Hi, What a fun project. I hope you will keep us posted and post some photos of your developing pond. I did a little search and came up with a few websites that have some good information. There is a Phx. Pond Society that has some info on thier site, and also an a website for AZ Aquatic Gardens that sells supplies for ponds and I bet you could contact them for info specific to AZ ponds. As for plants and direct sun. AZ sun is much more intense than the average direct sun in most the the US. I know this because I grew up in Phx. then went to work as a travel nurse after college (thus gardening in all different parts of the US) and then returned back to AZ. If you put certain plants in direct sun here in the summer they will fry. Native plants and things like bougainvillea that require fun sun are fine. It seems that many fdrought tolerant plants will do well in full AZ sun. Most tropicals that require humidity, especially those with large leaves seem to do better with a little afternoon shade. Large leaved plants (like elephant ears etc)lose alot of moisture from thier leaves and will fry in the hot dry direct sun and climate. Give them a little shade and humidity they do better. Some canna can do well with some full sun but I have found many of them do much better with afternoon shade, epecially the white variegated ones and the dark/vivid colored ones. My tropicanas leaf color will definitely fade out in full sun. It also depends what is around the plant -like say gravel, cement, block walls etc will reflect and hold heat making direct sun situations worse. Now in the winter this could work to your advantage-In summer...certain death for some plants. One thing I have found with my tropicals is to slowly acclimate (by keeping them in pots for a while, I can move them slowly into more sun and see what works. If you watch them and see signs of sunburn it it too much and you can always move them back into the shade etc. AZ Aquatic Gardens http://www.azgardens.com/index.php Here is a link that might be useful: Phoenix Pond Society

Hi Again Lisa...I have Greenhouse Publications from when I was operating my greenhouse business that I could trade or share with you. These have been a world of information for me and lots of help and knowledge...Let me know if you are interested..I Sure wish you lived closer, I have 148 acres, and a new greenhouse going up..field mums and more..plus all the seed starting tray sales on ebay and tray trades on here..smile..Lots of work..My husband and I are also planning to renew our vows late this summer and I am single handedly doing all the prep work of the yard and patio and gardens, and all the decorated for the ceremony and reception...Well Good Luck with your venture... Sincerely, Lisa

Cure? Is there a cure????? I think you are outa luck on that one Kathleen. LOL I keep telling myself to just not go to any of the stores that have the neat dishes and accessories--but I do love to browse and see all the pretty things. However, looking makes me want some of those and more of that! Even my little 4 year old GD told me she has the "I wants", I told her I have the same problem. I asked her if she was ready to go to work so we'd have more money to buy things. She said "Gramma, I don't know how to work, but we could ask my Daddy to give us some money so we could buy them!" Out of the mouths of babes! LOL Of course I told her I thought that was a wonderful idea! ;o) Luvs

If I were really trying to pare the food budget, I'd probably buy more chicken and pork than beef. But, I think the round is more versatile, as long as it's the same price as the chuck. If you slice round across the grain, pound it well and marinate it, you can even use it in stir fry with acceptable results, stretching the meat even further as you use less per serving. With the chuck, I'd probably make chili, stretching the meat with beans. I don't know just why, but few Americans seem to appreciate pork butt (pork shoulder). It's usually quite inexpensive, and can be used in any number of ways. Pork stew and pork chili are every bit as tasty (though different) from beef stew and chili but costs much less. Mexicans do a lot with pork shoulder...it makes great carnitas, posole, chile verde & pulled pork for tacos & burritos. You can even cut chops off it to grill. I save a lot of money by spending some of my time instead of money. I buy large bags of chicken quarters or whole chickens for much less than pre cut pieces, and cut them up myself...and I end up with back sections or carcasses to make soup. From one good sized chicken, my husband and I can eat three meals. Thighs & legs one night, cooked on the barbecue or in some other fashion. Stir fry from most of the breast meat another night. Soup from the carcass, some reserved breast meat and wings for a lunch or light dinner. You can often get pork loin roasts for quite a bit less than pork chops, and just cut them into chops yourself. I almost never buy hamburger anymore, unless there's a fantastic sale, because it is almost always cheaper to buy roasts and grind them myself. A lot of money can be saved by spending more up front...buying in bulk. My second freezer more than pays for itself by allowing me to buy up large quantities of meat when it's on sale or marked down because the "sell by" date is coming. Most Americans don't typically eat a large amount of legumes, and they are an excellent way to stretch a food budget. Cooking tasty meals with legumes takes a bit more time, imagination and pre-planning than throwing a steak on the grill, but in terms of food value for your dollar, they're hard to beat. By the way, the...er...unfortunate affect that legumes have on the digestive system can be dealt with. Generally, the better cooked the legume, the less the distress. So, lentils, which can be prepared in a variety of ways involving cooking them until they fall apart can be a more gentle way of introducing your system to handling legumes. Some rules to avoid post-bean distress: If you soak your beans before cooking, do not cook them in the water you soaked them in. The soaking leaches out some of the gas producing potential, and it's better to drain and rinse the beans, and cook them in clean water. A pinch of baking soda in the cooking water helps as well. In India, where legumes are a mainstay, adding a small amount of asafoetida to the legumes is a time-honored method of reducing their "gassiness". It is available in Indian markets and many health food stores, or on line. Don't let the foul smell prevent you from using it. Once cooked into a dish, the smell disappears. It doesn't taste like it smells once cooked, and it adds a complexity and depth to the flavor of the finished dish that is hard to describe.