Thoses adjustable emitters can put out 10 gallons per hour when fully open. I've found if you try to close them down to one or two gallons they clog pretty easily. Seven gallons sounds fine. Consider that one gallon of water will moisten about one cubic foot of soil. If your plants were five gallon size when planted you not only need to moisten the rootball, but surrounding soil as well. That encourages the roots to explore the native soil and establish the plant. The longer you can keep moisture in the root zone, the less often you will need to water. Plus our soils and water are salty. By watering deeply you push the salts down away from tender roots. Salt buildup is lethal to plants. Hardenbergia are drought tolerant, but that's only after they have become established. The rule of thumb is 2 - 3 years for shrubs and 3 - 5 years for trees to become established. Yes, gardening here is like nowhere else. Our clay soils hold lots of water which can be good, but if they stay wet and soggy they can suffocate roots. It doesn't really do much good to sprinkle plants once a day, but if you're going to do it, evening is the best time. In the middle of the day the drops act like mini-magnifying glasses and can burn leaves. Keep in mind that some plants can't tolerate salt on their leaves (like roses and citrus), which is what the water leaves when it evaporates. It's better to use your drip system to water early in the morning as you've been doing or at night. I like the early morning because I can see the 'geysers' or leaks easier. What city do you live in? Most of the valley city's water conservation offices offer FREE landscaping classes to residents. Other great resources are the U of A Master Gardeners (602-470-8086 x 301), cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/ or the Desert Botanical Garden. A great book I'd recommend is Desert Landscaping for Beginners from Master Gardener Press (we're all beginners when moving to the desert). It has chapters on watering, citrus, roses, lawns, pruning, cactus, landscaping for wildlife, etc. They also have Desert Gardening for Beginners. I hope this helps. aztreelvr certified arborist certified landscape irrigation auditor master gardener Here is a link that might be useful: Books from Arizona Master Gardener Press

The best bang for the buck in kitchen knives is the Victorinox Forschner line, available at Amazon and elsewhere. These are high quality stainless steel knives with slim blades, good balance, and ergonomic Fibrox (non-slip black plastic) handles. Regularly top rated by Cooks Illustrated. They are made for professional cooks and you'll often see them in a restaurant or butcher. I've had some for 20 plus years and I like them better than my Henckels and similar. The blades are made in Switzerland and will hold a 20 degree per side edge. There are a couple of different sets, which are nicely selected because they include useful and decently large knives. Most sets have a bunch of useless little knives, paring knives and short slicers and so on. I helped a friend pick a set for his wife last Xmas, plus a block to fit, the whole thing cost about $140 and she loves them. We added a 10" chefs which is the most useful knife of the bunch, so make sure your block has enough large slots. Or you could get one of the roll sets and a magnetic holder. These are not the very best knives, but they are better than any knife for up to 3-4X their price. And far better than the knives sold by Wusthof, Henckels, etc (and certainly KitchenAid) for a similar price, which are made in China with clunky thick blades of indifferent steel. The exception to that last sentence is the Dexter Russell knives sold in restaurant supply stores, which are made in the USA and also intended for professionals. I prefer the Victorinox but the Dexters would be my second choice. Whatever knives you get, get a steel and learn how to use it, and get a sharpening machine or learn to use sharpening rods or stones. I'd personally go to a cutlery store and have them show you a rod system suitable for a 10" chefs knife.

I voted this afternoon and was number 235. In and out in no time. I did have to fill out a form and sign it stating I am who I am. I don't remember doing that before but the poll workers told me it has always been that way. I think I must have voted absentee last time. One thing I really like about Iowa ballots is that up at the top of the ballot you can opt to vote a straight party ticket just by filling out one bubble. I still remember the wise words of my dad the first time I voted almost 50 years ago. He advised me to vote a straight party ticket and that is what I advised my DS to do when he started voting.

LOLOLOL. Doofus. No one was mean! Not at all. Just that they don't like folks going onto the site and doing something different. I can really actually see their point. It'd be different if I'd been winter-sowing for 5 years. It'd be like a brand new gardener coming into the FB forum and telling everyone they're going to plant their entire garden in hay bales. Or stuff like that, you know? What was a little exasperating was that some of them didn't read the post entirely and so it wasn't really a dialogue. No matter. All is good. But if they're mean again, I'll sic you onto them. ROTFL! AND, can't you find anything that contains collagen on a vegan diet?? (Not being vegan, I would not know that, you know.) Rebecca, I'm not as worried about them frying, I mean there are a ton of holes in them. Further, cross currents are usually more effective at bringing breezes through than from just one direction. I will say, that even had I put holes in the top, I still would have put holes in the sides, too. But. Okay tell you what. I'll go put a couple holes in the tops of some of them! LOL My larger concern is the bottom watering, just because I haven't seen anyone else doing it. I can't imagine why it won't work, since the indoor seedlings prefer bottom watering. But I'm still nervous about it. Could you please give me your thoughts on that? (Our first row of holes above the bottom is 1 1/2 inches high, which was exactly as much water as it took to dampen all the pots.) At any rate, yes, if I notice anything going awry, I'll spring into action to correct. I would say in Oklahoma ANYONE who WSes is in danger of frying the plants! We ALL need to keep our eyes on that possibility, right? But yes, with you working, you're not around to hover over them like I am. NOW. In the horrible event that I get called out of town for emergencies, I'll have to hire my nearby gardener friend! . . . Then I'd probably move everything closer in to the house for a minimal amount of sun. But then so would a lot of the rest of you be in trouble, too. Last year, I spent a good bit of time scooting my 15-gallon fabric container pots back closer to the house (and under the half roof on that part of the deck, either to get them out of the sun, or to protect them from the rains POURing down. I can certainly do that with the totes, too. Yes, Dawn. . . . Rebecca's cute little daisy was discussed in this article. I loved it and got a good laugh. http://dailyimprovisations.com/fun-flowers-to-grow-from-seed-cape-daisy-or-venidium-fastuosum This hybrid. . . . I think it'd be great to actually get even just a few seeds to see if any of them turn out to be true to the type--that would be very cool. If I live another 4 years, Dawn, I won't be winter-sowing anymore either, as I believe I'm growing everything I'll ever need to grow (perennial/herb/hardy annual-wise) this year. Hmmm. Who am I gonna unload these totes and pots on. Here I was thinking it was going to be one of those depreciation items. Perhaps not. . . .LOL Oh, Dawn, that is very upsetting about something scary out there. Please keep us posted. And along the subject of pets, I also would rather watch puppies OR kitties than almost anything. We are loving Tom and Jerry. . . even Titan is just fascinated. These guys certainly are not anything like Daffy. He sees possibilities with them being entertainment. But occasionally gets over-enthusiastic. He thinks it's fine for him to lunge at them as they race past him (and it's not, we tell him), but he is VERY touchy so far when one of them tries to attack his tail or foot. We think it's very funny of course, but he at least hasn't snapped at them, just kinda growled/woofed them off. That is VERY good on his part. Also when they would approach his dinner. . .THAT is his wild animal trigger response. We've worked and worked and worked with him on that one. We normally shut them in the cats' room (formerly the art room) to be eating their own dinner, but before we got wised up to that, they'd go over to HIS food dish--I almost got bit once, as did Garry once. There were severe penalties involved. Also a bratty 3-yr old liked to tease him with it--unfortunately, he was the one who paid--but so did she. So it was fairly miraculous that when the kittens tried to interfere, all he did was growl angrily and boy did they back off quickly. We're feeling very good about the kittens and Titan, they all three are fascinated with each other and full of good cheer. But Titan IS part wolf, after all, and we always are very aware of him--in unexpected situations. I am 100% certain GDW and I are gold with him. But I always keep an eye on him when he indicates he's uncomfortable with someone or a certain situation, and usually take him into the house then. The kittens are his first test situation with trust, and he's doing SUPER, but we still keep an eye on him. Little thinker, Tom, has now finally decided GDW is okay, too, and so now is landing on HIS lap and in HIS way. They're just precious, both of them. Kim, I missed your supportive post earlier, that was SO sweet!!! Thanks for believing in me--you KNOW I believe in you, too. You are a marvel! We're both kinda Ruth Stout people, I think. Ruth definitely figured out what worked for her and followed that path! But if the rumor Amy heard about Ruth is true, that she gardened naked, I know neither of US is gonna do that. I don't even like wearing short-sleeved T-shirts while gardening. Gardening is like full armor down here! Okay okay, I admit. Oklahoma gardening is not easy!!! It's the damn bugs!!! The critters! The aphids, the bad beetles, the slugs, the ticks, the chiggers, the fleas, the voles, the gophers. .............................................. a person in OK would have to be insane to be gardening in their shorts and tank tops and flip-flops and bare-handed, in my opinion! Let alone naked. Amy and Eileen, tomorrow our trip to Broken Arrow. Our whole day affair. Short notice, so maybe we can actually plan the next trip. But if you can meet up, let me know. However, Amy has a good point--will have more seeds if we meet up in a couple more weeks--maybe we should start talking about that--the seeds we have to give. Aldi, then back through Wagoner for buttermilk and candles, and then back home. We have been SO hunkered down here. And you guys who are so tired of winter? We are, too, of course, but you know what? I've made my peace with it, somehow. I wasn't allowed to hunker down in MN or WY, working every day all through the winter nonsense. It was COLD. Not easy, especially with vehicles. Those of us smart ones (sometimes I was smart, sometimes not so much so) had engine heaters for the cars plugged in for overnight. When I lived with my son and his family in Mpls, we had a street-level garage, but the rest of the property sloped steeply up. When it snowed, we'd have great fun the first few snows in December; partying out there in the driveway--with the snowblower and the others using shovels. By February or earlier when the drifts next to the driveway were up to 5-6 feet, not so much fun. It was so MUCH colder and more brittle and so much dryer in WY and MN in the winter. But I don't care. It's COLD here. I'm with the rest of ya. I used to trot out on my patio in Mpls when it was -10, in my short nightgown, for a last cigarette. It's all just so weird! Well, HJ, speaking of rambling!