> Im just growing for fresh veggies for my little family of 3 and of > course the love of watching things grow :) Dont want too little and > certainly not an over abundance either i was thinking where i already > have 10 tomato plants to continue that pattern and just do 10 of each > veggie if that works. How big of a space would i need? Danger, danger! One pumpkin can take up as much space as ten tomatoes. :) My opinion: - Ten tomatoes: Assuming that they all live and thrive, that's a whole lot of tomatoes, far more than you're likely to need for fresh eating, but, hey, there's always sauce. I'd recommend giving each tomato a minimum of an eighteen inch by eighteen inch square. - Peppers: I'd give them at least a foot by a foot. They're much less productive than tomatoes; ten plants would be fine. - Ten healthy successful cucumber plants will feed Nebraska. OK, maybe that's an overstatement, but I wouldn't grow that many. My plan for my garden this year is to prepare three spots for vining cucumbers, plant three seeds in each spot, and then thin to one plant per spot when they're all up and healthy, for a total of three plants. - Ten healthy successfun pumpkin plants will cover Nebraska with leaves. OK, I'm really exaggerating, but pumpkins sprawl over a _lot_ of space. On the other hand, if you're not overprotective of your lawn you can plant the pumpkins near the edge of the vegetable garden and let them crawl over the lawn. But i still wouldn't plant more than five, and I say five only because it's always upsetting when you plant only two or so, and one of them dies. - Ten corn plants, on the other hand, isn't quite enough. The customary minimum recommendation for corn is a four-plant by four-plant block, sixteen plants total. The block planting increases the chances of good pollination. I plant my corn at eighteen inches; many people plant it much closer. This post was edited by chickenfreak on Thu, Apr 11, 13 at 0:57

As a former veterinary assistant, I felt I needed to put in my 2 cents. You can certainly vaccinate your own animals. However, I would find a vet who agrees with this and can give you documantation in case of emergencies. Depending on where you live, rabies vaccines MUST be given by a vet. If you do your own vaccination, keep a log of when and what for each pet. If you use single dose vials, the labels are easily peeled off to attach to your log. One of my vets did this, as we sometimes used different brands. Now, to the reasoning behind some vets not "recognizing" the shots you gave to your animals. There is a big "non-compliance" problem among humans and their medications. They don't take them as prescribed, they store them in the bathroom or over the stove, and many other things people do with meds. If they do this with their own medications, think about what they do with those for their pets! One of the main concerns is the storage of the vaccine before it is given. Most of them must be refrigerated and cannot be without it for more than a few hours. If you bought them from a retail store, did a stocker leave them out while at lunch? Was it forgotten until the next day? If you know the store where you got them and you are sure of the employees being responsible, you should be fine. If it was shipped to you, it should be fine as long as it has a still cold "cold pack" with it. I'm not saying all people who vaccinate do this, but this is what goes through some vets' minds, not necessarily the money. If a pet needs to be hospitalized, they don't want to expose that pet to an easily preventable disease, or others whose immunity is down to that pet that was not reliably vaccinated. But yes, some vets just want the money. You'll see this in other areas, though. Compare vets and find one you like and trust. Watch how they treat and relate to your animals. Also watch the staff, and you can probably find at least one or two you can get the "dirt" from. That being said, if you keep a well documented log, you should not have too much trouble. Follow the directions on the label as to storage, and you can be confident that your pet is properly vaccinated. Some vets will accept your documentation and put it in as their own. One of the reasons vets like to give the vaccines is that it gets the pet in for a routine check-up, so health problems can be taken care of early. Talk to your vet and ask if their office will accept your home vaccination schedule. If so, ask her which vaccines she recommends for your area, and her scheduling of them. It is now being recognized that many of the vaccines provide longer immunity than previously believed. Good luck! Kay

Update on the egg explosion: My thanks to Dan and Sandy, who have kindly offered to take some of the eggs. It seems there are few host plants in my area because mama pipevine(s) continue to lay more and more eggs, even though there are few leaves to feed the little cats once they hatch. If I pinch off the vines to remove the eggs, I'll quickly have no vines, which will defeat the purpose of growing them. Can I safely remove the eggs without pinching off the vines to which they're attached? What if the eggs hatch while in route to a foster home? I sent some to Sherry and although they arrived safely, Sherry reported the leaves on the vine were crispy. I did wrap the cutting end in a plastic baggie with moisture but it didn't keep the leaves from drying out. I've ordered six more vines, which should be here the end of this week, but of course, they will take a while to settle in and begin growing, assuming they will even grow much this year. Yesterday I transplanted my little Aristolochia fimbriata - White Veined Hardy Dutchman's Pipevine plants I started from seed this year and there's already eggs on those tiny plants this morning! Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Mary

That is very difficult to do. I was able to acomplish it once by concetrating very hard. The problem is once your foot follows the circular motion of the hand, a pattern is set and is very difficult to break. Interestingly, it is easier to do if your use your right foot and make the '6' with your left hand. This is a very interesting phenomonem. It may have influence on a car driver's action with the coordination of his/her hands and feet. If you talk with your hands while driving, it may impact what your foot does. And what happens in an emergency maneuver?