Hi Wayne, yesterday I picked 3 Orangeglos hoping they are ripe, was going to pick them last week but decided to wait a bit. Loaupes here are doing good but the early patch is heading south. The early melons surprised me this year and sprung back to make even more melons. I may have to sacrafice a few of them as those vines will have to be ripped out for fall crops next weekend. It's been a pretty good year overall even though we've had some dry spells. Got about 20 asst Wmelons under the leantoo now with 12 more in the fridge. Got that many even though I've been giving them away fairly constant. Same with the tomatoes of course, VgQn has passed her canning limits so everything goes. Late cukes ready to kick in for pickling, and my late pumpkins (planted on a whim July 1st) are setting now so I may actually have some on Halloween for a change. Sweet potatoes are all over, looking forward to the late harvest. Even got some grapes this year, figured I'd have to retire first...

Jay! Your tree looks great too! I save alot of Al's post and print them. :) The 2 tree's I have in the 5-1-1 were almost dead too. They just took off and came right back! Now the roots have filled the pots and will need to be moved to a bigger container soon. I'm like you and many other's and wont go back to store bought mixes again for anything. :) Hi Mike, You did all the work. :) I just hung around offering support to my good friend. ;) If anything, I owe you for comming to my rescue almost a year ago, and pointing out these mixes and the container forum.. ;) Yes, we do owe most of the credit to Al~ :) His support and patience with our endless questions, we'll always be greatful for. :) My plants are happy too.. So that means I am. :) For the first time in yrs! I get to enjoy them instead of fight with them all summer. I have a pear tree, and appricot in containers. A plum in ground. Just got my fig last week. And orange and lemon in containers.. but with soil from yard still, and not happy! LOL! This weekend i'm going to look at the citrus at a new place I went to. 20 acers to browse! Plants, tree's and cactus and succulents! Heaven..LOL!!! Oh, I never said Michael was "involved" :). He doesn't go near the garden unless it's to see what's ready to eat. LOL! But he see's how well everything is doing, and doesn't mind me spending the money now, because plants actually live now. Were getting 14" terra cotta's for them too. I make him look at your posts and Al's and Josh. ;) When he saw how well you guys were doing with your plants, he was all for me trying these mixes. It's been awhile since i've heard "oh, something new to kill" ROFL! It was so bad, my mail man would write R.I.P on a box if he knew it was a plant from ebay. lol... My mom and friend are asking me to get them set up with the mixes too. :) I wish you could take me shopping too! ROFL! I hate driving around. lol! If I get a chance i'll try and get some pics of the tree's strugling in the soil from the yard... then after being in the gritty for a few weeks and post them later.

Hi folks, I took all of the wonderful information I was given and used it well. I took Stella out of her cramped condo and cut off 30% of her root ball. I then cut wedges into four sides of the root ball. I put Stella in a pot just slightly larger than her original pot with fresh potting mix in bottom and around sides. I used 3 cups of BioTone Starter Plus mixed into the potting mix. I watered and waited. I figured she would live or die. Well thanks to you good folks Stella is alive and beginning to thrive. She now has new leaf clusters on each of the old leaf cluster points. I will post updated photo soon. Now mind you Stella will not win any robust fig tree contest this year but she is 'in training'. Now for the final question - Will Stella survive if I put her in the ground in September?? Sorry to keep talking about this fig tree like a person but it has been quite an experience - I'm a total newbie at this. DL

Hi, tuesday_2008! To the left of the range, there are three actual doors on the bottom cabinet--we keep skillets, pans, and cutting boards in there. To the right of the range, we have a super susan with a fold out door. While the fold out door is a little clunky, you can't beat the lazy susan for storing small appliances. I would miss it if we didn't have one. I think the brush painted frames and spray painted doors blend well. Most of the cabinet box area is covered by the doors, and the primer was sandable so we were able to ensure a pretty smooth finish. We did tell ourselves we would leave the option open to brush paint the final coat on the cabinet doors if needed, but we didn't find it necessary. I've also heard of people quickly running a brush over the final sprayed coat to give it a lightly brushed look. They seem to be wearing equally well, thank goodness. I think as long as you have good surface prep, you'll be great. Hope this helps!