G'day to all! A Chamber of Commerce day here in central Georgia. Been out in the workshop building a table for a farmer friend of mine and starting to get in the short rows with it. The same table on the internet sells for $549 with shipping. Just a token of appreciation for all the help that my life long friends do for me and my family. I am chomping at the bit to get started planting. Corn will probably be the first thing I plant as it can handle a frost and keep on ticking. Yall mentioned earlier about planting cowpeas in the corn. I tried it, but didn't care for it as corn loves nitrogen and peas don't need much of it or you get a lot of vines and not many peas. Plus, my favorite cowpea is Red Rippers and they make a heck of a bush with runners. It gets too 'snakey' to harvest either of them! I live near Eastman, Georgia (Home of Stuckey's candies) and buy my seed at a local home garden center (Chas Mar) as they have a good selection and are reasonably priced compared to ordering from the internet. Soon I will be taking my wife down there to choose the peas and beans she wants me to plant this season. My wife was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, but loves the country. It does my heart good to see her so pleased at looking at the different kinds and making choices. Getting all sloppy now... lol Mr. Brown, I have a friend that lives in Avon Park, Florida (below Orlando) that loves gardening too and wonder if your 'winter home' is near there? George, we should keep quiet about the country life... hee hee We might not be in the country long if the word gets out... Shot

BZ, the car will get her rims before winter, as long as the hours I work pick up this summer. My main hobby is not this, I'm a photographer ( not a paid one either, despite my best efforts. lol ) My garden buddies not only hopefully will give me food but beautiful subjects that mean a great deal to me. I take macro pictures and the blossoms on a tomato plant ( as an example ) are simply exquisite to me :) I didn't think this was going to run me the cost of new photography equipment but such is life I guess. Despite the setbacks, I hope it will ultimately be very satisfying. The water retention thread is what threw me into this loop in the first place ! I was like "YIKES! What have I done? " So my wonderful Momma ( Hi Momma if you ever read this ♥ ) and I went out today and despite my searching, the mini pine bark and pine fines are nowhere to be found. I ended up with a huge bag of MG potting mix and two bags of perlite. Then I found something better, I hope. Once it's out of its cube it should be a good amount of good plant stuff? lol It's called Lambert LM-3 , I've put the link at the bottom. I know its not 5-1-1 but it's got to be better than what I have going. My plants are pretty much in mud at the moment. I reiterate a YIKES :p I am curious though, as I look on the site, it says Drainage - average. I have two bag of MG Perlite ( 8 dry quarts per bag? ) . Should I mix this into the Lambert and at what ratio? Uaskigryl - You're very sweet, thank you. I'm doing what I can. It's amazing how much you can come to care about your plants. As for black thumbs, I've killed cacti ( well succulents ) and I thought I was doing everything right lol If I can kill a cactus, I imagine I sure can kill a tomato plant lol I am also a little low on the patience, and I like things --just so, you know in my control. Plants, veggies --flowers I can only control so much and nature to an extent just does what she does. Not being able ( and also being overwhelmed by the vast amounts of information to digest ) to control everything is a bit of an uncomfortable place for me lol When I transplant ( which is pretty much when I know if I should mix in the perlite or not ) what would you suggest I do with them afterward? It's going to be rainy all week, should I put them back outside? Fertilize them ( I have Scotts 10-10-10 and some seaweed stuff ) and then put them outside? Keep them in the garage for a few days? Fertilize AND keep them in ? Decisions decisions lol I do want to say broadly speaking that this forum ( these ) has been an IMMENSE help and resource. I'm not generally a poster of things but I have been reading here off and on for a long time. I may have to visit the bulb forum soon because if I thought I was lost with container plants, bulbs are a whole other deal. Anyway, I sincerely thank everyone who contributes to this place. Hopefully some day I'll know what the heck I'm talking about and can help someone along the way as well :) Here is a link that might be useful: Lambert LM-3

Hello! I must say that I do admire your pictures of your morning Glories. I love that "Blue Dawn". I do not know if you are familiar with Ipomoea hederifolia, and I am not sure of the color, other than it has some red in it. I grew it this summer, but it was where I did not notice it. I thought it was short, but it evidently really likes the heights, and it doubled and trippled all over itself. If you have enough cuttings of "Blue Dawn", I would be willing to give you some of the Ipomoes Hederifolia seeds I have in exchange--if you want them, and, if you want anything, or all things, on my tradlist I would be very willing. Spring would be the most convenient time for me, as I am in S.E. New England, and have no greenhouse. Kindly reply one way or the other. THANK YOU. "corgicorner"

I think I prefer option 1, but where are the coat hooks going? On the empty wall between? If you aren't completely on top of things, either way you run the risk of that side of the room being messy (or maybe that's just my family). I think option 1 contains the shoes, boots, coats, dirt to one side and the paperwork or other things you plan on storing in the hutch to the other side. You are also able to utilize more of the storage space w/ option 1, rather than 2. Those corners get tricky. I believe GWer Marin has a great corner cabinet in her mudroom. With both options, I like that you have your desk away from that side of the room. I love my open, adjustable storage cubbies, but they are a visual disaster at most times (now included). It's with much trepidation that I'm posting these pictures because our mudroom is always a mess. And I hate to admit it, but it's usually much worse than this because most of my kids are currently at school (along w/ their backpacks, coats, hats, boots, snowpants, etc). We put in a deeper bench w/ hooks along the back so you can use it to sit on and use it for storage above and below. I have totes to store off season shoes and things in the back below the bench. Great for storage, plus it keeps the space where the kids can lose things smaller. I did get a bev. fridge in the space, but I've moved it around several times and still don't like where I have it. It will probably move out to the garage in the spring. Your room is looking great. You will love having that space.