Pn: you assume I am willing to take a very large financial risk ffrom wich I could never recover if it went south :) Your idea has crossed my mind though; maybe, if my banker and I could agree on a piece of land he wouldn't mind owning if I couldn't sell it we'd be able to deal. I already live in the middle of commercial ag but in a very small town, there is an elevator 2 blocks away and a spray service 2 blocks away also. Right now there are combines, grain carts and semi trailers hauling grain parked in town and going to and through it. My neighbor is a custom harvester. The mad dash is on to get all the corn, soybeans and milo harvested as well as the winter wheat planted. Yep, anhydrous is used here on corn, it is knifed in under ground. Being a gas at atmospheric pressure, it wouldn't do any good to try and pour it anywhere, knives work very well if the soil has the right amount of moisture in it. Nacyjane: there isn't really any empty land around here unless you count the creek bottoms, everything is in crop production in this county and every county around it and more. Happyday: good point, I suspect there are no zoning restrictions on subdividing within the county. On a less serious note, I don't think there are any laws in the county at all, 1 sheriff and 3 deputies to cover 24/7/365. what do you think? You can not pay your property taxes for in excess of 5 years and not have to worry about the county auctioning off your property.

bumpety bump!

I started my first flat of hostas last weekend. Everything else will follow. Don't know how interesting anyone but me will find this next :-) but here's my planting schedule from last year (my first year to grow my own seedlings) along with notes on where the seeds came from, germination, when I potted them up in bigger pots, when I moved them to the cold frame, and so on. Skip over it if it's too boring :-) To me, of course, it's tremendously interesting! January 1/3 Ginko Craig Hosta (From my garden) - Germination 25 days - approx 85% 1/3 Hollyhocks (From my garden) - Germination approx 21 days - Only 3 survived 1/30 Love Pat Hosta (GW - MN Winter Blues Seed Swap) - Germ approx10 days - approx 85 - 90% February 2/26 Candy Lily (GW - MN Winter Blues Seed Swap) - Germ first 30 days - then ranging 37 - 55/60 days. Germ 30 % indoors. March 3/7 Hollyhocks (GW - Roland in Nashville ) - Germination 4-5 days - Potted 3/28 3/7 Blue Morning Glory (GW - Roland in Nashville ) - Germination 4 - ? days 3/12 Clematis Mrs Rob Brydon (GW - MN Winter Blues Seed Swap) - 3/12 Sedum Frosty Morn (GW - MN Winter Blues Seed Swap) - 3/12 Lettuce - Burpee Bib (purchased) - Germination 3-4 days - Potted ? - moved to garden 4/02 and 4/23 3/12 Tomato - Burpee Super Beefsteak (purchased) - Germination 5 days - Potted 3/26 3/12 Tomato - Burpee Bucks County Hybrid (purchased) - Germination 6 days - Potted 3/28 3/12 Pepper - Burpee California Wonder (purchased) - Germination 7-8 days - Potted 3/29 3/12 Virginia Bluebells (GW - Roland in Nashville) - Germination 6 days 3/17 Coleus - Burpee Rainbow Mix (purchased) - Germination 4 days - Potted 4/12 & 4/13 3/17 Basil - Purple - Ferry Morse(purchased) - Germination 3 days - Potted 4/13 3/17 Hosta - Dragon Lady - Ebay - Germination 7 days 3/21 Onion - Evergreen White Bunching - Burpee (purchased) - Germination 3 days - Moved to garden 4/09 and 4/23 3/21 Cabbage - Mammoth Red Rock - Heirloom Seeds (purchased) - Germination 2 days April 4/13 Tomato - Brandywine (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed) - Germination 4 days 4/13 Tomato - Pantano Romanesco (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed) - Germination 4 days 4/13 Tomato - Green Zebra (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed) - Germination 4 days 4/18 Swamp Milkweed - Cinderella 4/18 Swamp Milkweed - Ice Ballet 4/18 Pink Milkweed - Var unknown 4/18 Milkweed - Var unknown 4/23 Four O'Clock - Tea Time Rose (Select Seeds) 4/23 Pepper - Topepo (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed) 4/23 Rutabaga - American Purple Tom (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed) 4/23 Columbine - Var unknown Purple and white (MN Winter Blues Seed Swap) 4/23 Foxglove - Pam's Choice (Select Seeds) 4/23 Foxglove - White (not sure if this is var or just color) (Select Seeds) 4/2-4/3 Planted first lettuce, radish, and onion sets in garden 4/8-4/9 Began moving many seedlings to cold frame and outdoor mini-greenhouse 4/23-4/24 put cabbage seedlings in garden - only 9-10 left in cold frame 4/24 Potted 38 tomatoes up from 10 oz cups to 20 oz cups. 4/24 Planted Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas (Baker Creek Heirloom) in garden 4/30 Potted about 20 Brandywine tomatoes into 10 oz cups I did start many things earlier then recommended, and they did great, so either I handled them right or got lucky... maybe some of each. The only thing that did not do well, was the Rutabaga. On the other hand, I've never grown Rutabaga at all before so maybe I did something wrong with that in the garden. It just didn't make big enough Rutabagas to bother with. I also did a lot of winter sowing last year... but that's a different list and I won't subject anyone to that :-) My nursery room (also known as my home office/storage room) usually stays about 70 degrees. I kept the florescent shop lights on the seedlings 24/7 (not recommended for everything I guess, but great for the hostas). I kept a fan circulating in the room also 24/7. My first year experience was great and I can hardly wait to repeat it this year!

Some think it is a little expensive to attend conventions. It might seem that way but for what you get it is worth it. You can congregate with hundreds of folks that just love to garden and use "Hostas" as an excuse to get together. Once your at the convention feel free to go up to any other attendee and introduce yourself. I usually spend at least a day getting or giving "hugs and handshakes" While convention times are work times for me it is still a great chance to meet face to face with all the forum members you get to chat with on the WWW. Start saving now if you want to add to your hosta collection. If you have never perused a vending room you will probably be overwhelmed at first. You will be face to face with some of the nicest vendors you will ever meet. They are all patient and want to talk to you. You will find there will be a wide selection of companion plants and garden items in addition to the best selection of hostas in one room anywhere. There is always an auction with unique selection of donations up for bids. Some go for unheard of prices yet others seem to go at bargain prices. It's all fun and the proceeds of the auction help support the American Hosta Society. If you bid on nothing the commentary that goes along with all the hostas presented for auction is very educational and at times very entertaining. If you cannot afford to register for the convention the leaf show, seedling competitions, and vending are made available to the public at no charge. If you live close join the local society and volunteer your time to help with the gardens and convention. You will meet some great people and have fun for sure. The Minnesota bunch are a fun bunch to be around. If you get to the 2010 convention and see a fellow with a big smile and a bullfrog voice sitting in a japanese maple forest introduce yourself. Lee