Yep, you got my number. I have been very busy this last couple of weeks so haven't had time to post much, but I did read a few posts. I had to laugh at the seed storage thread since I was thinking Dawn needed a trunk sized container for her seeds, and wondered how much coffee Jay had to drink to get enough plastic coffee cans for his. In my mind, I saw a horse trailer lined with stacks of red coffee cans and his hands shaking from all the caffeine. LOL Glenda, be careful, be very careful going to Baker Creek. I think I bought 100 packages of seed on my two trips. The worse part is that I still could have bought more. On the first visit, I got a few things that I probably wouldn't have bought, but my DH was with me and I told him not to let me leave until I had looked at the beans. Well, he didn't remind me, he just walked over there and came back with a stack in his arms and said, "Don't bother, I got you one of everything over there." I have just about all I can stuff in a gallon bag and I think I had 23 kinds, last count. I usually only plant pole beans, but not this year. I think we are going to get a late start with planting, so I hope the season lasts a long time into the Fall. Some of the postings on the Market thread seemed to lean in the direction of picking bush beans for about 3-4 weeks and then yanking them out, and start picking on the next batch. I have wondered if that is what you Oklahoma gardeners do also. I would be interested in hearing how all of you feel about that. I have lots of experience with pole beans, but not so much with bush beans. I think if I plan carefully, I could rotate through several kinds.

Jeremiath is a Seventh Day Adventist, with Friday evening thru Sat. being their time of worship. The "Offbeat" timew for the festivals doesn't seem to bother the fans of Heirloom gardening, nor tourists or customers. We vendors who have set up over the years have noticed a lot of couples who have came to the festival on Sunday, with the husband [usually] telling the wife, "You don't need to buy that plant!" and then the wife showing up early on Monday morning[ presumably when the husband has gone to work.] with the checkbook and saying "Yes, I did need to buy that plant!" Strong.

I'll be there on Monday. I'm taking the day off to attend and am looking forward to it. My weakness is the seed store as if I don't already have more seed than I will ever use.

To be honest, I have only planted carrots once in this garden and they did just like they have done most places I have lived, so I just stopped planting them. They were cheap to buy and I just didn't fight it. They don't seem to be the 'cheap' food they once were, but maybe that is because I search out the baby ones and not just those that are peeled to look like baby carrots. I have read lots about them lately and have been happy to have the info from 'real' gardeners like you and Jay, although both of you grow in very different conditions than mine. The problem has been that they didn't develop underground. The tops always looked perfect, but there was just not much under it. I would guess that much of my problem has been that I didn't thin enough. I think I am going to make seed tapes like seedmama does, and then I won't have to do that part. I am thinking that I will build a small bed so I can control the soil, and try some in the fall. It will be just another learning experience for me. One side of my garden drains a lot faster than the other. I have not planted any of the summer crops that you listed above either except for green beans. I planted some pole beans and the germination was not as good as normal. A little later, I planted Contender bush, and they seem to be doing fine. One of the market gardeners that posts on the Market forum says that if you want to plant early beans, make sure the seed color is brown. In her opinion the brown bean was more tolerant of cooler temps. Your temps have been surprising low, haven't they? I think our low for May so far is 47. I've got a ton of work to do outside, so I had better get started. Thanks for the carrot help. Oh, here are the seeds I bought: Cosmic Purple Carrot Atomic Red Carrot Amarillo Carrot Greasy Grits Beans Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli Chinese Red Meat Radish Lettuce Leaf Basil Red Malabar Spinach Stevia Zucchino Rampicante Squash (Already growing for this year) Long Island Cheese Squash Precoce D'Argenteuil Asparagus True Black Brandywine Tomato Pineapple Tomato Flame Tomato Big Yellow Zebra Arkansas Traveler Tomato Amish Paste Flame Lettuce Mascara Lettuce Because I went back in the store and bought 3 different times during the day, I got a free pack of seeds each time. LOL I didn't plan it that way, it just happened, plus with the crowd, it was very hot and crowded in there, expecially early in the day, and I couldn't stand it very long at a time. Last time DH went he was grabbing seeds everywhere and throwing them in the basket. This time he stayed about 3 minutes and headed for the porch to wait for me. After I had bought seeds and thought I was finished, I remembered that I wanted Malibar Spinach, but didn't want to fight the crowd for one pack of seeds. Then I went to hear Oster speak and remembered I wanted Lettuce Leaf Basil also, so I went in for the 3rd time. The free seeds were Clemson Spineless Okra, Watermelon Jublee, Quadrato d'asti Giallo Pepper. I already have that pepper growing in my garden this year also. I hope I didn't duplicate the tomatoes because I didn't check my inventory before I left home since I wasn't planning to buy anymore tomatoes, but since tomato and lettuce seed were were their Spring Festival special priced item, for $1 a pack, I just had to have a few more. LOL