MissSherry, Hee hee, I had to laugh when you said about sneaking over when nobody was looking and get the pots. :) There is a town about 10 miles from here that has a big trash day and now I remember how someone described how people cruise the streets looking over other people's junk to see what they can use and jump out of their cars and grab what they want. Ha, that sounds like something I could go for. I think they might have already had their trash day this year though but not sure. Yes, I bet that nursery was glad that you took care of their unwanted pots. I'll have to look at Lowe's and see if they have any broken bags of potting soil. Sometimes they do and put it on sale for half price. Yes, I think I probably do have enough milkweed to feed an army of cats and so I'm not worried that I won't have enough this year. :) tdogmom, You make it sound like your hubby likes his Plumeria as much as you like your Monarchs. :) Does he raise them to sell or he just likes to grow them? I bet between his plants and your butterflies, people passing by your place must think that they're in some tropical paradise. That's cute how you both have your nursery friends and nice that they save containers for you. It sounds like cleaning those pots was good therapy for you. Hee hee. It also made hubby happy at the same time. We don't have a Home Depot around here, but we have a Lowe's and sometimes they'll have broken bags for 50% off. I'll have to check that out. I forgot all about that. Susan, You sound very resourceful and I could do that too if I can't find any pots anywhere for free. Yeah, I saved my plastic pots too that I purchased plants in. I don't even know anymore how I ended up with 20 some one-gallon pots. Those already have swamp milkweed growing in them (they're just poking their heads through the soil...just soil that I used from our place). I don't know why I didn't even think of the gallon size jugs...we have some of those that we bought milk in and I could use those. Jill, Yes, I'll definitely have to buy the potting soil. I just hope I can find some for half price. I know the SuperWalmart has real big bags of it for something like $9, I think. I never heard of Freecycle. I just learned something new again. I had been buying the small bags of potting soil for convenience. I have back problems and can't lift a whole lot like those bigger bags of potting soil at Walmart, but surely I could get hubby to do it. MaryAnn, That's a good idea too, using the half gallon milk and oj containers. I imagine that some of the plants that I'm starting later than the others won't get real big and I could put them in those. I wish I could get big bales of potting soil like you describe. I never saw anyone around here have those. They'd last quite awhile! Well, for me, that's a month or so. Ha. That's for sure, at least starting the plants myself is much cheaper than buying all of them. I can just imagine that if I'd go to buy all the plants that I started from seed this year, they'd cost hundreds (maybe even a couple thousand) of dollars. Paul, I wonder if I'd be able to keep milkweed in pots up here year-round without them freezing considering that I live in PA. I'd do that if I knew it would work. It would save some time. If I'd try keeping some over winter and find out that they don't make it, I could at least use the soil over, I guess, rather than keep buying new every year. I wish I knew for sure if I could keep them over winter without them dying. That's a good idea you have about mixing the potting soil, sand, soil, lime, and fertilizer granules. I do that sometimes when I feel adventurous. :) I also built a new cage but didn't get it finished because of all this plant stuff. I hope I can find time to finish it this year yet or else I'll have tons of caterpillars on our back porch this year. THANKS, EVERYONE, for your excellent advice!! :) Cathy

A lot of the time, I use the small packets of Splenda as its not 'puffed up', to give the same volume as sugar. Even for that, when I make sweet pickles, if I were to add cup for cup the regular puffy Splenda, it would be way too much. My B&B and sweet mixed pickles seem to be just as sweet to me if I were to add only a very small amount of Splenda, like maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup for a whole batch of sweet pickles. There is just something in vinegar that seems to intensify the Splenda sweetness. As mentioned in many threads, I get my acid blend from a wine making supply store. Its a 33% mix of citric, malic, and tarteric acid. If you wanted a bit more pucker, a trace of tannic acid can also be used, especially if the grapes are white ones, and you want more 'character' like in red or purple grape wines. Here is the site where I get my acid blend from, and their store is just a few miles away from me. Because grapes naturally contain these three most common acids, the blend does give a nice rounded out flavor. I put the blend in a shaker bottle and sprinkle into liquids like a salt shaker. Most of my jellies are very flavorful once a little of this is added. I go by taste, and spinkle in a little, stir to dissolve, taste, and if it needs a bit more, I sprinkle in a little more. This is done prior to adding any pectin. Someone wrote recently that they found some crystals at the bottom of their jelly. Its usually re-crystalized tarteric acid, if there is already a lot found naturally in some of the juices. I don't bother measuring the acidity with a tool, as I am not out for a perfect flavored juice for making a wine. Here is a link that might be useful: Acid Blend Source

Thankfully my hub's doing better today; it's been a long week. Here are a few pics; if you go to the album; they start with the thumbnail below. Yesterday (day 22) they had the day off. From trailrunner Lined up at Southport NC ferry to Ft Fisher. taking tomorrow off. just rode 80 mi avg 13 !!! camping at Carolina St Park 5/18/11 From trailrunner Much needed break 5/19/11 From trailrunner Surf City NC beach campground Lagunitas 5/20/11 From trailrunner

I am glad you enjoyed the reading. It sure was a wonderful trip. I am now trying to get all the pics offf my cell phone...sigh ...no memory card...and then I will get the whole thing put together. Will keep me busy for weeks ! c