to get seeds even 20-cent seeds. But it's kind of weird how things play out. Tiffy posted a photo of some gorgeous Sweet William she WS'ed. I thought no sense in paying shipping costs to order more after all I've already ordered. But I really wanted some. So I got 'em. They look pretty but doubt any will be as gorgeous as the one Tiffy got. I don't remember seeing any veggie seeds (or herbs) but was pretty distracted with all the things on my mind. Those might have been on another rack or more will come in. These are American Seed Company and say expiration date 12/10 so I assume they're fresh. When I get in one of those huge cavernous stores, my anxiety kicks in, and I just feel sensory overload. There was one other flower I thought of, oh I'm tired and can't think of it. I thought of it and was a little tempted. Oriental Poppy. The photo showed a red one and a peach one. I didn't get any peach ones out of all the poppies I ordered. There is a Dollar Tree store down on the other end but I was in no mood to run in here and there. I make it sound like it's a day trip. It's at most 4+ miles out by the interstate. I just hate it along that street, lots of the big name stores and condos, eating places, all kinds, looks totally unplanned and just not a pleasant drive. I always say I hate Walmart, but when I do have to go there, I always find something. The crazy thing is that I buy a car and keep it until it won't run any more, got this one in about 94. Well, not too long after, in the middle of winter of course, the battery goes dead. It's fuzzy, but I got one there because they were one of the few places open that late, and that was when they didn't have any tire and lube annex so some nice fellow just came out and put it in my car for me right by the front door of the store. I've been working on that same lifetime warranty for four batteries now lol, works as long as you have the same car. But if this one goes dead again, I'm not sure what I'll do. It's new this past fall, a replacement for a new one last year that did the exact same thing, a dud. So that's why I had to go to Walmart today. They didn't charge me anything for checking and charging the battery so that was nice. While I was finishing that up, I paid for my seeds there because I'd already paid for my other stuff at the regular checkout. The guy was looking through my seeds when I said 20 cents was a good deal. No way did I say anything about winter sowing. I'm going to sow those Sweet William tomorrow. And my T&M order came today so hope to get most of those sowed, too.

Slightly OT, but a couple of people were expressing surprise at the difference in food prices in different areas. The thing that always amazes me is how different the food prices can be from store to store, neighborhood to neighborhood. Here in my town, there are 3 major grocery stores and the prices vary wildly among them. There is the Raley's which is sort of the "high tone" store...very clean, attractively maintained, with a foo-foo coffee bar, deli, bakery, hot dish take out counter and even a Japanese lady who comes in and makes fresh sushi. Over priced plants and assorted gifts are available, and there is a satellite bank inside. The meats are sold both in packages and over a butcher/seafood counter. The only time I shop there is if I'm looking for some more exotic ingredient I might not find in the other stores because the prices are outrageous. Then there is the Save Mart, which also has a deli and bakery. The deli carries a few hot items, but is not nearly as varied as the Raley's. It has also recently added a butcher/seafood counter, again not quite as extensive as the Raley's. It also offers plants and a few gifts, though not quite as overpriced. It is clean, not as high tone in decor, the prices are lower than Raley's for the most part, though they have been creeping up. Both of these stores are in the heart of town, on the main drag. Last is a Cost Less Market which is in a run-down looking mini mall that generally has at least 2 storefronts vacant, as you leave town. The store itself is clean enough, it just doesn't look so because everything is old...no remodeling done in quite a few years. The aisles are cramped and crowded, the deli consists of a separate counter that offers a few meats and cheeses other than cheddar, Swiss, American and Jack, and a few breads other than what the bread aisle holds. The cashiers tend to be a bit more "earthy", not as er...urbane...as in the other stores. However, the prices are amazingly lower than in the other two stores on most items. Eggs tend towards a dollar less a dozen, milk as well. Having gone into the Save Mart the other day, I happened to notice that their red potatoes were almost 3 times the price they are at Cost Less, the apples double, and many of their sale price meats are a fair amount more expensive than the Cost Less non-sale prices. I know that some people might go to the first two stores because they want deli or bakery items and then just shop for groceries as well, but for a major grocery trip, the Cost Less isn't more than 5 or 7 minutes away from the other two, certainly worth the trip.

Congratulations to Cryptid for the poetry contest!! Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. Darrin, please pick 10 packs from my trade list and email me your choices. For our two runners up, gardener365 and blossombrigade, please pick 3 packs from my trade list and email me your choices. Thanks to everyone who participated! Holy Cow! Wow! I actually won?! What a great day this day has been,...I even found a quarter on the ground when Elly & I were out grocery shopping! Thank you so very much, everyone! This is definitely a first for me regarding GardenWeb themed swaps. But more importantly, as did Erica, I totally likewise thank my fellow participants for their excellent entries as well! - Again,...Wow!