I've said this before, many times, but it seems to me that if the more commonly held notions and circulated information within the growing world weren't so filled with misinformation, myths, fallacies, or half-truths and incomplete bits of flotsam, we might all have a better chance of attaining growing success a lot earlier within our "careers" as gardeners. And, as we're starting to learn, the industry, itself, isn't going to help us because its focus is not on grower success, but wrapped up in the world of achieving financial gain, profit for shareholders and upper management. And this is often done at the expense of product quality, our health, and our planet. At least, that is to say, any of the larger businesses that deal in gardening supplies or mass produced plant materials. And most of these big box stores or large companies have put the smaller, more specialized businesses out of business... because they simply can't compete, price-wise. And then, we have the world wide web, the internet... in which anyone can write anything they like, be it truth or not, fact or fallacy, opinion or just personal experience, and it's our job to sort through it all and pick out the information that's practical, rational, factual, and makes common sense. It's a daunting task, to say the least! And it's made even more difficult because half of what's written is an attempt to sell you a product, and the other half is a mixture of advice written by novices who follow conventional, corporate circulated information and/or methodology, designed to... again... sell products. Or, data collected and published by facilities that... again... are paid to find new ways of pushing products on consumers. And while most fellow growers and gardeners are well-meaning in their attempts to help... the needed facts simply aren't there, or simply aren't whole. And even if they are, how are new growers to know the difference? Or the information imparted is so technically written that newbies give up, unable to grasp all the scientific jargon and make sense of it for practical application. It's incredibly sad that our world is so wrapped up in making money, whether ethically or not, that we've become conditioned to accept or excuse moral bankruptcy as a normal part of our culture, our society. I've often lamented the fact that if I'd just learned a few basic ideas steeped in truth, verified fact, and common sense from the very beginning, I'd be decades beyond where I was just a few short years ago... and I'm no spring chicken, and have been attempting to successfully grow plants in containers since I was fairly young. It's not that I've had no success, at all... it's that most of my growing simply hasn't been as prime as I would have liked. As an example of what I mean by commonly circulated information... or lack thereof... you never hear anyone mention that there are vast differences between growing in the ground, and growing within the confined space and much different environment of containers. But when you think about it, it makes total sense... the two environments are virtually nothing alike, and do not have the same variants at play. Most novice growers tend to think of their potted plants from the plant down... and not from the roots up, as we should. Any plant needs healthy, properly functioning roots in order to maintain a healthy, properly functioning plant above the soil surface. And, as I maintained above, we tend to trust the industry and the products offered retail for our use, grabbing the bagged or pre-packaged products off the store shelves without a second thought. After all, they're dealing in pretty flowers, lawn and garden "care", and things that are supposed to help us. Our mental image of gardening in general may be of Grandma with her straw hat and pocketed apron, her rose clippers or shears in hand, happily tending her flower and vegetable gardens. What we don't envision are all the chemicals used, seeping into our ground water supply and harming us in ways we still haven't figured out completely, the genetically engineered seeds and plants, grown in more of a lab environment than a field, and all the gimmicks advertised and shown, packaged in enough plastic to choke half the animal population to death, etc... As example, all these coconut husk, chunk, or cocopeat products thrust as us recently, extolled for their "green-ness", for being ecologically responsible to our planet... but what most people never think about is the fact that only a very, very small area of our own country can grow this product, and the rest is processed in saline baths using huge motorized machinery, and shipped halfway around the world, burning fossil fuels just to get to us! Does that sound "green" and eco-responsible to you? It doesn't to me, but then... some people aren't given to doing much homework on the items they spend their hard earned incomes on. My point? What was my point... ah, yes. My point is that whether we're a consummate grower or not, we've been and are still being conditioned socially, or culturally, to accept ideas and products that don't necessarily get us from point A to point B... which would be from beginning, or novice grower to skilled gardener, thinking realistically about the planet our progeny will inherit from us, and the knowledge and skills they'll want or need... quite possibly to survive.

Ricky, I apologize for the lateness in posting but I also have been battling my own illness in the hospital for the past three weeks and was just released today. Even in the hospital I knew something was not right. I was extremely restless and edgy and catching up on mail today I now know why. I will always remember the way Karen made me feel welcome and a part of your home. I can still hear her laughter and see the love that shone in her eyes whenever she looked at you. You are most correct when you state that Karen was a most unique person. I just wish I had had the opportunity to get to know both of you better but my life will be forever blessed and enriched by the brief time we spent together. I agree that there will be tears and believe me many of them. There will be times when the smallest event triggers memories that shake you to your core, but there will always be those special moments when you feel her near you, smell her scent in a room and hear her whisper quietly into your ear. Your life will be enriched by dreams and special moments when she will be with you in spirit and though we should always celebrate the life a person lived there are times when we as humans find it almost impossible to carry on. I have been facing my own mortality over the past week and it is difficult to realize that life is passing me by and what do I have to show for it. I have not traveled a lot, I do not have family that consider me close and I have a handful of friends, but I know that somehow somewhere I have touched someone�s life and that gives me comfort. I am thankful that you had so many years together and that you promised Karen to continue living and enjoying life. She would most definitely desire that of you. I would love to read whatever stories you wish to share about Karen and laugh along with you. My heart goes out to you along with my prayers for strength to find solice over the weeks to come. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful and wonderful trobute to a most wonderful lady. Can you please pass the tissues now. Hugs, Linda

Thanks Kat I only caught the tail end live, but saw the whole thing now. I liked that show. :) Moni

I tried to fix the apostrophies, hyphens and dashes, but it was too late. they were set-in-text. "Such is life," as the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly is reported to have said on his way to the gallows in NSW in 1880. Here is a link that might be useful: Pioneering Over Four Epochs