We are outside of Leavenworth in the foothills of the Cascade mountains. Our climate is a bit different but also challenging due to our cold night temperatures well into the summer. I've been growing sweet potatoes for several years now with great success. First, don't order i.e. pay for slips. Buy a couple of sweet potatoes at the grocery store in January. Lay them on their sides in a fairly shallow pan and fill it with water so the potatoes are about half in the water and put it in front of a window, by the kitchen sink. Keep the water level up; and every week or so change it for fresh. When the potato has sprouted and they're about 3" tall, carefully pick them off of the potato and put in water until they root. All of this takes until about mid-April. I then put my rooted slips into 4" pots when I'm starting my other seeds. Our frost danger isn't over until the end of May and by that time, the plants are vigorous and ready to go out. This is probably the jump-start that makes growing these possible. When I tried putting little slips in the ground there wasn't enough time for the potatoes to mature and I harvested lots of little pencil-sized ones. Now, I get enough for both holiday dinners for our large family from starts off of two potatoes. PS Even if you get "pencils" they are still very edible ~ scrub, chop and saute in butter; add brown sugar for sweet or try salt, pepper and sliced onion for savory.

Boy, Kirk & Robert...looks like you both hit the JACKPOT..Miscellaneous assortment of mail and parcels piled in the aisle of a baggage car and requiring removal before the mail in the stalls can be "worked"...that's RR lingo! LOL! Looks like you've both kept that train a-rollin'! kirk...your blue bottle tree looks BEAUTIFUL in the snow even w/that "orange thing-y" hanging in it! LOL! Good to see JT pics, too! Looks like Campbell had a bear-able time! robert...nice salvagable stash, too! (>even though the pkg suffered a head-on collision! Kirk, maybe ? you can post & link this to nmmexico's original "Junk Train 2011 has left the station!" thread...so that your post here w/pics doesn't get lost on down the line...more RR lingo! This is GREAT fun! Jeanne S.

Oh how cute Olivia and Ben are!!! JT loved spending time with y'all, I can tell :-) She's having a diverse experience at each location! Glad JT got to play in the snow, we've only had a couple of flurries this year, and it's rapidly turning into spring around here now. We're gonna try to show her a good time in Chattanooga when she arrives! Carol, I love the interesting assortment of goodies you chose! Look forward to see what you do with some of them! And I look forward to seeing that doggy quilt, as your quilting talent is exceptional! If my grandma who quilted could have seen your work, I can just hear this high pitched "oooooooo-oooooooo" (sung in 2 notes sort of) she would do when she saw something like a quilt or home item that she treasured. You get a big OOOOOO-OOOOOO on everything I've seen so far!! Does Olivia show any interest in sewing? My grandma started teaching me at around her age. Of course, all girls aren't interested though, my daughter wasn't at all. She doesn't understand why I do so much work gardening either, although she doesn't seem to mind enjoyed the fruits of my labor or showing them off LOL. ~tenderlee

I grew up in that area, studied botany there, but haven't lived there in over 20 years. I would recommend (based on memories) visiting the University of Washington arboretum - it has? (had) Japanese gardens. I would also hike in the Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics. Although flowers probably wouldn't be blooming, it provides many great landscape designs! I'd also be tempted to visit Heronswood Nursery - although I don't believe it has alpines, it has lots of exotic species and from what I hear is quite impressive. Here is a link that might be useful: arboretum