We are bringing a marinated tomato/sweet onion/cucumber salad. Instead of cucumbers I have been using Trombone squash, the seeds of which I got from Tammy at the spring swap (as climbing zucchini). It is perfectly delicious and more easily digested than burpless cucumbers. I have two vines that are running all over the garden on twine about 6-feet high. These squash plants are amazingly productive. I have just cut 4 squash about the size of the one in the picture below, and there are 3 more that will need to be cut in another couple of days. All of my other squash plants have been devastated by insects, but this one seems very insect tolerant. Since we cannot possibly eat all of these squash, I will bring 3 or 4 for anyone who would like to try. Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of Trombone Squash from Dave's Garden

it's s deep true blue- duke blue, if you will, like guaranitica, but more blue than purple. bog sage is more of a sky/cerulean blue to my eyes. not familiar with pitcheri, but if it's true blue, i'll have to get some. where did you find it? i, too go ga ga over true blues in the garden- they harmonize and sparkle like nothing else. since you like blue ais, also try oxypetalum aka tweedia- it's nearly an aquamarine color- hard to place it's so strange, actually. and plumbago is the deep duke color, as well as salvia sinolensis (i think), lithodora, nigella and pulmonarias. for sky blue there are myosotis- both perennial and annual, virginia bluebells and the one cleradendrum. i'm also partial to day flower: commenilina, for that eye popping blue. i'm waiting for someone to start hybridizing it to make the flowers bigger. i let it seed into certain areas on purpose. ralph grew a clitoria or butterfly pea that's true blue, too.

Finally had a chance to go thru some of my seeds. For one of the future seed swaps I can send... 4 o'clocks, white and multi color Cardinal Vine (I think someone ask for some of these but I don't remember who?) Mexico Midget tomatoes - I got these originally from someone in Texas many years ago, and have passed them to a lot of people here in NC and it's a great 'tiny' (1/2") tomato. Indeterminate Sweet Dumpling Winter Squash - I do mine in the oven with a rice stuffing and it's very good, or you can do it with the traditional butter, brown sugar and cinnamon/nutmeg. Elecampane Hyacinth Bean vine Valerian Bronze Fennel Blackberry lily Space Master Cuke Rainbow Mix Coleus Cleome Cracker Jack Marigold I'll have more once I go thru the rest. I'm not growing as much from seed this year and I'm going to get rid of a lot. Some things I'd love! Amsonia tabermontana (Bluestar) Oenethera fruticosa, Sundrops Oleander (are there any that are fragrant?) Perilla frutescens, Beefsteak Plant Spilanthes (Eyeball plant) Any Poppies, Sweet Willam or Columbine species gingers? heirloom tomatoes and peppers

I doubt anyone is going to have any of that seed, topher. If you find a source, let us know, b/c i'm sure there are more than a couple who'd pool together to get seed for them. But you can collect some yourself that will fruit in one season and be monoceous from the smaller types you find in the supermarket. They sprout readily. They aren't dwarf plants by any stretch of the imagination, though. One lady who does the state farmer's market carried the plants for 2 or 3 years but i didn't make it out this spring when she normally had them so i don't know if she was selling them this past spring. The yrs i saw them money was too tight- this year i was too busy to get out there. Oh well. They were typically around 25-30. I'd love to hear about beehives. We usually just do a very casual meet up in a panerra bread, taking over one small corner, so not so sure how that would work... thoughts? I don't think we had one last year- at least, if we did, i never heard about it and missed it.