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.

Evelyn, that's a great idea - I'll check in with you when it gets closer to Kate's swap. I love looking at gardens. It's the main reason I go to swaps! I sure don't need more plants... ;) Thanks, lynn, lady and olya! The tithonias are great. They've been non-stop color since they started blooming. Smittee, I call it a cottage garden, too. It's funny, my neighbors have never heard the term! Cindee, you're right - cats and gardens go together. I'm glad the ones I've taken in are the lazy types that just snoop around, sniff stuff, then snooze the day away. No real wildlife deaths because of them. Sometimes there's a squirrel without a head laying around... but it's not often. ;-) Marcia - thanks for the compliments! It started out all mild-mannered this spring, now I can't get through the paths. Just the way I like it! Ha!

drop Thanks Violet

I would love a master gardener course but I live up in Canada and county extensions don't exist. Some Universities and community colleges offer 2-3 year diploma or degree landscaping/horticulture courses with the intent of making you into an urban greenskeeper, botanist or something else, but this is not what I am looking for. I also live out in the country so I would like something by correspondence or distance learning.