The measurements of 4x8, are the length and width of your garden? If that is the case, know that some of those plants get very large. Eggplant, tomato and peppers grow fairly large and can easily consume all of your space. You will want to choose compact varieties or do some selective pruning to keep them contained. Keep them staked or caged to contain their encroachment on your other plants. Carrots and spinach require little space to grow well as long as you harvest regularly. Grow your peas and cukes upright on a trellis or use your chicken wire as a trellis and allow/train these plants to grow upright. You can use stretch tie or twine to aid in training them upward. Plant your tomatoes and peppers where there is abundant (minimum 6 hot hours) of sun. Thinning is the removal of the weaker seedlings that have germinated too close together. Choose the stronger seedling to remain behind. If they all appear equal in growth just gently remove all but one as per the spacing required for the chosen plant. Hardening off means slowly exposing them to fluctuating temperature and wind after being protected and controlled indoors. IOW you gradually expose them to outside conditions when the weather is favorable. Personally, I would not use peat cells for seed starting. If you already have, once the seedlings emerge and begin to set leaves, there will be little to no nutrients for your plants. I would, at that point, transplant them into a seed soil mix in a small plastic pot. Watch your space and don't over plant. Stressed plants are more likely to be killed by disease. The soil in your garden should be a mix of topsoil and compost ( I also mix in a bit of "crappy native soil" because it contains vital nutrients and minerals). Plant in the topsoil and "mulch" with aged compost. Be sure there is adequate drainage with your weed fabric underneath. Many landscape fabrics do not allow sufficient drainage (even though it says so on the package). You don't want to turn your garden into a pond. Search around the web for some small veggie garden tip sites. Your space is your largest concern for the amount of plants you are placing in your garden. Specifically, watch your tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Don't be frustrated, you will learn more from your mistakes than your success. Gardening is fun and productive if you are patient and understand why things failed or succeeded. You will learn more and more as you continue. Good luck!! :) Robbie

My lot is 1.5 acres with about only 3/4 of that or so being grass. The back yard has few obsticals in it,and I do use a push mower to do the edges,and around some of the obstacles. There are no hils,and all I plan to do with this tractor is mow the lawn. I have a dedicated walk behind snow thrower for snow removal,and I have no need to be towing anything beyond maybe my small utility trailer that has a dump bed. The engine in my current mower is a Tecumseh 12hp. Sorry I didn't mention that before. The valve cover leaks pretty good for about the first couple of minutes,but then the gasket swelss enough to stop the leak. The mower has run low on oil in the past,but like I said it does spin free,and I don't think it is internally damaged,but I don't know for a fact. I removed the flywheel,and the key was not damaged. Do you guys think it is still a valve adjustment,and or the engine is building too much compression? I have cleaned up all the connections,and even going direct to the body of the starter with jumper cables from a deep cycle camper battery yields the same results.

H. - If you want to trade - you need to have named plants. But your unnamed plants are perfect for your friends and family. Your friend will be very happy if you restart a plant for her. Next time - when you want to add another plant to your collection - get a named one - and some interesting one you will enjoy - and people would want to trade for. And in no time you will get 500 of them instead of 3. Good Luck irina PS Check violetbarn.com for an eye candy.

Thanks guys, no I did not supercrop. In fact, I did prune off the suckers ... later I found out that I should NOT have done that. It will severely hurt your yield they say. However, the plants are much bigger then the previous photos and are setting fruit quite nicely. Ill try to get some pics posted tonight. Also, my green pepper plants have sprouted, along with a pretty purple pepper plant, and a beefmaster indeterimante tomato plant. My basil is growing great, and I have been topping the basil which is in turn responding nicely and starting to grow "tops". My lettuce is like a wildfire as well .. fun stuff! Now that I got my newbie mistakes out of the way I think Im ready to rock on the next grow ;) I need to take a few clones of these totem hybrids though, I really like them. I think my next grow however, will be an INDETERMINANT cherry type tomato plant, and an indeterminant slicer variety as well, along with a few green peppers, lettuce, and spinach. Then I want to try a blueberry bush and some strawberries. I dont think the blueberries will be any problem but the strawberries are a different matter. In trying to find a continously producing line. The june bearers only fruit once a year, and then theres a seasonal variety that fruit twice a year.... neither will fit my requirements. I think I need to go with a day neutral variety to get a continous fuit production for the life of the plant??