Hi Joanmary! I have been playing with concrete for the past couple of years. I am in Homestead and my work has evolved (thanks to this wonderful site and my original inspiration via a concrete bamboo bench at Fairchid Garden) from hypertufa & grots to casting live leaves into fountains and sculpting in concrete on a small scale. If you can gather some friends together and would be willing to venture down to Homestead I would be happy to set up a class. Feel free to email me at buckyforce@earthlink.net Don't limit yourself to just planters with hypertufa - there are SO many really cool things you can create with cement! I am going to install a leaf fountain at a water garden store in Dania next week. If you like, I will email you the adress of the store and you can go by and take a look at it so that you can see what can be done with concrete. Hopelessy hooked, Amanda

I had a copy of Canning for Dummies but GoodWilled it a while back. I didn't have an issue with the book as such; I just had too many books (still do, LOL) and that focused so much on the basics it wasn't particularly useful to me. IIRC, that book relies heavily upon USDA and BBB standards. I just did a search "inside the book" on Amazon. All appears pretty much as I remembered, safety-oriented and conventional. Such methods as oven canning and steam canning are prohibited, steam pressure canners must be used for low-acid product, altitude adjustments are provided for pressure canning, etc. etc. One remark which stands out is that canning is not the place for "recipe innovation." Careful measurement is critical. All very good and appropriate advice. I would guess that the instructors chose the book as less dry and more "approachable" than the BBB. On that count I think they're right. My one concern is that the book was published in 2003. That's 8 years (allowing for at least a year to write and come to publication), and I doubt it's up-to-date on such changes as the wait time at the end of the boiling water bath and pressure canning cycles. I do think you will find 99% of the information reliable and beneficial in terms of demonstration; hopefully the instructor has kept with changes from the last years. I really think a lot of it has to do with the instructor's credentials and commitment to staying up-to-date. Keep an eye out and if you hear/read anything which seems at odds with what you remember from this site, post and ask. Also keep the NCHFP bookmarked as a favorite and check it frequently to verify anything doubtful. I would always check the NCHFP site for processing times. Being online, it's generally ahead of print on the latest. One good test would be to see if the course instructor can provide the NCHFP URL without looking it up, LOL. I hope this helps. Carol

Oh good that should work out well. TOC will get a bit more sun and may maintain a lighter center. And the brigher one in the rear will be good against the brush background. I don't usually put that much thought into hosta placement, but I am getting tired of moving them around as I discover more about their habits 3-4 years later. I also notice that no matter how unique and different they look at the nursery, they somehow end up looking all similar once they settle in. Sick of that too. plan...plan... plan...

Moving down.