Thank you so much docmom for basically holding my hand so far! lol i watered the seed trays in the greenhouse today :) there was condensation and some seemed dried out a little...and omg, i bought like 3 or 4 books on seed saving and seed planting different seeds. the one contains info on planting alot of different varieties and care on each plant and i keep it close with me when new seeds arrive!! I also can not wait to attempt to save more varieties this year and have much more to offer in fall if all goes right!! I've also informed several family members, if this all goes good, i might have extras to give away. also might do some flemarket or yarden sales in the future...I really love gardening and I'm so glad I am taking time to do a hobby that I love so much again! I would love to find a job in gardening in the future or just to sell a few plants at fleamarkets and stuff. The garden is fun but it's also more enjoyable when you have people ooo and ahhhh over your plants and are asking you questions or ideas. :) : ) :) Thank you so much! ~michael P.S. Even without sprouts, I am thoroughly enjoying this new project and experience!

I know that it has been a lot warmer up here this year than in Colorado so this may just be some encouragement for some of you. And, I'm only going to make one more post on this thread because, it really felt like spring here today. The thermometer said 64°F, the warmest day so far this year. It has already started to rain so . . . it isn't all sun and lawn violets. But yes there are, at least 6 lawn violets blooming in my yard! And, in just about the warmest and most sheltered location hereabouts, I discovered the snowberry bushes were leafing out! Steve And life gets more exciting with each passing day And love is either in your heart or on its way. Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth To be young at heart. For as rich as you are, it's much better by far To be young at heart. And if you should survive to 105 Look at all you'll derive, out of being alive. Then here is the best part You have a head start If you are among the very young at heart.

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. I've completely overhauled my plan. Over the weekend we built 3 boxes: One 5x3 for the tomatoes and 6 okra plants One 4x4 for the zucchini One 4x4 for the peas, cukes (for salads and snacking, no pickles here either), peppers, turnips, and cilantro The two 4x4s have an arched trellis between them. I'm planting 4 squares of beans (total 36 plants, surely that's enough for a family of 2 adults and an almost 2 year old?) on the edge of my zucchini box, and train the beans up the trellis, away from the zukes. I've got a sheet of mesh wire, aka 'mini trellis' that I can put up between the zukes and beans if it becomes necessary. We'll see how it works :) Then on the edge of my other box I'm going to plant peas and cukes to grow up the other side of the trellis. My husband surprised me by building legs for the boxes so they're 1 foot off the ground. So.. I'm hoping that will help me keep the zucchini in check, since it will have room to grow down the sides of the box. The marigolds won't have their own box anymore; they'll go in wherever I have room.

Hi Wayne. I was pretty sure it was a Milk Snake. The odd thing about it was the pattern, which is so much more like the "Intergrade" Milk Snake shown on plate 30 in Conant and Collins 3rd edition, or really like a Red Milk Snake. It was awfully large too; I have seen Milk Snakes, and they were rather smaller and had more of the pattern shown in the plate for the plain old Eastern (from the Boone area, collected by Wayne Vandevender). I am wondering if the "Intergrade" happens outside the Mid-Atlantic, and if we have them, or if it might be a rather odd color and pattern variation. Oddly, for all the years I have been catching and chasing snakes (probably over 50), and to live in Milk Snake range, I had never seen one. I saw your page Wayne. A neighbor of mine was proudly talking about her son killing a 5 foot rattlesnake, and I just walked away; I hope she heard me cussing and saying that the snake wanted nothing more than to live another day, and did not want to run into an ignorant human that just liked to kill things (he air guns squirrels and pigeons in the neighborhood; he was talking about air gunning Woodpeckers, and I offered to turn him in - federal crime! HAHAHA!). Ah well, we can only do what we can do...