Tango, Thanks for the info, I was under the assumption that too much heat was as bad as too little in the curing of concrete. Actually, my main point in reference to the heat was MY ability to deal with it, ESPECIALLY, as I now know, when I would be absolutely bathed in the airflow of multiple fans as my preference. Sigh. I'll suck it up and try the breeze-free option, cuz I'd hate to go to all that trouble only to have my finished product compromised cuz I couldn't "handle the heat." ;D I wonder if literally incorporating sweat into concrete helps or hinders....? As for giving the end product the "steam bath" treatment, that's no problem. It should be truly poached within a short time. Actually, our monsoon season is just getting underway, which will mean temps in the low 90s. It may be only psychological, but I feel more able to handle the double digit temps than the triple digits. Thanks again Tango. You are a fount of information and I look forward to learning more from you as time goes on. Tah for now. Jo aka MMW

Terry; Shame on you for ordering from Ty-Ty, but do NOT throw away the figs. I have two that came thru the winter potted in my garage. They did not get enough water during the winter and when I set them out in the sun this spring they looked like firewood, dry and brown and dead, dead, dead. Two of them have come out and are growing. One is thriving, The other, after seven weeks, has two tiny leaves that just showed up last week. They are coming out from the root, but they are alive. I suspect that if your wood shows green where you scratched it you will soon have a thriving fig tree, though you may never know what variety it is. Ox

I wouldn't recommend rye flour, but rice flour is OK as a filler as is wheat flour. The soy flour is quite cheap usually. The more they are baked and dried out the longer they will last without any special care. Even an egg or two can be mixed in as it too gets baked, so they will not spoil quickly. Bake them at about 300 degrees or a little less. The dogs love crunchy stuff, good for their teeth. You can keep them in the fridge if you are really concerned. I have TWO freezers here and both are quite full. Rarely do I shop at the sup[ermarkets unless something is on sale really cheap. This week, boneless rib eye steaks (resturant quality) for $3.99 a pound. Boneless/skinless chicken breasts $1.69 a pound, but I have plenty of them already. Gotta start using some of my frozen broccoli, and yellow waxed beans from this last summer. Ive got about 5 or so gallon bags of each.

Many people on this list use more than one year old seed. I have seen posts claiming 7+ year seed germination. I think someone posted a while back that they found a partial packet of pepper seeds in a drawer that were at least that old an they germinated fine. The key is to make sure they are good and dry before storing them. They are commonly stored in small envelopes at room temp. Some refrigerate them. But I think the biggest issue is ensuring they stay dry or you might experience a mold problem or them may try to germinate while in storage. I have used two year old seed with no problems at all but I have only been growing peppers for a few years. I started out storing mine in small envelopes but now I store mine in capped test tubes with a small pack of desiccant to control moisture. I then keep them in the dark at room temp or slightly cooler temps. I am sure others will be able to provide their experiences as well. But you should be able to store seed for several years with little effort. Bruce