Thanks for the feedback, bindersbeeÂsounds like youÂve gotten some valuable experience organizing your event. Too bad you donÂt live here or IÂd draft you : ) We do have answers for some things you bring up, but others I hadnÂt even thought of yet. Size and advertising Traditionally, our neighborhood (like most historic neighborhoods in our city) has had an annual or bi-annual home tour to raise funds. In the past, these have attracted from less than 1,000 to over 6,000 people. The best year for our neighborhood was when we had significant media coverage in the local paper and magazine, related to a major neighborhood re-development project. Most years, these events do not draw media coverage because they are frequent and the offerings donÂt change much from year to year. In recent years, attendance has dropped off, even though advertising has increased. We speculate this is because the neighborhood has matured, there are less renovations going on, and the freshness is gone. We would continue paid advertising for an event like this, but IÂm hopeful that a gardening event geared towards urban and small gardens would draw the media coverage weÂve been lacking recently. Downtown living is a hot topic, and putting the urban/small garden angle on it is something no one in our city has done yet. I like the idea of making contact with various groups that might be interested in this type of eventÂ.targeted marketing to gardeners (pinning down the downtown/small space crowd is a bit more nebulous, though we do have 2 monthly newspapers specifically for downtown dwellers). When are you going to hold the event? Good question. IÂm planning on getting input from the local businesses that might see increased business as a result of this event. IÂd guess that late spring/early summer would be best from that perspective, because IÂd think that the earlier in the gardening season this is held, the more business theyÂre likely to get from attendees. OTOH, an event in late summer/early fall would more likely have better weather and neighborhood gardens would probably be looking better than early in the season. Can you maybe add a 'farmer's market' or produce sharing of some sort? ThatÂs an idea we should throw into the mix. There are a number of farmers markets throughout our city in the summer, but mixing something into the food vendor area might work. Parking/Potties/Food WeÂve dealt with the parking and food vendors before for our home tours. Parking is on the street, and we set up food vendors in one of the parks. WeÂve not had to set up port a potties with the home toursÂ.there have always been some public buildings included on the tour where restrooms are available. IÂm hoping we can work with some of these public buildings as locations for the presentations; that would also take care of the restrooms. 501c3 Yes, our neighborhood has a 501c3 foundation which we utilize for fundraising, etc, so...

Thanks for the compliments! I will keep updating as things continue to grow. The only plants that haven't yet set fruit are my baby bell peppers and, of course, my bhut jolokia (not expecting to see anything out of that til probably late july/august). I was a little disappointed, because I don't think I got any black cherry tomato plants. I planted a bunch of different seeds in March, but I chose the healthiest seedlings to plant in May, so I guess none of them made the cut. I have learned from my mistake, and I will definitely label my seeds next year! I planted Gold Medal, Brandywine, Brandywine Purple, Cherokee Purple, Julia Child, and Black Cherry. I am assuming the big one in the picture is a Brandywine, but I'm not certain. One of the other plants has slightly smaller fruit with some darker green stripes up on the shoulders, and I'm thinking that might end up being one of my purples.

I haven't seen anything called "pine fines" and I don't have equipment to sift things with. Would that be in a different kind of store than a standard small garden center, or am I just not looking in the right places? Mostly, what I'm trying to figure out is how I can do better for my plants without making it too complicated, so I've been trying to work out something with local, easy things. Earlier, Al mentioned something with a "suitable" size pine bark, perlite and a little standard potting soil. So would the proportions on that be something like 45% bark, 45% perlite, and maybe 10% of the standard soil mix be acceptable? Or less perlite to be more like the 5-1-1? Regarding the 5-1-1, is the dolamite lime a hard and fast requirement?

Hello and Welcome to Ohio Valley forum! I am in Louisville too- by the airport I'm sorry I can't help much with your question- you might go to the 'search' box here on GW and type in lasagne (sp?) gardening-this is the process of layering browns and greens over your existing soil-I have not tried it, but it sounds easy (no tilling of existing soil) or try the compost forum using the search box or just reading the threads posted there... you are wise to start now- it gives you a headstart on next year's crops....are you doing only veggies? I have some heirloom seeds I can share (beans and tomatoes) I have tons of flower seeds too- I have been gardening using the winter sowing method for about 8 years (there is a winter sowing forum here on GW- check it out-wonderful folks there!) also, we have a plant swap in the spring- it will be posted here on the Ohio Valley forum- we would love to meet you and share some plants...we have such a good time- best wishes and happy gardening! Linda