Mike, does your local society have a copy of the BSI Judge's Handbook? It's worth reading if you are thinking of getting into any serious showing. I've never done any showing but I've done some unofficial judging of a number of types of plants, so I have a fair idea what the judges tend to look at. Clean is important, and weed-free. Any damage or sign of disease is points off. Good form and coloration for the variety is major, and presentation counts too. Clean: no bugs, no disease, no algae, no dirt, no spray residue, but also no artifical enhancement like leaf shine. Form: if it's a rosette type, the closest you can get to a perfect rosette is best. If you have a damaged leaf, can you remove it without leaving a visible gap? If not, then you might not want to show it. A trimmed leaf is better than a damaged or too-long leaf, so long as it matches the rest of the foliage, but a perfect untrimmed leaf is obviously better. The judges will notice if it looks like too much has been removed, and it will not rate as high as one that has been grown to perfection without having to remove anything, but as long as the form is symmetrical and balanced it won't be huge points off. If it's not a rosette type, form will be judged on whatever is typical of the variety. For example, you'd want a Ques. 'Tim Plowman' or Till streptophylla to show off their curly leaves to good advantage. Coloration is kind of subjective and relies on the judges' familiarity with the cultivar, but I think most of us know good color and markings when we see them, i.e. not too bleached out or too overfertilized. Whatever the most notable or desirable feature of the plant is, you want to be able to see it clearly. If scurf is an important feature, you don't want it to appear rubbed off anywhere. Bottom line, though, a brightly colored cultivar shouldn't win out over a plainer one simply on that basis. Whatever it is, it should be the best grown specimen of that particular thing. Presentation: if it's a single potted specimen, it must be perfectly centered in the pot. No weeds, and if the soil surface is unsightly a top dressing of bark or pebbles will help. You should not be looking at fertilizer pellets, salt build-up, etc., so make sure the outside of the pot is clean and unblemished too. Don't use a fancy-shmancy pot unless it's a decorative container category. Keep it simple, and in balanced proportion with the plant it's holding. Flower: how much this counts is kind of relative. Foliage plants don't need to be in bloom, but obviously you're not going to show a plain green Guzmania without a flower. If it is in bloom, you don't want the inflorescence to be either too old or too young, and symmetry is important here too. If it's an upright-growing stalk it will score higher if it's straight up rather than leaning to one side. I'm not sure what the official line is on artificial supports. My feeling is that they detract, but if they absolutely must be used, then so be it. On something like a Billbergia, the plants are usually shown unblooming, but if you happen to have a well-grown specimen in perfect bloom for the show, it will likely make a big impression because the judges know how fleeting that flower is. At the San Diego World Conference, Joyce Brehm brought a blooming B. alfonsi-johannis to show. Unlike her other plants, she hadn't been grooming it ahead of time in anticipation of the show, and it wouldn't have merited showing otherwise since it is not a showy foliage specimen, but the odds of getting one in such perfect bloom were so low, and the blooms were so spectacular that it won Best of Show (see link). That brings us to rarity: if you have a rarely seen or extremely difficult to grow species, and yours is in good condition, bring it! It will likely impress the judges. Labelling: Clean, legible tags have already been mentioned, but also important is correct labelling. Depending on the circumstances and the judges' degree of knowledge, an incorrectly named plant may be docked points or even disqualified. If the name is under taxonomic dispute, I'm sure they'll take that into consideration, but if it's clearly wrong it reflects poorly on the grower. Here is a link that might be useful:

Yay! I'm glad you entered. Now, I hope everyone here who enjoys seeing your photos and reading your posts about what you are doing will remember to go to that linked website every day to vote. Even if you don't win, I am proud that you'll be showing the world what a gardener in a very hot place like southwestern Oklahoma can do with edible landscaping in the front yard. I truly believe seeing your garden will inspire some people to kick the lawn habit and put in an edible landscape. I don't know if you ever go to the Potager Forum here at GW, but if you don't, I'd like to suggest you visit it and post photos of your garden and show them what you're doing. I think the folks there would love to see and hear about what you're doing. Good luck! Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Potager Garden Forum

I made them. They were definitely not as light and fluffy as the other make-ahead mashed potatoes I have made for years, but everyone liked them, including my kids. However, I think I prefer the ones I usually make with sour cream and cottage cheese (lumps removed) - they have a lot more flavor. My kids won't eat them b/c of the sour cream but I think in the future, I'll stick with those and just make my kids regular mashed potatoes with butter and milk. Regular mashed reheat well enough for my kids to eat them and easy enough to put some aside for them w/o adding the sour cream, etc. Question for those that use a crock to keep their mashed potatoes warm, have you ever experienced an issue with the texture changing? Years ago, my mom made mashed potatoes in the morning and put them in her crockpot to keep warm. I wasn't there that year, but she told me that they kind of liquified and they had to toss them out. SHe couldn't figure out why, but ever since, she (or I, if we are together) use the recipe that my MIL gave me - the ones with sour cream and cottage cheese and just bake them while the turkey is roasting.

What if someone gets sick and dies - who's left holding what (yourself included)? Hmm, good question. I wonder if we could arrange to have it in writing, who the property goes to if someone gets hit by a truck. Because he is a landlord, can he change the lease agreement once the prior lease expires? Is is a yearly lease agreement that is able to be altered each year? I think we would probably look at a single long lease, at least 2 years, with our option to buy at the end of the lease protected. it appears that you made up your mind and you won't listen to what anyone else says no matter what No, that isn't true. Just because I don't agree with other people's conclusions doesn't mean I'm not thinking about the points they bring up. I don't understand why you're so certain that you would be unable to get a rental that you like better than your current one. Three months of research. Main thing is relationship between employer & employee. I my own self would not like to have a business contract interfere with that. Unless there's a friendship outside of work hours, isn't the relationship between employer & employee exactly a business contract? In the event of a disagreement, the boss almost always wins, & you could find yourselves with no home & no job either. People have said this several times but no one has offered a plausible scenario to *how* it would happen that couldn't happen now or in another rental. I mean, if you have one, I'm all ears, I just haven't seen one. I'm going to call several lenders Monday and see what they accept as a down payment from a rent-to-own situation, because I agree having a third-party lender would be a way safer option. And thanks for the reference to mrlandlord. I'll read there this weekend.