"The festival has a policy stating that all vendors must test their product and it must be proven free of GBN in order to be able to sell there." Who performs the testing? Private labs? Does Minnesota have state-sponsored testing? I hope to see the USDA & state extension offices become more active in fighting GBN. It would be in everyone's best interest if that testing is made available & affordable to gardeners and collectors as well, since some of those are unwittingly spreading the organism through trades. I am no fan of Federal intervention in commerce, but since infected stock is being sold across state lines, this is a case where a USDA "GBN free" certification program should be initiated for all garlic sold as seed stock. "I have some Artichoke types but I generally shy away from softnecks because under my growing conditions most of those plants are weakly bolting and create bulbils in various locations - at the top of the the bulbs in the wrappers, just above the bulbs, halfway up the pseudostem, etc." While I have read of this behavior, mine have only rarely produced stem bulbils. I wish that was a more frequent occurrence, it would offer some hope of salvaging a variety, should GBN infect the bulb. It is the artichoke & other softneck garlics which are most at risk from the spread of GBN; my fear is that we could lose some heirloom softnecks completely before this infestation has been dealt with. "I too have noticed a general decline in size of what is being grown and offered out there. It was a goofy growing season in many parts of the U.S., wondering if that is the reason. I also suspect that a lot of bulb/clove stock is infected with viruses which can affect bulb quality and size, especially when combined with the stresses of a poor growing season. IMO people would be wise to break the chain and replace their entire stock by planting bulbils every five years or so, at least with types that produce bulbils. Not a complete solution but it is helpful." On that topic... correct me if I am wrong, Tom, but the use of bulbils as planting stock would only offer protection against GBN and other soil-borne organisms. Diseases tend to be systemic, and any part of the plant - bulbils included - would be infected. I have read comments from several garlic growers who believe that if they grow bulbils from stock infected with aster yellows, that the resultant crop would be free of the disease. It would be wonderful if that were true, but I doubt that would be an effective remedy. I do believe that hardneck garlic offered as seed stock (both commercially & through trades) should be more available in the form of bulbils. When I again offer garlic through SSE, I will make a statement explaining the threat of GBN, and encouraging more growers to offer bulbils. I will be doing so for all of my hardnecks. Spreading knowledge to other gardeners is key to getting a handle on GBN... my sincere thanks, Tom, for bringing this to our attention. It sure opened my eyes, especially as I begin to rebuild & expand my collection. I hope the "goofy season" is the reason for the predominance of small bulbs this year. Several of the growers that I obtained stock from ascribe to this theory, and I hope they are right. Looking back, I had several years with small bulbs, followed by years where bulbs grown from that smaller stock returned to their full size. Obviously, I hope that will happen with the stock I am planting now. It seems odd, though, to see this phenomenon occur on a national level. I don't necessarily suspect a virus, but that is a possibility... and if true, it might be yet another threat that is not being tested for. If there was one good thing about the aster yellows outbreak, it was that it generated awareness of just how fragile our garlic industry really is. Any vegetable which owes its continued existence to vegetative propagation is vulnerable to disease buildup... think Irish potatoes. " I focus instead on hardnecks, Rocamboles in particular. To me they are the best and are the focus of my attention (although I think most growers around here focus on growing Porcelains). Rokes are very winter-hardy plants. Their clove size, ease of peeling, flavor, and roasting attributes put them in high demand, even if they do not have the best storage attributes." Rocamboles are my favorite hardnecks as well. They tend to have larger bulbs than my porcelain garlics; one of them, "Special Idaho", had bulbs almost as large as my artichoke types. Additionally - and importantly - rocamboles also have especially large bulbils. Those of "Special Idaho" were often marble size. This means that it is realistic to propagate rocamboles from bulbils in a short time frame. I had been meaning to test that large-scale in 2012, but aster yellows put a halt to that. Sadfly, I have been unable to find sources for some of the rocamboles I lost... including "Special Idaho" and "Chrysalis Purple".

I have the same tree from the same place and on the same rootstock. So far, I have not repotted mine yet as whatever mix it is in, it seems to like at this point (plus it wasn't potbound when I got it). It is doing some nice flushing of leaves. Rich is a trifoliate orange rootstock and should be okay with this. Here is a GW thread on it with a couple links for more info - [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/rich-16-6-dsvw-vd~4158704[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/rich-16-6-dsvw-vd~4158704) One of the links at that thread is this (PDF) where on pg 8 there is a category for "Trifoliate Orange" that includes Rich 16-6. Since you are in south Florida (and have a hot/humid rainy season), just make sure that whatever you mix up, drains well but has enough potting mix so that you are not watering it multiple times a day when it's not raining and the sun is blazing (unless you don't mind doing that). Here is mine this morning (we have had on and off rain for the past couple weeks - it is the tree that is sitting in the clay-colored plastic pot to the left of the plumeria & peony) -

Well, iVillage must have used their transporter and beamed this thread off the main page. Thank Bob, they didn't just simply delete it. Thank you to everyone who got a copy yesterday. Kat, send me an e-mail with your street address and I'll put your copy in the mail this afternoon. Treefrog - Your crotons: coming into the garden from the left side of the house - the yellow ones against the fence are "Diane". Please start me a cutting when you get some time. It's an old one that I've not seen except in a photo. The long leafed one next to the house that I thought was "Charmer" is not. It's "Queen Victoria" another old variety that was used quite often as an accent piece by several designers in Boca and Ft. Lauderdale. Root some cuttings and put them in the ground in some deep shade and you'll get leaves up to a foot long with pink and red. To the left of the big Star Fruit tree - "Bravo" - one of the popular varieties used just before "Petra" came out in force. Love the pink colors! I rescued mine from job in East Boca several years ago. By the fence to its left you've got an "Andreanum" - not one of my favorites as it tends to get brown and yellow leaves, but it is one of the tallest growing Crotons. I saw one in Miami that was two-stories high. There were several others, but I can't recall them off hand. Post some photos if there's an important one I've missed.

Alexa - no secrets here with my recipe. I posted it here last year and it is very similar to Doucanoe's recipe and hundreds of other recipes from the Lutheran church ladies of Minnesota. Of course this is just a guideline and often times larger amounts of my favorite things like carrots and almonds make their way into the pot. This recipe is for hand harvested marsh/river rice. Commercially cultivated wild rice takes longer to cook. The commercial drying/toasting process of cultivated rice causes it to be a much harder grain. LPink had a thread on the topic of cultivated wild rice last year. One cup raw marsh/river rice will make 4 to 4.5 cups of cooked rice. My favorite way to cook the wild rice: Heat oven to 350 degrees. You will need a covered casserole or pot (a 2 quart size is good). I use a glass casserole. Place in casserole: 1 cup raw rice 2.5 cups of boiling water or stock Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Test rice for doneness. Cook another 15 minutes if you want it more tender. Use excess water in wild rice soup. Wild Rice Soup 6 tablespoons margarine or butter 2-3 tablespoons minced onion 1/2 cup flour 3 cups chicken broth 2 cups cooked wild rice 1/2 cup finely grated carrots (I use more) 1 cup minced ham or leftover rotissiere chicken 3 tablespoons chopped slivered almonds (you can put them in the soup OR toast and top as a garnish) Salt to taste if you want 1 cup half and half 2 tablespoons dry sherry Directions In large saucepan, melt margarine; saute onion until tender. Blend in flour; gradually add broth. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in rice, carrots, ham, almonds and salt; simmer about 5 minutes. Blend in half and half and sherry; heat to serving temperature. Garnish with snipped parsley or chives. Sauteed sliced portabella mushrooms are a nice addition to this recipe. Happy Thanksgiving to all! Teresa in Minnetonka, Minnesota