Congrats, Midnight. Growing a clivia to blooming size from seed is a great accomplishment. I hope you'll start a separate thread with pics once the blooms are open. Great plants! Socks, Disneyland and I have a lot in common, heh heh, and no, not because I'm "goofy"! I like a lot of the plants they use, and how they create such cheerful/jarring combinations. I just planted a bare root 'Disneyland' rose, which, while not jarring, is certainly perky like the many they have planted there. I've been gardening since I was five years old and have reached the point where I just plant what I enjoy and what makes me smile, so "tastemakers" be damned, lol. The brighter, taller, and stinkier, the more I like my orange marigolds. I actually struggle to find non-dumpy dwarf types. Usually I get them from Select Seeds or Seeds of Change...what about you? Take care, Grant

Susan, When I make my own seed-starting soil-less mix, I normally use equal parts of either coir or sphagnum peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. It probably would work equally well with just coir or peat moss and perlite. When I use peat moss, I normally add a small amount of lime to counteract the acidity of the peat moss. It is always such a relief to me to see seed racks and seed-starting supplies arrive at the stores as it is just a tiny reminder that planting time will be here before we know it. This year our local Home Depot kept seeds and other gardening supplies in the stores much, much deeper into late fall than they normally do. On the ridiculous side of the equation, though, our local stores kept "fall tomatoes" and 4" and 6" pots in stores as late as November, and I'm not sure who that thought would be buying tomato plants after the first frosts had already occurred. (They did cover up the tomato plants and keep them from freezing in October which is an improvement over what they did last February when they let them freeze.) I normally have all my seeds ordered and on hand before most of the seed catalogs hit the mailboxes because, along with the increased interest in gardening, we're seeing a longer waiting period for folks who don't order seeds until January or February. One thing local stores do that really irritates me is that some of them, including Lowe's and Wal-Mart, often either start out with their seed racks outside in the enclosed "garden center" area or they move them out there after the seed racks have been inside for a month or two. I never buy seeds off racks that have been sitting outdoors and exposed to all the outdoor fluctuations in temperature and humidity. A higher sugar content in a given tomato variety is not an issue in and of itself when you are canning tomatoes. What is important is the pH so with some tomatoes that are lower in acidity than the average tomato, you might have an issue. However, the lower-acidity varieties aren't generally used for canning and I believe all tested and approved "safe" recipes include something (vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, or citric acid) to ensure canned tomatoes are in the proper pH range. Jay, Isn't it sad that soil-less mixes have fallen so far in quality the last few years? It is pathetic that profit is more important than producing a quality product. I gladly pay more for a high-quality seed-starting mix when I find one, but just try finding one now that matches the quality of what was available a decade (or two) ago. Happy Birthday to both you and your sister. Christie, I am in far southern OK (almost in Texas) and I have to drive south about 60-70 miles (or farther) down to the D-FW metro area to find Botanical Interests seeds on the seed racks, which is frustrating. About the only seeds sold in stores around me are either Burpee, Ferry-Morse or Wal-Mart's or Target's own lines of seed. I normally just order the BI seeds I want from their website or catalog (new last year and just as beautiful as their seed packets). Seedmama, I am so jealous that y'all have a source there. We have very few choices here but considering how rural our area is, that's not surprising. Carol, So, now you've developed a "Pro-mix problem" to go along with your "seed problem"? I'm going to assume these were not really humongous bags? Dawn

My husband and I retired a few years ago, with three children still in elementary school. We had been living in a close suburb of NYC. The thought was also that if we didn't need to commute into NYC everyday anymore, we didn't need to live in such an expensive area. For the year or so before i left my profession I thought a lot about where we might go. I looked at all the "Best Places to Live" lists. I had fun looking at real estate listings. I studied school districts. My favorite idea was to live in different parts of the world a year or so at a time. I gave it up as far too costly, since we might need to put the 3 kids in private international schools (100k a year) and since we would of course want to live in a nice place (cha ching) and we could not imagine not still owning a home in the US to go to. All a little to much when coupled with our goal of living off investment income. We then looked in the US. First warm places (Coral Springs --- friends called the schools 'abysmal", So. Cal --- afraid of quakes, Austin, TX --- but we are Yankees!). Then places famed for healthy, family lifestyles. Portland, Orgeon --- too rainy and not so great schools. Boulder, CO --- too far from family. Asheville, NC --- but we are Yankees! Next it was college towns. Williamstown, MA ---- brrr. Charlottesville, VA --- too horsey etc etc etc The big attraction was that in most of these places houses don't cost anywhere near as much as suburban NYC, but, after a while, you find yourself saying "so what"? No one ever moved to the middle of a cornfield just because they could get 1000 more sq ft I finally realized that it is hard to leave the region where you grew up, unless it was really duddsville. I like all four seasons, I like old buildings, I like well funded schools, I like liberal politics, and I like being able to go into NYC. My family is in PA and DH's in is MA. We "decided" to stay put. Then of course we randomly fell in love with this house we are in now, when we were not looking. A little over an hour from our old house, but in many ways, the same --- still a NE suburb in the orbit of NYC culture. Half way between our families.More country than urban, but not exactly like deciding to move to Dubai! And get this, partly due to the acreage and the total reno, partly CT prices vs No NJ, we ended up spending a multiple of what we sold for (oops). As an added bonus, I have been able to do some consulting in my field which I am so happy for. That opportunity would be far less likely for me in Timbuktu. I just don't think I am a "run away to" person. Maybe for vacations! PS Go to France! It will be great with one 4 yo! He could probably even attend local schools! Go go. Of course, MV is to die for anyway...

Yesterday, he and the tractor pulled up some tree roots and spread some top soil for the folks across the street. Redistributed the gravel in the driveway of the neighbor next door and moved some big rocks for the neighbor behind. Today he is to rototill the garden of the lady who started the pie payment. I won't have to bake anything for awhile. That pic was taken 2 years ago, the day that tractor followed him home. I told him then that he could keep it only if he promised me that he would go buy a trailer to haul it. It wasn't long till strangers were stopping in the driveway to offer him work. He sold a bigger Kubota when he got this one. The first was bought in 1980 for caring for and mowing/plowing around the 4 acres we owned then. That one didn't have a bucket or backhoe. It did have a mower, a tiller and a blade. He kept the tiller and adapted it to work with this new Kubota.