This year has been my first success with cucumbers. They started flowering when less than 10 inches tall. I think the variety is a shorter, space saving variety though as they haven't gotten more than 2.5 feet long. My minnesota midget cantaloupe also started blooming when little.

He says to wash the jars in hot soapy water but that it isn't necessary to sterilize them since "the boiling water bath will pasturize the sealed jars along with their contents." Yes Lisa the guideline for some years has been that if the food will be processed for 10 min or longer then sterilizing them isn't required. The processing will do that. That applies to both BWB processing and pressure canning. They merely need to be hot when filled and there are a number of ways to accomplish that. Assuming your hot water heater is set at a normal setting then just filling them with hot tap water in the sink is often sufficient. As already mentioned the jar manufacturers don't recommend putting empty jars in a dry oven and even if filled with water they sure don't need to be kept at 200 assuming your oven has lower settings. In addition to the dishwasher or a sink full of hot water, a simple tea kettle full of really hot water can be used to fill the jars while they are sitting on the counter. It needn't be anything complicated so make it easy on yourself. Dave

I have been "recharging" potting soil for a heck of a lot of years. I don't know how DigDirt defines the recharging process, but here is what I do: Each October, I empty all of my containers, window boxes, flower pots, etc onto a pile of junky stuff I have gathered all summer which includes grass clippings, failed startups, Holiday gift plants, (the good garbage goes into my tumbler-type composter). About the end of March. I get out there on a nice day and screen the whole mess and store the resulting product in barrels which I use later to fill my containers for the new year. I "recharge" the sifted stuff with a bit of lime, a few shovels full of aged manure, a bit of an organic fertilizer like Garden Tone, a little time release fertilizer and I am good to go for the new gardening season. The stuff is too expensive to throw away andd too valuable/useful, ecologically, to waste. I have using it primarily for flowers but it should be useful for vegetable gardening as well. Been working for me. Victor

I don't have any suggestions for seasons, but was going to suggest that if you have a SuperTarget in your area always be sure to check out their clearance section in the food department. Their selection really varies by store location, but I have found some incredible savings. One - I turned a corner and found an employee in the middle of marking down 100% pure maple syrup to 86 cents! Why, I asked her. Not carrying that brand any more. I bought five bottles. Should have bought at least ten! We go through a bottle of maple syrup a month since we eat a lot of waffles and I have several favorite recipes that call for maple syrup. I just finished up the last of my cheap bottles and had to buy it this weekend - $6. I have also found great prices on dried pasta, canned tomatoes, organic blueberry juice, etc. at SuperTarget. I don't do my normal grocery shopping there, but when I am there buying household supplies or diapers I always swing through the food department to see what is on clearance. Buy produce when in season - cheaper and tastes better. Example, corn - when it comes into season in your area, stock up your freezer. If you like peach pie in December, go ahead and buy extras now and slice and freeze them. Do you use a lot of jelly or jam in your house? We do. I have discovered making freezer jams and it is so much cheaper and tastier than buying it at the store. (I got most of my recipes off the Harvest Forum.) ~ Suzie