dearest Florence.... I am so very sorry for the anguish you and your daughter are going through. I wish a word could wipe away all the tears and the pain. I don't know how else to get through the great heartaches of life any other way than to let the feelings out, grieve, then pick up the pieces and go on with life with each other's support. Even though you are a few hours away, she has a terrific mother & stepfather who will make her feel loved & supported at a time when she feels so low and rejected. I have been in her shoes myself 11 yrs. ago (with 3 little kids) and I had to go through all the stages of shock, grief, anger, betrayal, utter desperation, and loneliness. It all felt so hopeless back then that I remember not wanting to live, but my kids needed me so I had to stop wallowing in self-pity. It seemed as if it would never get better, but in time it did. Somehow we find the strength within ourselves to move past the hurt and one day it doesn't hurt so much anymore. It will take time, and 2 months later it is still raw and fresh to her. Even to this day I have spells where I feel anger towards my ex for walking out of his children's lives like he did....they were so young and had to be raised without a father. I never considered myself a strong person before that happened and didn't see myself ever having the strength to go on, and raise those kids alone. But I did...and my children reinforce all the time that I was an excellent mother and father to them. Please tell your dear Robyn that so many of us do understand what she is feeling, and that she too will survive this....we are all praying for her. I have had quite a difficult week myself and this Thanksgiving Day I find myself without my beloved daughter Grace. That lying, deceitful boyfriend convinced (brainwashed) Gracie to drive all the way to the southern part of Florida by herself 1,600 miles....she left yesterday and drove all day and night and into today...I just got a call from her this evening that she had made it there safely. My heart is broken. I haven't stopped crying. You will recall my long post about how I desperately tried to save her from this con-artist and how she had broken it off with him....or so it seemed. But he convinced her to quit her job and leave the family & friends who love her to move to FL...this was my greatest fear and now it has come true. So here we are, two loving mothers, worried sick about our daughters on Thanksgiving Day. If I could reach across the miles and give you a hug, I most certainly would. I pray for both our girls, and please know that my heart is with you as well. I understand what it feels like to want to make everything right for our daughters, and of the frustration at not being able to do so. Lots of love.... Celeste

Does it always seem like I'm arguing with Dan? I don't mean to, but so many times I have different experiences with things, so... haha! lemme have it! I have zero evidence to support any assertion that I'm correct all the time. My experience is the opposite - I was cracking the Ys at the seam in the middle or at the threads at the metal spigot. You can replace the screws at the valve and eliminate the breakage (that I don't get). How do you handle if it suddenly rains a lot? You just see how much rain you get and turn off the soaker hose for a while to account for it? Presuming you are thinking of a timer, there is an 'off' switch that stops your cycle. Otherwise, your soaker hose is manually operated and turned off when done. Not a constant trickle. I agree with greenbean about the bigger beds - always easier to lie fallow (or plant ornmentals) than tack on something later. But I also concur with jleiwig. You will eat more of a few new things, more of the things you already eat, but wholesale changes? That is not typical human nature. Me, I learned from an old neighbor the value of simply giving away some of your extras. Opening your front door and finding a little bag with a few toms and peppers in it (no name given, but the recipient knows) is hard to calculate the value. And yesterday the little boy next door went home with some lettuce and mustard from the cold frame. Should the hose go between each of the square feet? So essentially 12" apart or should they be 6" apart? They aren't on the ground now, but mine are IIRC about 6-8" apart. You'll see that precise placement isn't necessary in a raised bed - they'll do the job. how far away from a 6' privacy fence should the garden be to minimize shading from the fence? Presuming Triangle is near Durham and 4/13 is average last frost and 6' E-W running privacy fence and rectangular bed on a E-W axis, at solar noon on last frost date, the sun will strike all of your bed if it is 3' from the fence for ~ 2 hours, and if 5' from fence for ~4.25 hours. Fun! Dan

Hello everyone, i have been so busy have not had time to write. I finally finished the second bed,and spent the weekend looking for different types of compost. I only found three,all the rest are basically the same in Florida at least around here. I did find one Blueberry bush ,YEAH ,seems healthy... I changed the soil and transplanted to a bigger pot I have it in the morning sun and afternoon shade we will see. I planted some watermelon in 2 of the block cells as an experiment they are growing quick and seem happy.. I planted some tomatoes in containers and have them next to the blueberries.I also planted an herb garden in 2 containers i had for awhile they contain, Rosemary,basil,parsley,thyme,oregano,also some spearmint and peppermint. Within 2 days the Bugs have located and began thier attack,whiteflies and mites i belive..... i have been holding them off with palmolive and water. A friend told me ivory soap 2 tblespoons mixed in 1 quart warm water or liquid castile soap same mix,works well I'll try it.... I have to get the soil in the beds this weekend and finish mulching around the beds...I kickin around with idea of micro sprinkler sytem on a timer.They are fairly inexpensive and would work well with my goofy schedule. I have not recieved my worms yet but the compost pile seems to be doing well.Guess i'll have to call uncle Jim's and see what the delay is.. Almost forgot i ordered my muscadine grapes they will be here in Oct,along time to wait but i need to prepare the soil anyway so it worrks out well.. Glad i got the time to share and be part of your gardens Good luck to all and Happy Gardening...

I don't know much about SFG itself, but my impression of irrigation is that with sprinklers, even on a timer, you use a lot of water and hit everything, including weeds. So this could turn into more work for you as the weeds soak up all that water and grow. I have not heard that drip-lines are more maintenance than soaker hoses, more work to set up, yeah, but not so much maintaining after that. The big bonus for drip-lines and soaker hoses is that they put the water right at the plants roots where they need it. You also don't get run-off as you would with a sprinkler. Something you might want to look into, that I only found out about myself and I'm still learning, is wicking beds. Very basicly, you run your irrigation under the beds and water the plants from below. I have seen projects where they used covered rain gutters run under the beds and push towels or some other cloth through the spots where the plants will be. This pulls water from the gutters up into the soil at a slow, even rate and keeps the soil 'just right'. All you have to do is check the ends of the gutters to make sure they're full of water. The rest is automagic. Anyways, best of luck to you on your project. I hope someone more experienced with SFG can give a bit more insight.