You are a thief and major law breaker if you propagate one tree! How dare anyone justify stealing. I spent 20 years on getting to the final patent issue and 30,000 USD for fees, attorneys, 3 years of secure testing and the patent was 2 years of time being issued. It is NOT just 'mother nature'! Then finding an honest wholesale nursery to deal with, negotiating royalties, travel expenses to nurseries, attorneys, testing facilities and even more attorney fees. I have years of research and now patent infringement costs as I will sue anyone, even those that make even one copy illegally. If you don't want to pay the extra price then don't buy it! The lawsuit will not be for a dollar either! Courts in the US will not care who you are and fines are large as are my attorney fees you will also pay. Also, most of the 'true fact, statements in this thread are incorrect. Read the patent laws if you are not too lazy. Honestly, after reading this thread I have no desire to release my other plants that I am going to patent. Most royalties are pennies and if you are so fortunate to hit the perfect tree, release it when the economy is good or no droughts, then you deserve the higher dollars! i didn't even mention the different countries require different "patents" $$$$ and countries such as Mexico and China steal the trees by not enforcing patent infringement so we loose out on many big markets. i don't steal from you. Try exhibiting some integrity and honesty towards all.

To all: My zone is thusly listed because I'm right on the border between two zones and need to figure out precisely how the Ohio river and the weather pattern affectations will affect my growing here. Anyway... I grew up on a fairly large farm raising beef, but once I left home my father has sold off nearly everything, maintaining only trash land which he recently decided to try to sell. I live too far away to make owning it practical (although I may come to regret this) and my dad is too weird to deal with. However, about 1.5 years ago I purchased 10 acres outside Corydon, IN. My home is a tad close to the road for my liking, but we do what we have to. I have great interest in turning the front 2 or 3 acres into an idyllic homestead, functional, practical AND as pretty as I can make it (a rough homestead has its own charm as far as I'm concerned), but I'm going to have to figure out the best layouts AND come up with the know-how to make the most of what I've got. My long-range plans include: - A small orchard (10-20 different trees) - Some berry trellises (25-30 plants) - A small grape area (probably 12-15 plants) - Chicken coop, pheasant coop - A pretty hefty garden plot for vegetables - Strawberry bed kept separately - Garden plot for melon and pumpkin patch - Wood shed - Finnish sauna (used to heat pole barn and greenhouse) - Greenhouse ... and eventually a milk cow (I love fresh milk) and a moody pony. I also have ideas for an outdoor kitchen area for both summer cooking and canning times, to avoid heating the whole darned house, and I'm trying to come up with ideas for a live-in storm shelter, an underground pantry-cum-root cellar and the most elusive critter of all, the mythical underground, renewable resource freezer (probably based on old icehouse designs). Okay, before anyone tells me, that last one will probably REMAIN a myth, I know. I'm browsing this site for ideas and input on layouts, as well as other knowledge on various topics. Hope to make some new acquaintances, too!

Not sure why this old thread got resurrected, but... I just harvested a pathetic crop of spuds. Early this summer, little baby slugs showed up on my potato plants and within a week, the little buggars had completely eaten all but two plants. I had one Bison and one Peruvian Purple survive, and they yielded just enough spuds to overwinter for next year's seed. *whimper* I use Ciscoe's method (see link below). I have two garbage cans and one 3x3x3 bin (actually one of the old wooden slat compost bins that Bellevue was giving out about 15 years ago). I usually have a ton of spuds. I have gotten seed from Ronnigers.com, Irish-eyes.com, and a couple of local nurseries. Actually, NOW is the time to pre-order if you want something special for next spring. About when to harvest: Ciscoe says to wait until the stalks die back, then wait another two weeks after that. I've waited even longer, and the tubers seem to keep just fine in the dirt, as long as you don't have any bugs in the soil that start to munch on them. Here is a link that might be useful: Ciscoe Morris' page on growing potatoes.

I wasn't going to post because I think mine is pretty clear, but what the heck, I live in NC, I like to garden, and of course I am a girl...boring right? I used to be CarolinaDreamer, but Spike booted me off under that one, then someone else was able to get it when it was available again. I am know by that name on everything else I sign up for, a friend gave me the name a LONG LONG time ago and told me that anytime they heard it they would think of me, or know it was me or what ever. I used to be a truck driver and of course it was my truckers handle on the CB. I think that one is a lot cooler then the one I have now. I too like zztopsoil, the 1st time I saw it was way way way way back then and I thought OH HOW COOL, Wish I would have thought of that one, I also like dirtpig, cuz I like dirt and pigs... I also like dirt_under_my_nails, southerncharm, LGS who should have really sighed up under her other name...hehe and a lot of others I can't think of right now. Ok, shutin' up now, :) Fran