Thanks for the Horticultural Myths link, I have saved it for more thorough reading.. I can get alfalfa pellets and just scatter them, and then turn the hose on them and later use my hand cultivator to scratch them into the mulch, they seem to break down prety fast, and I do this when I can no longer see the remains of the last scattering....I also scatter Milorganite and Black Hen and Black Cow, and mulch, so it all becomes a mush of stuff.....I have used Fish Meal also, but can no longer obtain it so have switched to Fish Emulsion, and think I will pour some in a large pail of water and throw it around the beds.... I have a problem with Rheumatoid Arthritis so have to limit the labor involved, seeking the easiest path.... sally

Hi all... I replied to a message I recieved in my email and I thought the reply would be posted on this board, but I see it is not here. If it does turn up, forgive the double post..... "Gosh I had no idea that this (my original post) would cause a bit of "fuss" if I can use that word and no one gets upset. I just thought that a swap might be done, (and) that it was not too early to "think" about doing it and would host no problem becasue I had the time. Someone else suggested I might want to take over another persons. Let me say I am not looking to step on any ones toes, and certainly would rather start "my own" if it takes the hassel out of things, so to speak due to my original posting. I just kinda feel if there are folks that want to think about doing a swap now, and want to swap with me and others that I would host, because I am retired and have the time. Nancy. PS... I might add I don't look at this as being "my own", it is just a figure of speech. I am happy to join a swap, if some one else wants to host it. Or I can put in the time and do it. It really makes no difference to me. I don't think there should be any feelings of toes being stepped on or hurt feelings. We are not children right? If someone has shown they are responsibe and can do this fine, if however another person starts one, a person should not be offended. At some point in our lives we all want to "step up and be noticed" I think in one way or another. And this is a way for some folks to have that notice, and there is nothing wrong with that. The thing that is honorable in the effort, is the "carring it thru to the end (or till the seeds come up.. hee hee..)", not many of us can do that. So, as far as I am concerned... I have seeds and if there is a round robin, called Winter sow or "put it in the ground and grow it"... I don't much care. I am simply interested in a swap. Have a nice day all.

Hello all, thank you! Cawaps, I've got a sample of the Formica Grass, and IRL it looks nice with the tile, but only nice. What I'm hoping is that something will really wow me. I would settle for even being somewhat wowed, haha. I wonder if stainless would work, as Jterrilyn suggested? In and of itself it's too cold a color, but maybe if it's surrounded by yellow it would warm up? Does anyone have pictures of stainless counters in warm-colored kitchens? We have stainless right now and functionally speaking it's excellent, particularly with the nautical edges, but I'm so SO not into grey. The only place I like grey is on cats. Or maybe dogs. That's about it. Of course, our stainless looks as grey as possible because our cabinets are grey and the walls are putty-colored. (The whole abomination is due to Tasteless Previous Owners with No Common Sense... see rants on other threads.) Black or charcoal grey I'm fine with, but not dull cloudy-day medium grey. Lavender, the black counters in Mama Goose's kitchen look great. Our first thought for counters was soapstone, but then we got a quote and I realized that my brain refuses to process any sentence that contains both the word "countertop" and the words "six thousand dollars." They just do not compute. :-) It's not about being able to afford it, it's about refusing to pay that much. The ghosts of my grandparents rise up and remind me that they grew up in the Great Depression, and then they say, "It's a COUNTERTOP. It's just a COUNTERTOP! You could lay BARE PLANKS across the cabinets and it'd work just fine! Do you realize what else you could do with $6000 etc. etc. etc." So that's what we're dealing with here... :-) And Lavender, I'm a total sucker for jadeite and also for carnival glass. Colors! Give me colors! Love 'em!

Ugh, I'm glad I'm not the only pruning ditherer. The books say 'when the buds swell' and ALSO 'after the last frost' and the two are not comparable. The buds on mine start swelling (those that go dormant) pretty much as soon as we're past the longest night, but last frost date is ususally late March. By which point, the roses have got three months growth on them. I try to hold out till they actually start leafing out proper, and pray we don't get a late cold front, but it's difficult - Eglantyne had a tiny bud forming this morning, I was somewhat staggered.