Oh, this is such an old thread... but at least I won't be the only one still posting in it! I was gifted a Sungold and a Brandywine (no idea which version) from a friend years ago, stuck them in a patch I dug out of the front yard... and they were amazing! I haven't been able to bear to eat grocery-store tomatoes since. But the intervening years have been focused on other things; my one attempt at gardening 3 years ago was a failure when I didn't find time to water (or weed) anything for three weeks at the end of June. Anyway, this year I finally have the right mix of time and space so I spent the winter reading up and dreaming, and... well, let's just say my family and local food shelf will have lots of tomatoes in August... Most seeds from SandHill, but the Sungold Select II and Green Zebra from Bakers Creek, and a handful are from cherrygal.com Cherry Types Blondkopfchen Sungold Select II (soooo excited to have snagged these!) Black Cherry Green Doctors Snow White Cherry (gift from SandHill) Hawaiian Mexican Cocktail "Regular" (I can never keep the beefsteak/medium/etc apart in my head) Brandywine, Sudduths Gogosha Green Zebra Black Krim Black Sea Man Rosabec Purple Calabash (gift from SandHill) Lucky Cross Potato Leaf "Other" Riesentraube (we'll see what tomato wine tastes like...) Yellow Pygmy Costulato Genovese When I got the two extra varieties from SandHill, I couldn't decide whether to jump up and down for joy (yay, two more flavors to try!) or despair - I spent weeks choosing my list, how could I fit 2 more?? But I decided joy was the right reaction. :) I'm sure it'll be more than a jungle in the yard this summer, but it'll be an edible jungle... and I have never been so grateful for the half-acre lot we have as this year. :) Good thing my husband is here to talk me out of cutting down our trees so I can have even more sunlight... Unfortunately, the cutworms have already been busy - but fortunately, although I only planned to grow 2 plants of each variety, I actually PLANTED 7-10 seeds... and almost all of them came up...and then I couldn't bear to cull since they all looked so healthy... so I ended up with lots of seedlings to give away. :) And to replace cutworm-killed plants. And then to give away some more! And still have replacements on hand in case my popsicle sticks don't do the trick with the cutworms... I'm just lucky Minnesota had an incredibly early and mild spring, my seedlings have been outside since the first week of March (with short breaks inside overnight until April) - there was no way I had enough grow-lights or space in the basement for them all! The seeds that I saved from those unknown Brandywines years ago still germinated three years later, so I'm really hoping to increase my seed from every one of these varieties this summer. Just need to cross my fingers and toes that I can get at least one tomato of each variety to survive and ripen enough to collect their seeds! Watching the cutworm decimation last week made me doubt I'll have luck that good, but hope springs eternal...

No need to replant peppers. They should keep going until they freeze, in fact, fall is my best harvest. Yes you can start seeds in pots outside this time of year. I do mine on the east side of the house so they don't get the afternoon sun until they are bigger. If they don't sprout because it's too hot, then take them in until they do and then bring them back out after a day or two and put them in a cooler location. Personally I can take or leave raised beds. If I was further north, I would definitely go that route but since it seldom freezes for more than a day or two, I don't see much advantage. I plant inground at home and in raised beds at the community garden. It's about the same for me and I have clay soil at home vs great soil at the CG. Just experiment. Results are not the same each year so don't get discourged if things go bad every once in a while. Just try again.

Eld6161 - It's the pits about your fractured foot. I think you should try to wear the boot at least part of the day. Of course, I don't want it toppling you, either, so you have to be the one to weigh the pros and cons of it. My DH was in one for a while, he wore his to bed each night. Desert Steph - You have a sweet puppy and a sweet "Jed." Is he a son, grandson, nephew? Don't feel bad asking him to help out. That's what the younger folks are supposed to do, and I'm sure he takes pleasure in knowing he's being helpful and useful in a very real way. Don't feel bad; you do what you can do. I find myself sad at times because I can't go like a house afire all day long anymore. I can't, and I really don't even want too. I snagged the photo of the bell from the infamous Internet. I think it was from Ruby Lane. I love Mother-of-Pearl everything! AAA - Your bay window plantings are absolutely perfect. I love it. I am so sorry you're having to deal with all these restraints. Is there no one close that could "help out," especially with the linen changes and pushing the vac around? I do love the layout of your apartment. I had an even tinier efficiency apartment when I was stationed at Dover AFB, DE. I loved that place. It had so much storage, a "regular size" bathroom, two large closets and one small one, and a 4x8 kitchen. I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for four in it! I'm happy/Iowa - It sounds as though you were plenty busy. Maybe the lawnmower man just meant "some future, far-off morning." :( For what he's charging he should fix the headlamp, deliver it on time, and then come over every week for the next two years and mow your lawn, for free. Shades - Today was dump run for me and up to Cambridge, 10 miles away but only 5 more from the dump, to get a big sheet of glass for a picture frame...Then sewing my jeans. Aside for the laundry...changing the bed...vacuuming the house...cleaning bathrooms...all the animal doings...gathering the garbage...hand watering...moving the sprinkler around the yards it has been a rather slow day for me. My Lord in Heaven, woman. It wore me out just reading about your "slow day". This was not a slow day. Take that diamond off, now, put it in a secure container, mark it, and put it in a safe place until you get to the jeweler! They can easily re-tip prongs. What a wonderful gift to have your Grandmother's stones. Mom just gave me her diamond solitaire. I was awe-struck. I am such a "sparkly, glittery, jewelry lover" and she simply is not. Her deceased husband gave her diamond earrings as an engagement gift; she gave them to me several years ago. That blew my socks off. During all these years I was working good jobs with disposable income just for myself, I wanted diamond earrings. I never once thought "Hey; I can buy diamonds for myself." I don't know why I thought a man should give them to me. I was an independent uptown girl in every other way. Now I have them and they are a gift from my Mom! He gave her a pear-shaped diamond, three-fourths carat, as a "friendship" ring. I did protest, but she insisted it would just sit on her dresser; she wasn't going to wear it. Oh man, does it sparkle, "just like a holiday!" LOL I am having it reset, once I decide on the mounting style I want. I know what I want, it's just paying for it! I am frugal, and we do have other "to do" items on the list. I want it set in a "halo" setting, but not with teeny-tiny diamonds making the halo; I want them big enough (but not huge) to show up! I have about 20 ideas to show the jeweler, but I keep coming back to this style. This is a vintage diamond which was reset in 1978 from England. The center stone shown here is 1.5 carat, but I think Mom's .75 stone would show beautifully in a setting like this.

Dolly, the potato salad I make doesn't have any special ingredients that make it unique. I think what it is is the dressing I make which has quite a bit of yellow mustard and I add enough so that the salad holds together, but not so much that it's gloppy. It should be creamy but not sloppy. If you've ever noticed my comments about salads (such as potato, macaroni or coleslaw) or spreads such as tuna salad, you'll notice that gloppy always comes up. I don't like dishes that are gloppy; I think I may have a slight aversion to mayo as if there is too much it makes me gag. It's a texture thing. The potato salad I make contains potatoes, hard boiled eggs (one egg for each potato used), green onion tops, dill pickles and black olives (the last three until the ratio to potatoes looks about right). Cut potatoes into small cubes, chop eggs and pickles and finely slice green onion tops and olives. Make a dressing of mayo, yellow mustard, salt and pepper. I put in quite a bit of mustard and a lot of coarse ground black pepper. Mix dry ingredients and then add the dressing a little bit at a time until well mixed and not gloppy. Refrigerate until well chilled and add more salt/pepper if needed before serving