Tomatofreak, I've heard others say how much they don't like it. Some think its over used. Any other colorful shrub suggestions for mostly all day sun? I don't think I'm drowning it because they usually turn yellow first if you do that (I think). II have never used fertilizer and I have some in the front yard that are thriving. The best I can surmise now is poor location. So I am going to try to transplant the puny ones and replace them with cactus.

"i heard that wood only takes up nitrogen when it was still green as in not dead" pezelko Actually just the opposite but that doesn't matter, brown's (wood, etc) need nitrogen to break down but that N is consumed by the soil organisms and recycled right back, no net loss. "I am making my first hosta bed. I read on the American Hosta Society web site about tilling 12-18 inches deep. Then use a 3 part ratio - 1 part native soil, 1 part peat humus for water retention and 1 part pine bark fines for aeration." This just silly dumb advice. You can't effect the Ph of your soil in any significant way and don't need to worry about it. Use the manure up to 3 inches then mulch on top, your choice and the chopped up limbs, etc are great. Now, dig the minimum hole possible, add whatever layers of organic matter you have and mulch and you are finished, period. I'm serious, it is that simple. Try this ref for a while. Here is a link that might be useful: Fertilizer

Hi Steve, Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I had most of my days off this month at the very beginning, so I've been working (or sleeping!) most of the time since I got back from ORD (had a great time!). The carrots my brother grows are Royal Chantenay, and he gets his seed (I think all his veggie seed) from Harris. I found an updated version of this variety in another catalog, but he grows the original one---I don't know what the differences might be. As I said before, the ones he digs in fall are absolutely huge, but always sweet and definitely not woody. I thought he stored them in moist sand, but it turns out it's actually dry sand which is always moist when I see it because it's absorbed some of the moisture from the carrots----but he's in humid Illinois, so I'm thinking starting with just barely moist sand might be better here in our no humidity climate to help keep them from dehydrating too much. I also thought he kept them from touching each other when he was packing them in the sand, but it turns out he just layers them in a very large bucket and then dumps the dry sand over them, letting it filter thru them filling in all the voids. He then keeps them in a cold (above freezing for the most part) out building and they keep most of the winter. Once or twice a winter he does dump out what's left to look for ones that have any decay, and then puts them back in the bucket with the (by then) damp sand. The beets he grows that are also huge are Warrior F1. They, too, are always delicious no matter how big they get---I've never run into a woody one yet. I assume you know this, but just in case you don't: To easily peel beets, cut off all but about an inch of the tops and leave a few inches of the tail on and cook them in a pressure cooker, or bake them in the oven until they are tender and the skin will completely slip off in your hands. I do it under cold running water (since I usually do it while they're still hot!) and it also helps keep my hands from getting all red. Then they can be cut up into whatever size/shape you want and you can do whatever you want with them. The cucumbers I grew this past year were Celebrity Hybrid which was very so-so---I won't be growing them again! And Armenian cukes (free seed!) which didn't produce one cucumber!! And the one I will definitely grow again in '06, Burpee's Tasty Green Hybrid! I'm surprised you haven't been happpy with it---for me it just kept producing and producing and producing---at least once our 100 degree heat wave was over and they finally got started! They do start to get seeds if they get too big, but picked small, I thought they were really good. If anyone has a recommendation for another burpless variety, I'd love to hear it! I can't help you with the corn! I grew Precocious and Sugar Dots, but they both produced pollen before there was anything to pollinate and I wound up with VERY small ears with a few kernels here and there! The month of +100 degree weather we had messed up a lot of things, and I think that might have been the problem with the corn too, but because of my very limited space, I think I may forgo the corn in '06 since we can usually get western slope Olathe corn in the food stores in Denver for several weeks and (since it's shipped packed in crushed ice) it's always good! Can't help at all with the cabbage or cauliflower either! Don't grow either---or broccoli or Brussels sprouts (I love them all, but buy them at the store). Skybird

Perhaps I'm just stubborn: I can identify with krobson's comments about the ovens, but would probably buy the range again, just because I love how it looks, am delighted by the stove top and all its possibilities and because I'm not bothered by 1/unreliable oven temperatures; and 2/difficulties in turning a turkey or a big brisket pan. This situation doesn't arise more than 10 times a year--I can live with that, and I don't have trouble turning a 12 inch cake pan. I've learned how best to use the ovens, but am not baking a great deal these days so I would approach something delicate like meringues with trepidation--or, at the very least, do a practice run. On the other hand, I lived in Russia for some years, and learned how to bake in their On-Off ovens, using a wooden spoon to hold the door open to adjust the temperature. You get to know the Lacanche ovens, and I've got to say that having a gas oven is wonderful--great bread, great meats. Variations in temperature are not as critical with this type of cooking as in baking cakes in the electric oven. I'm still happy with mine, and I don't imagine I'll ever have another stove--I expect this to last forever.