its always possible, here in VA weve had snow in April, if it happens id cover what i could and bring the others inside. it wouldnt be a total loss. Most of my peppers/tomatoes are in containers. Corn was old seed and between you and i, not a variety i cared for anyways and i have probably 2lbs of corn seed that needs to be planted in the next 1-2 yrs anyways i guess it wouldnt kill me, just really pi$$ me off a little(more because its my own fault, and i should know better). Im more worried about another hail storm. had one last spring that just destroyed my garden, including my corn. then 2nd run of corn we had the hurricane...

Our Home Depot continues to have out of season veggies and nothing in-season. Lots of warm season stuff on the shelves right now, like tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. Didn't see much in the way of cool season veggies, maybe a few brassicas. I start almost all my cool season veggies by direct starts so usually just do a cursory glance for things like mints, which they had none of. Of course, there were all sorts of basils, which have about three more weeks before it gets too cold.

Just wanted to address the picture (my pics) issue really quickly. I have often been accused of over-sharing on the internet. I live on a corner lot, so anyone who frequents this forum could probably drive by and recognize my garden. If a pedophile is lurking here, they could see my kids and perhaps figure out where I live. That does concern me somewhat, but I watch my kids like a hawk, and I think that a true pedophile has many more extensive and disgusting sources of phtos than my baby butt garden pics. I can't help but share pics of my garden and my kids, they are my biggest sources of pride and I just love to share. I know I am naive but I feel in my heart that most if not all gardeners are good folks. I trust this forum and I feel safe here. As for my grow list: I am going to try to grow Nematode Resistant plants when possible. I am scaling back this year as far as varieties for this reason. I am currently on a seed hunt for: Pole Beans: Poamoho or Alabama No 1 Bush Beans Monoa Wonder or Harvester Lima Bean Nemagreen Bell pepper charleston belle or carolina wonder Wando Peas My herbs, lettuces, spinach etc don't seem affected by RKN so I will again grow tons of them. I hope to grow around 20 Nematode resistant tomatoes (assorted). I cannot find any nematode resistant cucs, squash, or soybeans, so I am unsure what I will do for those or if I will just skip them this year. I'd also love to grow carrots and beets but last year both were a complete failure (tiny stunted crop). Jo

Busy1, So, you're saying they want green tomatoes for frying or making chow chow or something? For a market grower, you know, that's good news.....because you can take green tomatoes to market earlier and (with green tomatoes being more rare) command a higher price. Sounds like a win-win situation. I just won't hardly pick a tomato green except in the fall. If a huge cold front is coming and I know I need to pick all the fruit, I'll pick the green ones and try to ripen them slowly, especially the longkeepers. Most years when I have a lot of greenies, I do send a big bunch to work with DH for one of his coworkers who likes to fry 'em green and also make chow chow. I do grow some green-when-ripe types most years, but they're no more suitable for frying when ripe than the ripe red ones are. River, Bill P., who used to post on Garden Web as Gone Fishin' before he passed away last year, raised most or all of his seedlings in a cold frame every year in either zone 7B or 8A. He was slightly east of Dallas in the suburbs, so I'm not sure which zone he was in but it was either 7B or 8A. He had great success. Actually, if I remember correctly, his was actually a hotbed because he put down a layer of hot (fresh, uncomposted) horse manure several inches down deep in a trench, put garden soil on top of that, and planted directly in the garden soil. The heat created by the horse manure as it decomposed kept his plants just warm enough at night. He always raised beautiful seedlings and the only trouble I ever remember him having was the year it rained non-stop and his in-the-ground plants almost drowned. So, I think it could work for you and, you know, you could throw a heavy blanket or comforter over the "hothouse" if a late snowstorm threatened. I suspect this is one of those projects that you'll just have to try to see if it works. It should work. People have raised seedlings using similar methods for years. If the seeds don't get warm enough to sprout, then you'd essentially be wintersowing, which ought to work fine anyway for most plants. Well, I'm not sure about peppers. Peppers don't like cold at any stage of their development, so I am a little concerned about that. I'd post a message for Seedmama here on this forum and ask her if she wintersows peppers and has success with them. I think Ilene wasn't happy with wintersown peppers in the past either, but I'm not sure if my memory is correct. (The older I get, the less confident I am that the things I "remember" actually happened.....LOL). You also could buy a seed germination mat and start seeds indoors using it underneath the flat. In the room where I have my light shelf (with ordinary fluorescent lights) and germination mat, the room always seems hotter to me than any other room in the house, and I think the lights generate more heat than you'd think. Just lights and a germination mat might create enough heat in your house to start seeds, and then you wouldn't have to worry about the temperatures dropping too much outside and causing you to lose your plants. If you try this method outdoors, you also could place milk jugs or two-liter bottles full of water inside your frame. They'd serve as solar collectors--absorbing sunlight and heat all day long and then releasing it into the air at night as they cooled. If you paint the bottle black, they'd probably heat up a few more degrees. You also could add heat by purchasing a soil heating cable and running it through the soil underneath the cans with your seedlings. You also could line your coldframe with a light-reflecting mylar paper. It would reflect light/heat back onto your plants. That kind of thing would be available in rolls from someone like Worm's Way that sells to indoor and greenhouse growers. You probably could get a similar effect from aluminum foil, but it might not be as reflective. Later in spring, as the occasional very warm day hits, you'll have to open the lid up during the day so that your plants don't roast. Dawn