I set my spindly 3-week old seedlings out today after arranging a soaker hose over the bed. Anticipate drought! They will be covered with flowerpot shade covers for 2 days, then live their lives under a tulle row cover. Anticipate insects! But well worth the trouble to have big productive plants the end of September. Rutabaga and carrots can be direct seeded or transplanted, but the seedlings must be young, like a week old, to move easily. I'll start kale and collards indoors this week, ditto escarole, mostly so I get good spacing. Everything must be covered this time of year, so I like tight, well-filled beds.

I grow papayas every year. The easiest way is to start the seeds mid summer and when they are less than 4 inches tall move them into large pots, one plant per pot. I overwinter them inside under lights or in my simple hoophouse (which gets down to 40 degrees). The next spring I plant any survivors outside in a mound of potting soil/compost/mulch with lots of slow release fertilizer added to it. Once the summer temps get hot the plants take off and start blooming around now. I've never gotten fruit to ripen fully but you can cook the green ones - tastes like squash. I'm not a huge fan of papaya fruit anyway, but I do like the seeds which taste like radishes. When the weather is really hot and humid you cannot over feed them or over water them if you have them airy compost/mulch-y soil. When you grow them in a pot they can rot if over watered - especially in the winter when they want more intense light and longer days. So I keep them very dry in the winter. You can't let them completely wilt either - they don't always recover. Growing them in fluffy/airy media helps out a lot. Sometimes when mine are first placed outside in the late spring or when first planted in the ground - the leaves will get a speckled look. It eventually goes away with the next flush of leaves. I think it is related to the fertilizer mixed in the water splashing on the leaves. All my tropicals get it that first month outside.

I am just learning and currently only have some earthworms. But I can say that I read in a scientific journal that earthworms (nightcrawlers which is what I have) need a minimum of 10 cm of actual dirt to live productively in. If they have this much dirt they can perform off the normal duties that they do, ie breeding forming stable burrows etc. So that is what I have been doing and they seem pretty happy cause I saw a pair maiting and I assume that they wouldn't do that if they were dying. Also earthworms like to feed from food that has not been burried. Eventually these worms are going into the garden and I will get redworms. The redworms don't need that deep layer of dirt and they like to feed from burried food. If the earthworms are trying to escape, maybe it's cause they need soil or are hungry looking for food. Like I said, I dont have a lot of experience though, so best of luck.

Durango, so sorry for your loss. I hope quilting can help you channel your emotions. I agree the flow is slow here, but life does happen. My focus has been on trip planning. We are headed to London and Paris for 14 days with our dear friends. I did not want to plan all of it myself, but between me and my dear friend, K8 ( some of you may know her from this forum) we managed flights, trains, hotels, apartments, tours and transportation...off we go. We do plan a stop at Liberty of London for fabric as well as the fabric market in Paris...can't wait. if I find some good fabric stuff in Paris...ill be sure to post pics on my return. i did manage to finish this little baby quilt. I gave it to the Mom yesterday. She's a mom, business owner and a derby car driver for fun...what a combo...but she loves her truck, hence the pink and blue trucks backing fabric just for her. V.