My turn!!! 1. In planning 2008, what are you most excited about ? Probably the fact that I'm putting in a new garden that I've been planning for a couple of years. 2. What new items will you be adding to your garden? Nothing new really as far as veggies go -- but, I do plan on adding 5 of the SWC (self-watering containers) to grow 10 of my tomato plants in. I want to give them a try and see how they do. 3. What plants are you not planting this year? Hmmm. I don't think I will be planting any hot peppers (no one eats them in my house). Also I may not be growing eggplant -- I haven't made a final decision on that yet. 4. What plants have you had difficulty with that you are going to pay extra attention to this year? I would say my tomatoes. Last year they all got the wilt! They were beautiful plants loaded with fruit and one by one they started wilting and then dying.... So this year I'm trying the SWC :-) 5. Are you expanding or reducing the size of your garden in 2008? Expanding!!! Yeah!!! 6. Will there be any major changes this year? Yes, I have been gardening in only 2 - 2x8 beds fo rthe last couple of years. My first garden was 2 - 4x8's and 1 - 4x16. Of course that was BEFORE Mel came out with the Mel's Mix. The area that I had the garden in has a very invasive type tall grass. It absolutely took over the garden :-( So I abandoned that area and just put in 2 - 2x8's in a different area to use temporarily until I could get my new garden area going (which will be this year!). I had to fence the new garden area in because of the puppies who love to dig in the fluffy soil. 7. What is your greatest gardening success? Year before last -- I had the BEST tomatoes!!! They were beautiful! 8. Do you have a gardening "AH-HA" moment? Yeah, when I learned a couple of months ago that tomatoes don't like onions.... something on the onion roots that maybe causes wilt for tomatoes. Not really sure about this but I will never plant onions around my tomatoes again (just in case). 9. What is your best piece of advice for a newbie? Gardening is an art and it takes patience. Don't expect everything to go right the first time. It's a learning process. Also, it's the best therapy you can get. There is nothing like eating vegetables out of your garden that YOU grew in your dirt. 2008 will be a successful year for me if.......... my SWCs work like all the pics I've seen online LOL and I can get my new garden finished (meaning the 4x14 raised bed completed) in time to plant my corn :-) If not, that's ok -- I'll still have my 2 - 4x8 beds that I'll be planting other veggies in. Here is a link that might be useful: Judy's Square Foot Garden Blog

WOO HOO!! Mail lady just dropped off my box. It was worth waiting for too..... ~Little Planters ~Fleece Lined gloves(they fit well....like a glove. LOL!) ~Sm & Lg bubble envies(never have too many!) ~Seed zip bags(see above!) ~Metal Plant Markers(once again, see above!) ~Pumpkin Pie scented candle(about to fire that puppy up!) ~Little notebook (headed to my purse) ~Mini Russell Stover Sampler(ahhhh...CHOCOLATE!!) ~Sheet of stickers(Brooke's trying to get them open) ~"Apeldoorn Elite" Tulips(love the color!) ~"Trumpet Mixed" Daffs(lovely!) ~"Park Princess" Dahila(my first pink one!need to hide from Taylor!) ~Ohhh about the sugar meter....Big Ole honking bag of M&Ms for the kids.(they are on their home from school. Early out due to icy roads!) ~~SEEDS~~ *Blue Iris *Glads *"Oranges & Lemons" Gaillardia *Liatris *"Red Claret" Sunflower *Lav/Pink poppies *Rose Of Sharon and.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...... a beautiful Fairy to add to my collection!!!Plus a nice note written on a fairy postcaard! THANK YOU LINDA!!!!! later...April

Okay Jessy that one had me LOL. I especially liked the dog providing the romantic background. I had a cat with kidney troubles who liked to sleep on top of the stack of clean dinner plates. She also peed on a whole bag of stuff, including 2 bike helmets. We replaced them. Who knows what cat pee does to the safety of a helmet. -Robin

Julie, congrats that your son is healing. My son went through a hip replacement thanks to a motorcycle accident, and then broke a leg. He has to carry his x rays when he takes a plane. I haven't been to a movie in years. I can't imagine sitting there, stuck with nothing to do. We just came back from rural Peru where we went into many homes because my husband was analyzing them for toxic mercury. I was the videographer. These ladies keep house on dirt floors, the kitchen stove is fire where the kindling is scarce. We weren't in the forest, we were in the mountains which are arid. Water is scarce, except for the months where it is pouring. They tended sheep and llamas, and while waiting for anything they crocheted or knitted. They hung the laundry in sheds or outdoors if its not raining. Even our hotel hung out the sheets. I will never complain about doing housework without thinking of them. The kids looked neat and clean, and if you didn't go inside the houses you would never know they had dirt floors. They had ladders to go to the 2nd floor and I bumped my head on the little doorways constantly. They did have little t.v. sets and maybe one lightbulb in each room, some people had computers. No running water mostly. Sewers and running water are hard to do in mountains. The people were cordial, proud of their homes. They made the furniture.