If you have a 5 gallon bucket and know how large the area is that needs to be watered, it's not too hard to get a time that will accomplish your goals. First, time how long it takes for your hose to fill up a 5 gallon bucket. This gives you the rate at which your irrigation system puts out water. Then, do the math contained in #1 and you're all set. "How Much Water - If nature has not supplied water as rain applying approximately 1 inch of water is a general rule of thumb. This will give deep penetration of the soil to a depth of six to eight inches. One inch of water or rain is equivalent to 623 gallons per 1000 sq. ft. Water should be applied no faster than the soil is able to absorb it. If water begins to run off before one inch is applied, stop sprinkling until it is absorbed and then resume. How long will applying 1 inch of water take? This depends on the size hose, pressure and type of sprinkler being used. There are several methods for determining how much your are applying. 1. Do The Math - Find the gallons per minute (GPM) flow rate of the sprinkler being used from the package of the manufacturer. Multiply the square footage to be watered by .62 gallons or 1 inch of water per square foot. Example: 1000 sq. ft. x .62 gal. = 620 gallons. This tells you how many gallons of water you need to apply to the lawn. Divide that number the GPM of your sprinkler and you can figure how many minutes to water. 2. Collect The Water - Place a cup or glass in the middle of the area covered by your sprinkler, turn water on and watch the time. Measure water in the cup until 1 inch is collected. This is the time you need to sprinkle. The best accuracy is obtained if you use several containers at different places in the sprinkler�s coverage pattern and average the results. 3. Buy A Flow Timer - Often called water timers, these units actually measure water flow. They are calibrated in 100 gallons and can be set from 100 to 1500 gallons to give you the water necessary for the square footage covered by the sprinkler. Use the formula in #1 to figure the gallons needed. 4. Test Soil - Test the soil 6" or more below the surface to make sure it is dry. Turn on your sprinkler and periodically test the soil 6" down until the water has penetrated to that depth. Keep track of how long it took and use that as the time you need to water. Here is a link that might be useful: Watering Needs

SSE's listing for IA SSE HF on page 21 of the 2008 Yearbook says that seed orders from HF will be sent out the 2nd week of March and the last week of April, and requests received after that will be sent as time allows. I am guessing that maybe you just missed the 2nd week of March shipping date so your seeds may be in the last week of April shipment. But as dcarch says, you can ask at SSE's site at http://forums.seedsavers.org (you need to register first).

What a beautiful place you have. I have a couple of suggestions. One; don't say small bedrooms, just say bedrooms. You have the sizes listed, people can judge for themselves. Really, only one of them seems small to me. Two; your pictures are in no order. You should regroup them. Start with the front of the house and the porch. Then show the inside rooms. Put all of the bedroom pictures together and all of the kitchen together. I didn't see a picture of the bathroom, can you put a picture of it? You don't need all the pictures you have. Next do the putside areas. Cut some of them, like the pictures of the dogs. Put all the barn and horse pictures together. Put all of the backyard/deck pictures togeather. Some of your pictures are too dark and many of them look cluttered. For example clear all the small stuff off your kitchen countertops before the picture is taken. You could get an estimate for converting the smallest bedroom into a bathroom. Even if you don't plan on doing it you could have it to show a buyer. I think a lot of people would perfer a 3 bedroom 2 bath house to a 4 bedroom 1 bath house. Good luck, I hope you get another buyer soon!

"But if all you ever want to listen to is the SM is perfect, mom and kids are terrible, thats your perogatve." I don't think that is the attitude here at all. I DO think, though, that there are more "wacky" BMs in the lives of posters on this board than not. It seems a great deal of us are NOT dealing with rational, emotionally healthy BMs, but instead are dealing with moms that have abandoned their children, that are drug addicts, alcoholics, or have other mental issues. I KNOW that there are plenty of SFs where both parents (mom and dad) are rational, "normal" people and work together for the good of their children, in spite of being divorced. They marry other good people and life is generally fine. The step-parents in THOSE situations are generally not the step-parents that are going to be posting here. Most of us posting here are doing so because we have valid, legitimate concerns and issues---and like it or not, KKNY, a lot of those issues DO stem from the behaviors of BMs. It just makes me sad that stepmoms (and some stepdads) come here to get advice and are hounded by people that really cannot relate to the situation on ANY level.