Remy,thanks for letting me know that the seeds arrived. I was going through my card stash and found that card. I KNEW it was from the 1st seed swap that I hosted. I just didn't remember who it came from. What a coincidence!!! LOL Yes, a VERY few of the seeds I sent were from that swap. I have started seeds that were older than 3 years and had no problem with them germinating.

Melissa, I LOVE the pics!!! So how does this work? Every time someone requests pics, will you post some? I, for one, would LOVE it. I don't get tired of seeing yours or anyone elses kid pics. So, any more pics? Hmmmm.....????

Carol, are you very near the flooding? Your town is not that far from Seattle, right? Cute bunny hat you sent Baby Bunny. :) Are you feeling any better yet? Been to the Doc? If not, please go and get yourself checked out.

Bev/Diggindirt, We would love to have you. We just as that you are willing to commit to our group long-term. You may have read some of the messages above. We have a theme swap that changes monthly. You don't have to participate in ALL of the swaps, but we would like participation in a majority of them. Let veeja(Carol) or brittneysgran(Shirley) know.

I'm still at my parents. Was planning to go home yesterday, but we ended up with about 6" of snow on top of freezing rain/sleet. Today most of central Iowa roads are covered. No time to be driving with a new knee so I've been told. Grr...We are supposed to get another storm on Monday this time with high winds. I'm supposed to go back to the surgeon for another check-up and see about going back to work. Who knows, I may have to stay here just so I can make the appt. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being here with my parents. I just miss hubby, home, and my kitties.

Have a nice evening, friends.
Mary Ellen/Mellen

Shoot the wind has broken my wooden arched trellis I bought last Fall. I had clematis planted to run up it. Oh that makes me mad. You can't have anything here for the wind. I should have known better than to buy it.

Beth-Congratulations to your granddaughter on her accomplishment. The air force is a great branch of service to be in. My son was in the Marine Corp for 4 years. His boot camp was 15 weeks long. It was the longest 15 weeks of my life (and his too). He could only communicate with us through letters.

Frances-I have been to Gastonia many times or I should say through it. I have cousins who live in Charlotte and Monroe.
Have you ever been to the Iris By The Creek in Shelby, NC?
I went one year and loved all those irises. We do love living in this area. I did grow up in Frankin but got married and moved to Atlanta, Ga. We lived there 13 years and moved back to Franklin. We built our home on acreage where I played as a little girl. Most of our relatives live here in the community also.

Amy-So glad you had insurance on your house they may even pay for the things that got broken. Our insurance agent told us to take pictures of expensive collectibles, guns and the like. Yes the very best thing was no one got injured.

Dottie-Yes I think I would have had a heart attack to if a squirrel got loose in the house. Hanna (our Husky) has killed everything that moved here. She cleaned out the skunks, ground hogs, rabbits and best of all the moles.

Maryanne-I agree about the pornography, we will leave together. I thought pornography was against the law.

Melissa-I like the bunny hat also. Carol you did good finding that. Thanks for sharing with us.

Shirley

Remy, I'm getting the seeds out tonight but I don't think they will be in the delivery process till Mon. morning. Hope I beat the 15th deadline! Thanks also for making time to write some things regarding W.Sing.

Dottie...hey that sounds like a great idea! I would love to share notes with you. I'll go to the site you recommended. I know I've heard others talk about it so it must have alot of info. Knowing you and others are newbies I won't feel so alone if my new W.S. venture! lol

Bev, saying a hello to you! I am also new, my first swap with these ladies. : )

Maryanne, wow, 48 jugs prepared and looks like you want to add more for W.Sing. I'd love to start that many, I just don't know where I would put them. Do you just keep them on the ground or do you have to put them up on a table?

Shirley, sorry to hear about your trellis breaking because of the darned wind. I'll bet you had visions of how pretty your clematis would look growing over it.

Melissa, Lili sure is cute little girl. : )

Mary Ellen, You sound a little at your wits end. Hope you are able to get home soon. I'd be feeling the same way you are right now. There really is no place like home. Hang in there.

I personally am out there looking for a new job. Been out of work for a few months now. Gotta get something soon. Just keeping my head above water concerning the $$$$bills. That is one guy that just won't go away! lol

Take care everyone,
Cindy

Oh, Shirley! I know just how you feel. The wind blew over the trellis we bought for my son and daughter-in-law's wedding last Spring. It had only been there since the previous August when the kids got married. I was devestated. It already had climbing hydrangea starting up it. However, my DH put this totally split-apart hunk of broken wood back together with staples and glue and repainted it and it looks just as good as before. (This time he sunk huge anchors into the ground and pegged it down!) I hope yours can be fixed. Maybe the clematis can recover. That's so sad!

Cindy, I see you are in Z9. I'm sure our "winter" sowing will be quite different. My NJ Z6 will be freezing for quite a while yet; however, I plan to use gallon milk jugs to start a few things. I have only three jugs saved so far, so I will have to hit the recycling bins day after tomorrow and collect a few more. (The article here on GW about how to wintersow is pretty instructional and I plan to try to do it the way it's described there.) I'll look forward to hearing what you'll try to start.

Maryanne, where in PA are you? Looks like we are due for some snow tonight. You too?

Dottie

hey everyone. hope you are staying warm. we are getting some snow, nothing of significance, or what was predicted, but it appears it's going to freeze over night.

it took me quite a bit of time, but i had finally sorted all my seeds last night and today was able to put out 35 containers - gallon milk and two litre pop bottles. i'll work on the rest i have tomorrow and then i'm going to have to go clearing out neighbors' recycle bins sunday night/monday morning, before the truck gets here.

ladies, if you are wintersowing, remember to go to the count thread and post your number of containers and zone. they keep track of this. and for those that are doing it for the first time, garden web has a great wintersow forum and trudi's wintersow dot org offers a wealth of information; tutorials and free tomato seeds!!!

i ate so bad today. not only did i have creme brulee earlier, about an hour or so ago i had a banana split. that's only two of the worst (not really, they were both a delectable delight) things i ate today.

i've been watching the anne of green gables series. what a great story. then to break it up, i watched dreamgirls. i could have skipped it, i don't remember if it was all the rage at the time it came out, maybe not. i was trying to figure out if all the players were actually modeled after motown singers/groups back in the day.

melissa, your baby is just adorable. i remember when i could wheel my grandbaby around in her little doll coach. please keep posting pictures.

shirley, sorry to hear about your trellis. i had this amazing birdhouse arbor that fell over so many times. i paid so much money for this thing that i "had" to have, and i now have so much work to do on it come this spring/summer. it's a great arbor, i just was never able to secure it properly and still am not sure what to do with it. money down the drain.

dottie, i'm right outside philly. and goodness, a squirrel in the house. i have an ongoing love/hate relationship with a squirrel family around my house, but i can't imagine one in the house.

cindy, good luck in your job hunt. i've been on and off since 2005. i have faith in the new year and the changes to come, so things will look up.

MaryEllen, better safe than sorry. Stay put until those roads are clear. Remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

good night everyone, be well, stay warm!
maryanne

Hi All,
I got back too late and was too tired to post again last night. The party was fun. The best part was catching Mac, the birthday boy, playing alone with Gary on the couch and hearing Mac telling Gary he loved him in that cute little boy voice.
I know I promised to say some stuff on WSing. A lot of people prefer milk jugs, but I prefer 2 liter soda pop bottles. Some people cut milk jugs in 1/2 or almost all the way and re-tape, but I am too much of a palsy for that, lol.Here's one way to cut a milk jug that I like better.

I cut pop bottles about 2/3 of the way up and make a flap so the top and bottom will "lock" together. This is much easier for me. Hopefully these photos make sense of that. Oh, and the cap comes off!
{{gwi:350236}}
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Whatever containers you use the soil should be 3 inches deep, less than that and it dries out too quick. I also like the amount of moisture that get held in the pop bottles. I find milk jugs get soggy.
Another thing that works well is to keep the containers so they get morning sun only if you can. This helps from the overheating that may occur on warm spring days. Sometimes this happens and I'm not home so being away from the afternoon sun keeps them from baking.
Plants that need a cold period or sprout in cooler soil, should be planted now. Things that are tropical and/or germinate at warm temps can be sown later.
I start lettuce and broccoli family(Kale, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, etc.) veggies early. They will sprout very early while frosts are still going on. Other veggies won't germinate until the soil warms so they can wait.
Hope that helps.

I'm still waiting on a few questionnaires. I have off tomorrow. I'll figure out who I received from already.

Maryanne,
Mmmm...Creme Brulee.
I heard about the porn thing too. It sounded so ridiculous thought it was a joke!
Dreamgirls was modeled after the Supremes from the bio that Mary Wilson wrote "Dreamgirl: My life a Supreme". I think the other bands in the movie are loosely based on popular bands of the time too.

Frances,
You make me happy it was just a rabbit and not a skunk the dogs played tug of war with!

Mellen,
Lol, I didn't make sense! I didn't mean the same exact seeds, I meant you grew the plant and saved seeds!
Your weather is much yuckier than here right now. We got snow, but at least not on top of ice.
Are you sleeping better? I hope so.

Shirley,
Sorry to hear about your trellis! Hopefully you can fix it. I don't know why they all don't come with long ground stakes.

Talk to you all later,
Remy

Hi Ladies, I have a question about wintersowing that maybe one of you experienced folks can answer. I am planning to try wintersowing for the first time. (My son and I pinched milk gallon jugs from recycling containers all over town tonight!) My question is: Would it be a good idea to put my sown milk jugs inside the "greenhouse", or would that get them too hot during sunny days? The GH is not heated, so the temperature fluctuates to very much warmer than outside when the sun shines, to very cold - just like outside, when it's dark or cloudy. Would they sprout and then freeze and die? Or does it take longer than a few warm hours to sprout them? My GH is really just a shed made with our old windows that DH built for me last summer. I haven't done anything with it yet and am not quite sure how to make the best use of it. Right now it's just storage for a lot of stuff that DH wanted to get out of the garage. It's 8 x 12' and I would be glad to have some advice on how to use that, too. Thanks!
Dottie

Dottie,
Don't put the jugs in the greenhouse. I think they would get too hot. The jugs are like greenhouses so you would be putting a greenhouse in a greenhouse. My girlfriend Hilde used her's (that her husband built off of the regular shed) in spring as a way to keep tender plants like tomatoes, peppers and herbs in pots until it was frost free outside. They did really well! You could also get some cold germinators started like lettuce in your greenhouse. They would pop up extra early in an environment like that. Some flowers germinate early, but I'm not positive which ones would be good for the greenhouse.
"Would they sprout and then freeze and die? Or does it take longer than a few warm hours to sprout them?" Your hunch is correct, it takes more than a few warm hours to sprout them. They sprout when conditions have been right for awhile.
Remy

Hi, Ladies--I have not posted for sometime due to circumstances here but have tried to keep up on the posts. Welcome to new members & know you will really enjoy this RR.

Remy--I am planning on sending my seeds out today. I hope they will get there by the 15th but with the weather, who knows. We have a Winter Weather Advisory here & supposed to be very cold, also. I also want to do a very small amount of WS. What about tomato plants? How do they do & when should I winter sow them? Right now we have close relatives very ill, had a DIF of a wonderful nephew only 58 this past week, my daughter has been in the hospital & that is not the complete list of happenings here. I just praise the Lord for His promise of daily strength. I hope to get back posting soon. Blessings, Margaret

Thanks, Remy. I've been spending the morning cleaning jugs in preparation for WS'ing, and trying to watch the sun to determine where might be a good place to put them. I have learned (after 9 years in this house!) today that I have NO morning sun until 10 AM! There are large trees in my neighbors' yard that, even without leaves, (and some are pines) block my entire yard - back, side and front - until ten. Then, by noon, I'm guessing the sun is going to be too hot. So do I want to wintersow and leave the containers where they will get only two hours of morning sun? I have lots of sun from noon onward, until pretty late afternoon, in the back and on my deck.
At any rate, it's nice to see the sun today. Enjoy!
Dottie

Hello everyone!
Sorry that I've been MIA lately. It's been a busy month! I'm sorry to miss out on the seed swap but I've already gotten everything on my wants list from other trades! :-)

I kept up on all the postings from December, but I'm way behind on January. I'm going to read the posts and get caught up now. Talk to you soon!

Amy

Hi All,
Before I forget, I posted that I have Key Lime seeds on the seed exchange. If anyone here wants some, let me know.

Margaret,
I'm so sorry to hear about your family troubles.
I know tomatoes can be wintersown. I do not do them that way. I start mine inside and keep record of each plant. That would be too difficult for me to do with wintersowing. I know it can be done though. They are warm germinators so you would not have to put them out until the end of March where you are.

Dottie,
It is nice to see the sun! It is sunny here too. Your conditions make it more difficult. A couple hours of sun will make things take a lot longer to germinate. So where they get afternoon sun only might be a better choice. If I were you I would keep an eye on the weather reports in spring for unusually warm days where they say it is going to get over 70 during the day but the weather is going to get very cold again, I would remove the tops to keep the soil from over heating and then recover them. Once the weather is more stable, you can keep the tops off for good.

Amy,
Hi! I'm glad you stopped by. How did last semester go? Any other news?
Remy

Remy~ If you would, please keep me updated on how the swap is going. I'm trying to stay caught up on the threads, but sometimes I miss out. If you'd let me know when you think would be a good time to post the FEB swap, I would really appreciate it! I don't want to do so too soon, before you get this one in the sack, so to speak. And I know it's too early now...I just wanted to ask before I forgot. :O)

Oh! And THANK YOU for the WS'ing tips! The pictures REALLY helped me out, I was having trouble picturing how to do everything....and I don't have enough time to go over to the WS'ing forum. I keep hearing from everyone that it's tons of fun, and really easy...so I'll have to give it a go this year, if I get a chance.

Take care, everyone!! :O)
Melissa

Thanks again, Remy. So, you would leave the tops on the milk jugs when beginning? Do they not need to vent when it's cold? I am so very new at this :-) Maybe others who are new will appreciate your wisdom, too.
Dottie

Whew, well I'm finally caught up with the thread. Lots going on for everyone!

Since the topic of winter sowing is popular right now, I'd love to know what everyone's favorite seeds are for winter sowing. What have you had the most success with? I sowed a ton of containers last year and only had about a 50% success rate, maybe a little less. I suspect that some of that was due to seeds that weren't fit for winter sowing. (By the way, it was ok that I had such a low rate because I barely had room for all the seedlings that actually grew!! :-) )

I would also be interested to hear how everyone stores and organize their seeds. I have been storing mine in those little "to go" containers you get with salad dressing or other condiments. They work great, but now I have to figure out how best to organize them (alphabetically?)

Also, to those of you who plant tons of containers (100 Jeanne?!?!) what do you do with all of those seedings??

Remy, I will get you my questionnaire this week, sorry for the delay!! Last semester was long, I'm glad it's over. ;-) The holidays and traveling have consumed me for the last month. Wow, only 2 more weeks before I start a new semester :-(. I decided that I have to cut down on my seed sowing this year. It's just too much work with school in the spring! Thanks for asking. No other news here though.

Amy

P.S. For us up here in the frozen tundra, the high for this week is today at 15 degrees. For the rest of the week, we'll pretty much be in the single digits and below zero. The "high" temp for Thursday is supposed to be -4!! And that doesn't even include the wind chill factor, which is supposed to be -25 to -30 below zero!! Ugh, why do I live here again? :-)

Mostly I am trying to answer things that Amy brought up, but I think others are interested, too. Amy, I think a 50% success rate is a good rate for winter sowing unless you are really certain of what to sow when and know that your seeds are viable. I view seeds that come to me from trading as basically free seeds! What have we got to lose...
I may have gotten a 65-70% success last year, but not all of the seeds that germinated got into the ground. I can remember a few times it rained really hard and the seedlings were under water for 12 hours or so. Some of them died due to my lack of attention after they sprouted. Also, with our hot, brutal dry summer, certainly not all of them made it after they got placed in the ground. Trudi, who is a big proponent of winter sowing, talks about survival of the fittest with the seedlings. LOL
Here are a few things that were planted in Jan. of last year that sprouted very quickly for me.
Dill - planted 1/13, sprouted 2/9
Fennel - planted 1/13, sprouted 2/11
Columbian - planted 1/26, sprouted 2/18
Spinach - planted 1/26, sprouted 2/4
Forgot-Me-Not - planted 1/26, sprouted 2/11
Bachelor Buttons - planted 2/1, sprouted 2/7...
Anyway, if anyone has questions I will be happy to try to help. Unfortunately if our zones are quite different, what worked for me may not work for you.
Bunny, I hope you get to winter sow at least one container!
As for organizing seeds, I use one of those photo organizer boxes - in fact, I think the one I am using I got from Remy in a swap that came at Christmas 2007. I put them in baggies (marked by parts of the alphabet - A-B, for example) and that whole grouping of seeds slipped into a ziplock bag. Yes, I have to look through all of A-B to find Bachelor Buttons (or whatever) but it doesn't seem to be much of a problem. I keep flowers in one box and veggies and herbs in another.
That's all for now. Have some chores to take care of.
Jeanne

Hello everyone!

Just popping in to say hi! I recently moved and don't have a computer hooked up at home yet so I haven't had that opportunity to stop in recently. Hopefully, I'll be back online and back in business soon

Hope everyone is having a wonderful new year!

Jenell

Hi, all I am high and dry. dh keeps bragging about how he made sure we were safe from water when we purchased. Maryanne and Shirley I"m off to another country with you, if they give porn money. seed rack was a bad experience for me nothing I bought germinated, I bought 6 pkgs of green tea, not one seed grew, and they were expensive. I just love the baby bunny pics. hope you are feeling well lil sis. love you all. hugs carol

Uh oh. Carol, I bought from seedrack and they came today. Yeah, they were a bit pricey, but they have such unusual stuff; I just had to do it. Did you let them know? Did they offer to replace or refund?
Dottie

Hi Remy,
Got my seeds off to you this morning. Thanks for posting some info. regarding winter sowing. I'll make sure to have 3inches or more of soil and I think because my zone stays relatively warm compared to other zones I will place the milk jugs and pop bottles in the shade.

My only question is, do I need to keep them off the ground on a table of some sort, or is leaving them on the ground okay?

Jeanne, I am sure I will have some questions for you and thanks for wanting help newbies! 100+ winter sowing containers...wow! I can't imagine planting up that may baby plants. Wondering the same thing Amy is... where do you find room to put them all!

Hi Jenell, I'm new to the group. Good luck with your computer hookup!

I organize my seeds in separate envelopes in a shoe box. I had basically zero seeds when I joined GW 4 months ago and now the shoebox is 2/3 full. : ) I'm thinking by the end of this coming Fall after I have done my harvesting I will probably have way more seeds then that! Alot to trade with, woo hoo.

Cindy : )

Hi All,
I received seeds from Dottie and Sue yesterday!
Here's where the questionnaire's stand:
Amybabyboy
Beth_b_Kodiak -received
Brittneysgran - received
Debbya
Dieg01991
Dirtundermynails -received
Drgulley
Earthly Delight
Fcoffill
Hazelnutbunny -received
Ilovefarac - received
lil green thumb
LLbean
Luckyladyd -received
Lunamoon -no computer yet
Margaret 2007 -received
Mellen -received
Missg-
Momcat -received
Remy -
Sandlapper Rose -received
Squanzon -
Theresa24 -received
Veeja11 - received
Wynative -

That's pretty good. Hopefully, I'll get everyone by the end of the week. I would like to get them together and sent to everyone before next month's swap.

I got an New Year email from Susan. Geesh, her name isn't on our list, but if some of you remember, she was falling into financial difficulty and might of lost her home. She left in good standing. Hopefully that is a good sign that things are looking up for her.

I've WSed 84 containers so far.

Jenell,
Hope you'll be all set soon and can visit more often!

Carol,
Glad you are high and dry! My house is the same way. I didn't realize when we bought it, but I am so glad now.
I know Dig/Bev was interested in joining. Please let her know quick either way so she can get in the swap if she has good references.

Melissa,
I know you have to be awful busy right now! Usually one week before the end of the month is good. That gives people enough time to decide. If you can't decide in a week, you'll never decide, lol.

Dottie,
Just make sure to leave the caps off. Leave the tops on every thing. The cap off is enough venting when it is cold. Once it gets hot out, the top must come off. I put a thermometer in a container to see when it was 70 out it got up to about 90 in the container and that is morning sun only. If the sun would keep shining on them, they would get very hot. I've read people pulling tops off after leaving them on in the heat and having steam come out!

Amy,
Some things, I get 100% or almost. I find most of the time if I think the seed is questionable meaning really old, or doesn't look like good viable seed(doesn't look plump, or seems like it is really mostly chaff,) I'll have less of a success. Some plants also take their sweet time, so I think sometimes you think they are no good, but they are slow germinators. That happens more often with perennials. They are more picky on when they sprout.
Some annuals look like grass coming up they spout so well.
Here's a pic that is probably from early April so some things have sprouted up really well and others have not.

Jeanne,
I'm glad the photo album is getting good use!
Your dates are about a month to a month 1/2 ahead of here. Lucky you!!
The earliest sprouter I get is lettuce on the pots on my front porch. They have sprouted mid march before. Most all early sprouters are in the last week of March.
I have to admit I've lost seedlings to weather, putting them on the bottom of the priority list, etc.

Cindy,
You cam leave them on the ground, driveway, on a table wherever : )
Careful what you wish for, you may become a seed addict like me, lol!
Talk to you all later,
Remy

Remy
I returned the questionaire the day you sent it. If you have not recieved it can you please sned it again. I do not still have it.

I wintersowed last year for the first time about 40 containers. 2 containers did not sprout at all (I think they got too wet) For the most part I ended with so many seedlings I couldn't give them away fast enough!

This year I am planting fewer seeds, probably the same number of containers. I am not going to plant veggies this way this year. Even though my tomatoes and cucumbers did very well, I think that these items really do better with warm start, so I will be starting them indoors next month.

My favourites from last year; Dianthus, creeping thyme, gloriosa daisy, columbines, hollyhock, malva zebrina, tagets ternifolia, rose of sharon, balsam impatiens.

Frances,
Oops, yes, I'm blind, lol. You were the first person to send back so your name is directly above my name at the bottom of the list on my flagged email messages!
Dianthus! I love wintersowing them. I've done at least 3 types so far this year.
Remy

Ahaaaaaaaa. Now I get it. Thanks, Remy! I was confusing "tops" with "caps". Sure am glad I don't have to dig through the garbage and find all the caps I tossed!
Omg! 84 containers??? You must be SO organized! I'm sure with even the few I will try to do I will be wondering what is where and why I did this before the end!
Dottie

Remy,
I sent my questionaire did you get it? Amy

Amy,
Yes, I did. I wrote back to you, but never flagged the message, duh!

Ok hopefully, this is now correct:
Amybabyboy -received
Beth_b_Kodiak -received
Brittneysgran - received
Debbya
Dieg01991
Dirtundermynails -received
Drgulley
Earthly Delight
Fcoffill -received
Hazelnutbunny -received
Ilovefarac - received
lil green thumb
LLbean
Luckyladyd -received
Lunamoon -no computer yet
Margaret 2007 -received
Mellen -received
Missg-
Momcat -received
Remy -received
Sandlapper Rose -received
Squanzon -
Theresa24 -received
Veeja11 - received
Wynative -

I hope everyone in the middle of the country is staying warm. The deep freeze is headed this way. They say it might be the coldest actual temps(not wind chill) ever recorded here : (

Dottie,
LOL! I am not organized. Well my mess is very organized for a mess, lol. I did save pop bottles I used from last year and put them in huge trash bags in the garage. So I they were all ready to go. I need to make more, so now it will be slower going. At least I got all the perennials that need a cold period out.
Remy

Wow, Remy, I am still impressed! You find time to post EVERY day, I think and saved pop bottles for a YEAR! I have to tell you, I took the whole day to fill and plant 20 milk cartons today. It was harder than working!! I sure hope those suckers germinate. If not, my DH will surely laugh me off the planet! He got home from a trip today and couldn't believe the mess I had all over the kitchen!
I have no real idea of what I should be planting. I have taken suggestions from a number of websites and lists here and there and am hoping for the best. Will keep you posted!
Cheers,
Dottie

Hi Remy,
I don't see my name on the above list.
I filled out the questionnaire and emailed it back to you right away. Hmmm, wondering if you got it? Let me know.

Oh so glad I can place containers on the ground, that will give me so much more room to work with. Love the pictures you posted of your containers... wow look at all those adorable baby plants! I have no doubts that seed addiction has already set in. lol

Dottie,
I wrote to Trudi personally at (wintersown), she emailed me back and answered all my questions. Between her and the ladies here I'm learning alot about winter sowing.

We are having a warm streak here about 68 to 70 the past few days. Still collecting containers, and now that I have more info. I will probably start more than 20. Hope to get alot of soil this weekend so I can start planting.
Oh I'm all excited. Dottie, sending you and email.

Cindy : )

Hi All,
I'm a bit sad right now. A friend at work died. She was 45. She didn't take her heart pills. She had run out and I'm betting she didn't have the cash for her prescription and and thought she would buy them when she got paid. She had a heart attack. She did go to the hospital, and she got a bit better, but she was still weak and she had another heart attack and died: ( So if you are taking pills, don't put off taking them!

Cindy,
Yes you did. I probably would of had you marked as received if I had I put you on the member list! I'm going senile, lol.

Amy/Dieg,
I received your questionnaire.

So that puts us at:
Alwaysagarden -received
Amybabyboy -received
Beth_b_Kodiak -received
Brittneysgran - received
Debbya
Dieg01991 -received
Dirtundermynails -received
Drgulley
Earthly Delight
Fcoffill -received
Hazelnutbunny -received
Ilovefarac - received
lil green thumb -absent
LLbean -absent
Luckyladyd -received
Lunamoon -no computer yet
Margaret 2007 -received
Mellen -received
Missg-
Momcat -received
Remy -received
Sandlapper Rose -received
Squanzon -
Theresa24 -received
Veeja11 - received
Wynative -

Dottie,
I sometimes go for a few days without posting especially if
nothing has been happening here to post about. Since I'm in charge of this month, I do try to come and post most every day.
The first year I WSed. I remember when I got my first sprouts. I was so excited. I told Gary, and he picked on saying something like,"You put seeds in soil and they grew. Who would of figured that?"
Remy

I am sorry to hear about your coworker, Remy. What a shock.
Not a lot going on here to tell about. I planted a few more winter sowing containers today.
They are no longer saying it will get as cold here as they predicted orginally. We will see. I think the predicted low for the week is in the low 20's now.
Those who are far below zero, I am thinking about you. I used to live in New York State so I saw those below zero temperatures, too. Stay warm!
Jeanne

Remy-My seeds were mailed today so keep an eye out for them. So very sorry to hear about your friend and even sadder to think people may not have money to buy their medicine. My DD went back to work a week ago after being a full time Mom for 5 years. She went to work for Social Services and told me it was so sad the ones who come for food stamps and medicare. They try to ease the pain by given out numbers so your name won't be called out for others to hear.

Shirley

Oh Remy, you make me laugh! Your DH sounds like he says what my DH is thinking! (He actually says "oh, cool!" , when I'm sure he means, "so what??"! Anyway, WE know what's exciting!!
So sorry about your friend at work. Enjoy everything; you never know.
I planted another four containers today. It takes me forever (and I really should have been working when I did it!). Now I have 24.
Thanks, Cindy. I was intimidated to write to Trudi, but I'm glad you did. I think I'm doing it right. We will see. Good luck with yours, and enjoy that Springtime weather. Wish we had some here. It's supposed to be 5 degrees tonight! FIVE!
Dottie

Remy,
I too am so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. She was so young. No one should ever have to live without their needed daily medication. I get so angry when I hear about people like her who just can't afford to pay for the cost of benefits because it will take too much out of their check to pay for them. I have a friend who can't afford the benefits offered where she works because if she took them her check would be so low she wouldn't be able to pay for bills,rent,living expenses. She is in her mid-fifties and has alot of shoulder and neck pain. Just infuriates me at how much prescriptions cost now days! Also all the people who are in dire need and are turned down for Medicare because they don't qualify. I just find all of this nonsense! The fact that your friend couldn't afford to buy her medication for her heart so went without just makes me go ballistic.
My prayers go out to you Remy and to her family and friends.

Remy, your so cute, no your not going senile you just have alot on your plate right now dear lady. I emailed you last night regarding the seed package sent. It returned to me yesterday in the mail saying it needed more postage... ugh. I stuck another stamp on it, more than it asked for and mailed it again last night. P.O. should be mailing it out to you sometime today. I apologize for the delay.
Regarding your hubby, aint it just like a man to say something like that! LOL : )

Dottie,
from what you have told me you are doing you seem to have all your ducks in a row! Man, now I've gotta work on mine.

Take care all,
Cindy

Hi everyone,
Thanks for answering my questions and for giving me some ideas of what to WS. I think the things that did the best for me last year were lettuce and spinach. The spinach didn't survive the transplant to the garden though, I think I waited too long to plant it. I did a bunch of flowers and veggies last year. I started some containers in January and then kept doing them through April. I think the ones that I planted later did the best. Also, now that you mention about keeping them out of the afternoon sun, I think that was part of my problem too. I had my entire deck (small deck) covered, so the ones in the middle of the deck were in the sun in the afternoon (once the snow melted). I bet that was part of my problem. This year I will pay more attention to where I put them. It's hard to think about the seeds getting baked when it's so cold outside now! :-)

Also thanks for the ideas on storing and organizing seeds. I hadn't thought to put them into small boxes and marking them A-B, etc. And also to keep the veggies separate from the flowers, very good idea! This all sounds much more manageable. I was feeling overwhelmed thinking about alphabetizing all of my seeds and how I was going to keep them in order!!

Remy, I'm glad to hear you got my questionnaire.

Amy

P.S. Dottie, -5 degrees was the HIGH for us yesterday. That's right, negative 5. Oh and last night, it got down to 21 below zero with a windchill of -40. When I drove to work this morning my car thermometer said -19. Some people's cars won't start because their batteries are frozen! This is not fun.

Amy! OMG, I don't think I've ever experienced -19 degrees, even when I lived in Minneapolis. Where do you live?? Sounds like Alaska!
It didn't really get that cold here. The weather people always over-react . . . I think it was maybe 16 or something like that. My car coughed and hesitated to start, even though it was parked in the garage and the car thermometer said 31. What a wus! Ah, it's an old Jeep. Guess I have to give it a little slack.
Here's a question for you WSers: has anyone ever grown hops? My son in law is into making beer, but they live in Kenya now, so I'm planning to grow them some hops in the summer and ship the flowers - or let them come get them if they are perhaps suspect as a package. Do you think they would make a good WS project? I have 80 seeds, and I truly will only be able to support about 4 plants in the place I have for them to grow (as they climb and need sun). Any advice?
Cindy, I still have bottles and labeling paraphinalia all over my kitchen. The ducks are probably in there somewhere, too! When the mail order seeds arrive, I will really be in over my head! Gah! Why did I think this was a good idea, again ?
Dottie

Hi All,
I received a bubble from Margaret today.
I also received a questionnaire from Marie.
So we are getting there : )

Thanks everyone for the kind words. It is sad she didn't have the cash. I'm betting she spent it on her kids because that's the way she was. The kicker is anyone at work would of given her the money.

Amy,
That's cold! It makes me think of the movie Fargo. At my house the coldest I've seen it so far with this cold is 5. I'm close to the water so it is keeping it up a few degrees warmer than the rest of the area like it makes it feel any warmer, lol! I'm thankful I bought a house with wood burning stove for times like this. I'm also thankful Gary to know I would fit the Air Force parka(good to 40 below) that a guy was selling at work a few years back was just the right size for me.

Dottie,
I think the hops would be a good WSer. 80 seeds!? They do make big vines. I would sow more than 4 seeds to make sure you get that many, but the rest I would put on your trading page.
Just wait until you are overflowing in plants, you will be happy you did all this : )
Remy

Remy, I'm very sorry about your friend. That is very sad...so many people are suffering these days.
Did you receive my bubble? I sent it some time ago.

I know everyone is cold these days except for those out in CA. We have a low of 23 tonight and 17 tomorrow night which is not as bad as most of you are experiencing. Please bundle up on your way out!

Theresa

Hi, Ladies-It was -20 this morning when I got up and is now -9 and supposed to get to -15 tonight. I don't remember when it has been this cold here & we have had several inches of snow, too. That's Iowa weather, I guess.

Remy-I am glad you received my seeds & am still wondering how you are going to do all of this!

I am so sorry to hear of your friends departure. So Many sad things in this world & pray things may turn around soon. I never did say that I thought you have such an interesting job, did I? And from your page you are into so many things,quite an interesting life you lead, girl. And yes I can relate to your husbands remark. They just don't understand, do they? But do we really want them to? They might start telling us what to plant & how to plant it! I sure don't want that!

Hi to all of you ladies, too. Have to close so blessings to all & stay warm! Margaret

Okay, remy, I'll wintersow some of the hops. Do you have any idea how fast they grow? I'm thinking if they are slow growers, I could start them under lights in the basement on heat mats. I just don't want to repeat the horror of the Giant Squash Event I had a couple of years ago: the vines were all over the basement! They didn't like being taken outside either, and never recovered.
Hey guys, what happens when this thread reaches 150 posts? I saw somewhere that it stops. Do you just start it over? I don't want to lose everybody!
Dottie

Hi everyone,
We are having an extra cold winter this year. It hasn't been this cold in 6 years. But, it's not unusual for us to get to -20. I live in Savage which is a suburb just south of Minneapolis. I grew up in Mpls, so I'm a city kid. The northern part of the state has it MUCH worse than us. Their temps are closer to -30 to -40 below!

Remy, don't even get me started on the movie Fargo...ha, ha. That movie is very insulting for those of us city folks!!! We don't talk like that! I hate that movie! ;-)

Take care and stay warm everyone!

Amy

To keep track of what I planted when winter sowing couldn't I just label the bottom part of the container rather than making plant tags? Wondering what you ladies do to keep track of what's planted.

Cindy : )

My seeds have been mailed. Should have told you the other day, but been busy. Only got 22 packs sent this time. Had so many other things pop up, I almost forgot about this one. And truthfully, I don't know how I'll get all the ones I want to plant this year planted now! Still working on the others also! Hope everyone is staying warm and things are going good for all!
So sorry to hear about your friend! Sad!
Have a great day everyone! Melinda

Cindy,
To label my winter sowing containers all I do is to write a number on duct tape (using permanent marker) and stick it to the bottom of the container. This does not wash off or fade for me. I have never had a problem. My numbers that were put on tape in 2007 are still legible. Then I write the number in a little notebook and include whatever information I want to keep in it - as a minimum, the name of the seed and the date planted and then I add the date when the seeds sprouted. I seem to be getting more detailed with it this year: year on the packet, whether it was commerical or from a trade, and whatever else you may want to know. If it is something I am unfamiliar with and I have the commercial seed packet, I save that for awhile so I can read whether it like sun or shade, the height it will grow, etc. Hope that is helpful. Not everyone does the same thing. I know it would be nice to have the plant marker already prepared, but I don't plan that far ahead.
Jeanne

Remy
So sorry to hear about your friend it just breaks my heart to hear about her.
Wanted to let you know I sent my seeds out yesterday.
Stay warm all of you ladies, it is really cold in some of your states. Take care and please be careful. Amy

Margaret,

I know what you mean. DH and I both have different hobbies as he is in to automotives. He has remarked that he would like it if I was into cars and motorcyles with him. But, truly, I would not want it the other way around. I would not want to have to compromise on what I plant and where I plant it....that is my realm and I'm giving up no power there :)

Theresa

Hi All,
It is cold!!!! I don't like it, lol.
Frances's pkg. came today.

Theresa,
I could swore I wrote a post saying your pkg. came, but I can't find it. I must of posted and never submitted. Well, it did : )
I'm with you(and Margaret.) I want things to be my way in the garden even if it is a mess, lol. Sometimes he says he wants something planted, and I do give in once in awhile. If I really don't want it, I'll tell him the plant won't grow in that spot, lol.

Amy,
Lol, I will not mention Fargo again.

Dottie,
Hops is a perennial vine, so in general they are very slow to start. Once you get decent roots on them, plant them and don't expect too much this year. Vines and shrubs seem to put down really good roots before they do much upper growth.
Yes, once we get to 150, I'll start a new thread entitled "UPDATE:Our Bloomin' Friends - Jan. Seed Swap."

Melinda,
22 is fine : ) I've got to get going on more containers or I'll never get planted what I want to either.. It is cold down in the basement though. Hopefully a warmer stretch of weather is coming.

Margaret,
Thanks, my job is fun. Being there is only one in every store, I was lucky to get it. I don't think my life is that interesting, lol. I do like to be involved with things when I can. I figure I can meet people with similar tastes. Gary is a bit of a hermit, so I go out and do things without him. I wish he was more outgoing, but at least he knows it so he doesn't complain about me doing things.
Talk to you all later,
Remy

My DH pretty much leaves me to my devices in the yard. but I find his advice to be invaluable sometimes. He has lived in this climate all of his life and I have only been gardening here for 2 years.....

IT IS COLD!!!!! darn it it is really cold! it was 12F when I woke up this morning and never hit 30 all day. they say it is going to be colder tomorrow! It was only 5F colder in Nova Scotia today according to my Father. BRRRRRRRR

I hope this crazy weather psses soon, if I don't have a blue hydrangea flower this year I am going compost those blasted shrubs! (I have 5 Nikko Blue hydrangea and have never seen a flower, frost, drought and now freeze!!!! I am not a happy girl!

ha ha ha

Glad my package made it Remy! Stay warm everyone, I think I will be outside protecting my hydrangea tonight

hahaha..... did someone mention a "parka'? I think I need one

Frances

Hi Ladies,
I had a heck of a time logging onto G.W. last night. When the page finally did load (took about 2 minutes), half the graphics were gone. My computer logs onto anything really quickly so I guess G.W. was having some problems. Everything is fine today though!

I'm so sorry to hear some of you ladies are freezing your little patooties off. Temperatures here are way above normal, feels like Spring. Guess weather is off everywhere. I actually enjoy the cooler temperatures of 38-40 we usually have. I dread Summertime here, seems to go on forever. Temperatures are 100-110 June to October,ugh.

Jeanne,
Thanks so much for your info. on how you label containers. So cool how everyone does things differently.
I need to go get a roll of duct tape probably at Walmart. I shop there for pretty much everything, prices are good.

Melinda,
I was only able to send in 33 packets, so don't feel like your the only one that didn't have much to send.

150,
We just have one more post and we are there. Doesn't take long to fill a thread up! You gals are all so nice, I am really enjoying talking to all of you!

Cindy : )

Looks like I will have to make a new thread before I get off the computer. I'm working tomorrow and don't want to leave everyone waiting for me.

Frances,
Those Nikko Blues look great when they bloom. I'm surprised you are having trouble down your way. They sell them around here in bloom, and I know not to be lured by those pretty flowers, because blooms up this way they are real iffy. I do have a small Blue Billow(more like Pink Billow for me, lol) that blooms. It isn't as showy as the Nikko, but at least I get flowers.

Cindy,
Maybe that is why my post to Theresa I thought I posted never showed.
I'm not sure I could handle weather so warm for so long!

Ok off to start the new thread,
Remy

good morning everyone. hope you are staying warm. it's cold here, has been for the last few days and will be the next couple, but certainly not as cold as i hear on the news of other areas or your postings. i might just spend the day doing some baking or making soup - haven't yet decided, but i'm not doing anything until after a good long soak in the tub.

how about that plane down in the hudson? amazing the actions of the pilot and the response of all involved in the rescue. thank God it turned out the way it did.

remy, i'm so sorry to hear of your friend's passing. what a sacrifice, all the way around, that she made. ashame she didn't ask for help, or even reach out to the pharmacist to front them until she could pay. it is a disgrace how expensive meds are and pharmacuetical companies should be ashamed of their greed.

janell, nice to see you. how are you little girls doing?

dottie, i used several methods of labeling. if the seeds were in a little plastic baggie, i put the name inside the bag and pushed it down to the side of the container. i used marker in a zillion places on a container until i found my grease pen, then that's what i switched to. i'm at the point this year to just use up all the seeds i have and plant out anything that grows, whether i know the name or not. i have a horrible problem area of of about 50x12 that needs to just be planted like mad, so that's my intention with whatever takes this year. i have plenty of containers in waiting which need attention soon. my grandbabe is adorable. whenever she sees me rinsing out or picking up a container, she asks if we are going to make a garden. gotta love the early on excitement. my son even helped the other day - went through some seeds, suggested they be planted and then taped up the containers and took them out. small help, but help nonetheless.

does anyone grow pussy willow? if so, i'd like to arrange a trade for sometime this year. either white or pink, doesn't matter. just let me know. thanks.

melissa, how's your little one? ready to post more pix? i keep hinting around - well, actually coming right out with it - about the kids having another one. i thought for a bit it was to be as my DIL was gaining a little belly and such, but was told no, it's just my cooking and the fact that they are actually eating meals every day (something that wasn't always happening when they were on their own).

well, time to get moving. i actually went through all the motions of this being sunday and it was not too long ago i realized it's only saturday.

be well and stay warm!
maryanne

GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!color>