Hello all, just got this update from them: WOW! It seems I am deluged with emails and phone calls. Let me first thank all of you who have sent good wishes our way. It is truly appreciated and totally unsuspected. Both Linda and I thank you. There have been many common questions so let me try to answer them for the benefit of all. If you have sent a previous email and this does not answer your questions, please send me a new on and I will try to answer. 1) The Foxfire line of hostas will live on through the wonderful initiative and cooperation of Bill Silvers in Conyers, Georgia. He has many in tc as we speak and more in the pipeline so the plants will become available in the future. Palm Sunday is looking good in TC as is Night Skye. There are a few more that will be new to you also. Foxfire Green Lantern, Foxfire Irish Moon, Foxfire Night Skye, Foxfire Off Limits, Foxfire Sidewinder, Foxfire Shadow Dancer will be available as liners in June 2010 with more to follow. Palm Sunday may be a little later. 2) I cannot mail order at this time and do not think I will be able to in the near future, but I will keep all of your addresses available and notify you in the future as plants you may be interested in become available. Who knows exactly what will happen in the future so we will just have to find out together. 3) Concerning availability of hostas for sale prior to Saturday: I extended an offer the past week to hosta groups and wholesalers of buying any ten or more hostas for $10 per plant. It has been well received and I extend that now to any of you who might want to come before Saturday due to scheduling problems. I feel in fairness to all there not be early sales at the $5 price. That way everyone has the same opportunity come Saturday at the lower price. You may certainly come earlier in the week and look things over, but the gate will open Saturday at 8:00am sharp. We will have additional help so check out will not be long or complicated (we hope). It should be rather fast and easy math and we will designate an area beyond checkout where you can bag your plants at your leisure for transport home. 4) For the big plants in the grower area, breeder area, and display area it is a bit more complicated. I think a minimum price of $3 per plant for the first 1-3 eyes and then $1 per additional eye up to a maximum of $25 would be fair. You will have to dig and cut off leaves (I will have some extra knives) but I will assist with pricing for easy checkout. 5) Hostas will not be sold that are in the Garden proper--only the ones down in the retail area. I will 'rope' off any 'no dig' zones (Wally's Garden) with yellow caution tape. There! I hope that answers most of your questions. My emails keep coming in as I write. Thank you my friends for your kind words. Sincerely, Steve

I received my July box yesterday. Thank you pal for being so thoughtful. I loved everything and so did my furkids. There was a play mouse and meow mix for Bogartbaby and a bag of doggie treats for the rest of the gang. A nut and fruit seed bell for the birds outside,6 packs of seeds,2 candles, one was shaped like a flower and smelled wonderful, some garden gloves(one can never have enough gloves), a cute little teddy bear, flower pot tomato and a hosta"Sherman"(looks great, you sure know how to pack a plant),Anti bacterial hand gel(purse size) I always have one on hand,Avon-SSS hand mask(can't wait to try this),stained glass wind chime with a hummingbird on top,(hanging on my front porch already)and the most beautiful cross stitched kitchen towel and book mark(garden theme). You are very talented.We(my four legged kids and I)thank you from the bottom of our hearts and hope that you will be blessed with everything good that life has to offer.

I don't post very often, so cannot find a post right now to see "my page" to see what my official anniversary is. My profile page does not say, but the zip code showing corroborates my memory that I could have been registered since about 1991 or so. I, too remember Spike and the teacups. Those posts that earned a trip for someone to the teacups were often very fun! I remember several members that I miss off and on, but I like the "newbies" here, too. I come to read almost daily as I have since I found the cooking forum so may years ago. As with any family there is some tension sometimes and I even recall a period of time where there was so much trouble here I almost wrote this forum off, but thank goodness we all get over things and try again. Great recipes, great information, great people, great fun!

I don't think it has anything to do with the election. That's not however to say politicians won't attempt to capitalize on the real estate bust. These cycles have a life of their own. They're not over 'til they're over. Nothing is going to change until we get all the hot air out of the system. In order to do that, sellers have to capitulate. I'm just now seeing the first signs of that in my area & it's got a long ways to go. Early summer, a few sellers dropped their prices $10K-$20K. That wasn't nearly enough to move inventory much less clear it. Now, in the past two weeks I'm seeing $40K-$100K reductions all in one drop. This is a small town & I'm familar with many of the properties listed for sale. Except for a few estate sales, most are couples who have transfered large equities from prior homes into their current home now on the market. Since they put down a considerable amount of money from the inflated prices they sold prior homes for they have what they think is a lot of room to maneuver. As they lower prices in large chunks they are, in essence, removing the hot air from the 2003-2005 market as equity disappears. There's one nice home for sale here that's a divorce situation & they've just lowered $60K after hanging tough since last winter. They'll need to lower another $100K, IMO, to move the house. Anyway, it's nothing to do with the elections. Markets of any sort take on a life of their own that drives prices. Right now, we're got a stalemate between willing buyers & willing sellers. My money goes down on sellers capitulating long before buyers open their wallets. Free markets are extraordinarily efficient. When prices equal buyers willingness to pay...the inventory will start dropping & not before. The buyer mentality has changed & I don't think sellers actually understand that process at the root level. The freenzy to purchase that drove the upswing has just plain evaporated...it's gone. Buyers are now value driven (as they should have been all along). I'm still reading seller quotes saying that they'll, "wait out the market & relist". As Cramer would say, "They know nothing. They don't understand!" Market forces have changed and a new real estate bubble is ten years away. And then, it will be historically time for another. So, to sellers who think they will "wait out the market" & then sell for 2005 prices + 20%...they'd better settle in & get comfy 'cause it's going to be a long wait. /t