Duh, Now I see the confusion about the lights. HUGE difference in heat output between the two types. It probably takes 10-15 of the ones shown in the picture to equal one of the old style I was talking about. The big issue I see with the little ones is that they are wired in series and one bad bulb causes the whole string to go out. A single 13 watt CFL causing 15 degree temp rise makes sense. It might raise the temp more in our lower humidity. 5-1-1 sounds much better for holding some moisture than Gritty. I'm making Gritty work for succulents out of direct sun but everything else needs more water retention in my sunny/hot/dry climate. When I had 30 plants in black plastic pots this Summer, I struggled to keep them happy. Putting them in a East-West line and shading the end pots helped a bunch. I think the low humidity makes a big difference because the sun bakes plants here much harder than my previous house on the beach. Our average rainfall for June, July, Aug, Sept is a TOTAL of 1/4".

Ok, but that's even funnier. I spent all day yesterday and all day today in a quilted flannel. I used to walk around in the winter in shorts and a hoodie up north. 3. I agree wet cold is worse... as evidenced by the chill you get when stepping out of the shower no matter HOW warm the room is. I'm a Florida girl at heart. Even though I was born and raised in Michigan, for the first 18 years of my life, I never belonged there. Even as a kid I hated snow. I lived in Mississippi for a year. I lived in South Carolina, too. For three years. Small world... er... east part of the country.

Larry, Whew, that was close! I am glad your garden escaped damage. Mine did as well. I think we got lucky with the patchy frost. Dody, The tomato plants would be even crankier if they'd had frosted leaves! And, yes, growing food is immensely cool. I love putting food on our table that we grew ourselves and which we know was raised organically with no chemicals. I also like knowing our food is 'local' and that no one used fossil fuels to transport it halfway across the country or from some other country. I also love the miracle of growing things....going from a tiny tomato seed to a small plant to a big plant to oodles of tomatoes harvested, all from that one tiny seed we planted. Radishes are so easy and are ready to harvest so quickly. I sow a dozen or two seeds weekly so we'll have a continual crop....you don't want 200 or 300 radishes all at once. Paula, Did Ken get a deer? See any deer? You can dig the sweet potatoes any time you want. They don't actually have a specific point at which they are ripe or mature, but rather can be harvested anytime they reach a usable size as long as you harvest them before soil temps hit the low 50s. Once soil temps drop below about 50 degrees (Gary may have a more specific temperature he uses, I just use '50') the tubers can experience chilling damage. I usually start checking my sweet potatoes when they've been in the ground 100 to 110 days to see if they're sizing up but I haven't done that this year. Since I know some of the trial varieties need a long growing period, I've just left them alone to grow as much as they can. In general, though, I like to leave them in the ground as long as possible, weather permitting, so they can continue to size up and produce the largest possible crop. I should go out and check them right now since I don't have to fear finding a snake in the foliage since the air temps are in the 30s. OK, now that I've mentioned soil temps, let me go and find a soil temp map and link it. I believe my soil temps are still in the 70s, but I don't think I have looked at soil temps in the last 4 or 5 days either. While linking the '3-day soil temp', I looked at my current soil temp at 4" and it is 59 degrees right now courtesy of the cold night, but my potatoes are under about 4" of mulch so I'm sure they're warm and happy. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: 3-Day Soil Temp At 4

Happy Saturday! Well, our party was supposed to be in full swing by now, but I had to reschedule it. Called everyone yesterday afternoon when the weatherman confirmed the bad news. We're going to receive a present early--- 12 to 18 inches of snow, and it's only December 19th. Global warming? I think not!! Most of the dishes I prepared are in the freezer for the new date -- January 9. Hopefully, everyone will still be in the mood to party; we've promised to leave up our decorations and the Snow Village. I think it will work out fine, unless we get more snow that day! The weather is so bad, that DH and I have prepared ourselves for watching the JETS game in our home tomorrow. It drives me mad to know that we have tix to be in the stadium, but I don't think they can clear that snow out of all the seats by 1pm if it stops at 11am, and this gal does not sit on ice!!! Got a chicken dish in the oven on slow cook. Going to do a bit of preparation for Christmas dinner with DH's daughters, and then I'll have some time to finish wrapping gifts. We had time to run out this morning and pick up the rest of what we had. How does everyone deal with buying for seniors? (not that I'm far behind! LOL!!) This year, I bought my MIL enough goodies at Trader Joe's to make up a basket. We are going to attach a gift certificate to her hair salon. She just won't spend on herself but really enjoys the goodies when we bring them as a hostess gift. I've run out of ideas and am thrilled when I think of something! Going to go throw another log on the fire and try to coax DH to help me wrap those gifts. When I left the family room about 20 minutes ago, he was "watching" TV with his eyes closed and the remote slipping out of his hand. LOL!!!!!!!!!!! Later.............. Dee