Jay, I grew baby bok choi two years ago here on the Western edge of Wyandotte County and it did well. I ordered several varieties from Evergreen seed. Because we have hot summers as you know, that will often go weeks without rain, I had a variety that was rated for growing all year and was heat resistant. The only problem I had was with the typical cabbage worms and maybe some flea beetles so I will use floating row covers in the future. I know I could us Bt but that won't work on flea beetles, I don't think. The baby bok choy were great for spring too. I like them chopped up in stir fries and you can add them to soups like you would cabbage, kale or greens. They are also good stir-fried by themselves with some onion, soy sauce, a dab of fish sauce and some garlic. I grew several types of salad mix that people seemed to like. They liked the Mesclun mixes. I had a French mix and an Italian mix I found at the Grass Pad in Kansas City. I grew red chard and regular Lucullus chard. It did not sell well and I started putting recipes out with it. Also, the red was so productive I would give out samples of it with instructions on how to prepare it. This is a great food because it is high in iron and calcium My sister, who is a breast cancer survivor says her nutritionist highly recommends chard due to its high phytochemical content. Kansas City has a good okra market because a lot of our population is either from the South or has close ties to the South and so most of us have been used to eating or at least seeing okra. Heirloom tomatoes are still getting more popular but I'm surprised how many people are still scared of an orange or a yellow tomato. You're not far from Ft. Riley so you may have a market amongst some of the Asian population there in Junction City and surrounding.

... "Renee Shepherd introduced the two French hybrids Dona and Carmello and I didn't think much of either of them..." I agree with Carolyn on Renee's Carmello -- grew it about 6 years ago and found it to be ho-hum, mildly sweet. My Marmande, on the other hand, has a rich, zesty tomato flavor with a nice, thin skin and has been predictable over the ups (hot hot hot early summer this year) and downs (the usual cool June/early July) in my area. I'm not exactly a francophile, but do think the French have a certain way with food and if a tomato is considered to be great tasting by the French, then I want to give it a go in my garden. Jaune Flamme sounds interesting and, being a small tomato, it might do well here. The top 3 sites on a quick google describe it thus: Tomatofest - "full-bodied"; Seedsavers - a "bitey flavor"; Reimer - "very sweet." The former sounds like what I'd like to plant, the latter not so much. Korney and Carolyn, how have you found it? Am still hoping to find another large frenchie that doesn't require a really long, warm growing season. Merci deux fois, Rain

I've always been more interested in ideas than spelling. actually, and on this forum, I tend to just spit things out and write very informally...as if I'm talking. So forgive glaring errors, some of them are just typos and some just I didn't bother to check. I notice I'm often leaving out the apostrophes on contractions when I type...that little finger just doesnt want to move over to the apostrophe button. So just ignore those, ok? Another one who stumbles over vacuum. I always hesitate over religious too. I was a good speller in school but in Gr. 6 I got that one wrong on a spelling test and to this very day, still struggle to remember to put that last i in. I keep wanting to spell it religous. I've met a number of Americans who say "drug" when they talk..like "I got drug over to the inlaws for dinner." Is this an American thing?

jae_tn2, sorry, I should have been more specific...I didn't find him but did find that first name, so it's not a made up name like I surmised, and also the last name but not together. The one that comes up most often is Clodosbaldo Russian looking like possibly being some crime connections in Bolivia or Uraguay (but I don't read Spanish and google translate wouldn't work). Not that I thought it was your guy, just that the name is an actual name.