Hi, I'm still around! I grew some of the ox hearts, San Marzano, a polish linguisha(SP) some jet setters I think they were called and another type I can't remember the name of. They are smaller but tasty. My polish, san marzano, and the oxes have not set fruit yet, but I planted them from seeds a little later then the rest. I also have some volunteers that grew out of the compost pile and a few just might be the polish. The polish were by far the best tomato I grew for the salsa! They were a huge sausage shaped and very meaty! I will continue to grow the ox hearts in honor of my father, he passed away before the first ox heart was ripe:( But, He was buried with one on a bologna sandwich seeds and all, I sure hope he is enjoying all the tomatoes he can eat in heaven. I sure do miss him. It will be a year Aug 31. I'm still interested in trying new kinds so any names of new verities would be great! I had a real horn worm problem last year, so this year I planted basil all a round my tomatoes and so far no traces of the horn worm!! Bonus the maters taste great and I have plenty of basil to try in different ways. Can you believe I've never tried pesto!! I think I will try to make sauce with my maters this year along with Annie's salsa and plain crushed maters!!! I will give you the name of the other tomato, I have to ask my husband and see if he remembers!! Thanks for asking Brenda

Susan, I love your light stand and always will love it. I realize it was the best solution for you, but if I told Tim I wanted to buy one of those, he'd hand me a hammer and tell me to build my own....which is why I have the one that I have. : ) Mine is hidden away out of sight in a room where guests rarely venture, although anyone who knows me and who knows I raise my own seedlings always asks to go upstairs and see it in the spring. So much for putting it out of sight....I just should have set it up in the dining room or breakfast room or something.... I am sure you'll be deliriously happy with it and will have many wonder seed-starting adventures and I look forward to hearing all about them. I think you got a great deal considering it was Gardener's Supply. I never buy anything of theirs for full price. They have sales often enough (and especially in November when, I think, some of us gardeners are shopping for ourselves) that a person can be patient and get a good price during their periodic sales. I've noticed that prices often are not as good in December when gardeners' spouses or family members are doing what I call "panic Christmas buying" and cannot afford, time-wise, to wait for a sale. I don't think you were repetitive at all. The more we all share about what we do, how we do it and why we do it (as well as pointing out what didn't work for us!), the better for all of us to learn from one another's experiences! Carol, Our weather is just like yours. Our high was 70 degrees yesterday and it was so gorgeous outside I could hardly stand it. I wanted to jump up and down and scream "Spring Is Here!". That was exacerbated by the smell of the orange blossoms on my little orange tree. However, I controlled myself because I knew it was a false spring and that winter was returning today. It was 56 degrees around 7 a.m. here at our house and now it is 36 degrees and we have had very, very light rain but lots of thunder. Phooey on winter! I think you showed those folks at the co-op that one benefit of being a gardener is that it keeps your muscles and joints strong, healthy and fit. I'd rather "work out" in the garden any day, than walk on the treadmill or work out on the weight machine. Who wouldn't? Trees, Nope, sorry, I just haven't gotten to it. I am trying. Watch for it in a couple of hours or in the morning. I'm about to start typing mow after I close up the chicken coops, put out the deer corn for my favorite deer, refill the bird feeders (those little birdies are eating nonstop today trying to stay warm), etc. I'm kind of dreading going out into the cold wind but I need to do it now before it gets dark. I have to warn you that I don't use the same planting schemes every year because I don't want to get stuck in a rut, but I'll try to mention some of the planting schemes in my usual rotation. Dawn

Bingo! Sorry I've been AWOL. School started Aug. 19, our Moms In Prayer group started up again (we pray for the schools/students/teachers). We had the Eclipse (Nebraska was one of the best places to view it and lots of hubbub). I attended a training on Native American Children/ICWA Indian Children Welfare Act. Very enlightening. The tribes are a nation within a nation. They have their own courts, social workers, etc. If the tribe chooses to return a child to the household with a parent who is neglectful/abusive the American courts have to let it happen. On the other hand, the Native Americans have a strong culture and often use non-traditional ways to cure drug addiction such as music therapy and animal therapy. My husband had a birthday so we had a party and now he's trying to put together his own business. That's been a life-long dream. Trouble is...he's an entrepreneur and I'm the anchor who keeps dousing him with questions and pieces of reality. I can see where he wants to go, but he can't see the 200 steps he has to take to get there. In his mind he's already there (wherever he sees himself in his video playback in his head). I may need valium. My double click cosmos bloomed! That's been my good news to keep me going!!! Ii got my daughter's video complete from her trip to Japan and got it uploaded to Facebook. Heidi

Amy, wow! LOL OH I absolutely love the deviled eggs with the gherkins, lol. Did you add the gherkins on the tops? DH thinks its so funny that I do that, but anyone that tries those, loves them, LOL! I have more of those seasonings if you would like or need more, I keep those on hand until I run out and then will make more. (usually only twice a year, around the time I harvest and dehydrate my peppers) The chocolate habanero salt sounds incredible on your scalloped potatoes! YUM ...My favorite is the cajun ghost, I use that with all kinds of things.... burgars, meatloaf, soups, olive oil dipping & dressings, fries, baked potatoes, potato salad, shrimp, pork chops, beef kabobs, steak tips, even toss a pinch of it on top salads... the list is endless.... The kodiak spice rub is DH's go too for salmon. I dont care for Salmon but he loves it! We do lots of tailgating and bbq's ...so that 'seasoning' is sorta one of my specialtys. Can you tell I enjoy cooking ....LOL So happy to hear you enjoyed those! =) heres a few others too....Let me know if you need more! LOL