Hello again :-) So, after another year of trying to schedule better...here is where I am at. veggiecanner said.. 'I have a garden plan going every year but find that it is only a guide to what really happens. ' Exactly! I had a plan but in the spring, I got sick and couldn't get out to garden until the end of May and by then I had a LOT to do out there, so the veggie garden was off to a slow start again! I did manage to start tomato seeds with the winter sowing method but for some reason, this year I had only 1 container germinate. I kept waiting for the others to germinate and by the time I gave up on them and headed to the nursery it was June and they were out of my favorite varieties. I think that will work out okay though. I am trying two new varieties from the nursery this year. Wayne...didn't get to sowing the broccoli in June again. BUT...I have a feeling I am not going to have room for them anyway. I have 3 of my raised beds planted with tomatoes that were planted very late. They are still only about 2 feet tall and it is mid July! So I don't think I will be pulling them too early. I will be lucky if I get ripe tomatoes at all. I only have one bed with string beans and that will be the only vacant bed, which I plan on planting with cover crop this year. My large containers that had tomatoes last year, have squash, cuke, watermelon and pumpkin in them, so I don't think they will be coming out early either. That is what you get with a small garden. I am actually feeling very good about our vegetable garden right now though. I have realized that part of the problem is I am trying to renovate the whole yard and the work that has to be done is always competing with the veggie garden too. Once I get a lot of the other work done, I will be better able to concentrate on the veggie garden. I am actually keeping up with it really well when I stop and think about it. I have gotten the frame work of the veggie garden finished and this is the second year of working with it and it is really as good as I can get it in the space I have, I am sure. I don't mean that it can't be improved upon later, just that the groundwork is done. The raised beds are working out great. As for looking neat and attractive, we had laid down cardboard with bark mulch all around the beds last year. This year the weeds were up like crazy right through what was left of the mulch. I don't know why I was surprised. We decided that we can't be weeding that whole area every year, so we bought weed fabric and layed it down in the paths and around the perimeter and put the bark mulch on top of that. The label said 15 years...I would be happy if I got 5. [g] I did something right since I last posted. I did buy a cover crop, Hairy Vetch, last year and even though it was late to put it in, it stayed warm so late, that it had plenty of time to grow before any bad weather. I turned it into my containers this spring and the soil is much better. Everything looks pretty healthy. Also added compost to my raised beds this spring and they look healthy too. I used Hay to mulch the raised beds which has eliminated weeding and is looking nice too. I also am keeping a daily journal now [thanks for that tip George and tjg911] for the first time and taking photos as often as possible. chaman's idea of keeping some space open for fall planting so I don't have to worry about scheduling the earlier crops was one that I think might be the only way I am going to get a fall crop. [g] I am going to have to rethink if there is somewhere I can put a couple of beds or containers that I could leave free every year, just for a fall crop. tjg011...I did wait to sow zucchini seed until July 4th. So we will see how that works out. It feels so funny to have little zucchini seedlings in the middle of July. Well, I have a good start I think and I am keeping a copy of this thread on my desktop to refer to, since there are so many great suggestions that I hope to try. Thanks again to everyone for sharing your experience and veggie wisdom. Photos taken first week of July. :-)

jojosplants, feel free to express your opinion about my posts. I will never report anyone for openly expressing themselves on this forum like some forum members often do. Some get offended by other's free speech....and get people like Cecil booted off the forum. Some of us were GIVEN the free speech right to say what we want.......others of us FOUGHT and died for that right that we all enjoy, and still others of us served our country in uniform to PROTECT those rights. Funny how those who were GIVEN that right often want to take it away from others. They do not value free speech as much as those of us who have actually fought for and/or defended that right. Semper fi. Sorry if you disagree with science facts. Real science has nothing to do with FEELINGS or EMOTION and is definitely not a POPULARITY contest. It has to do with verifiable FACTS that anyone can reproduce for themselves. Most horticulturists today practice their trade more in an "Arts and Craft" like manner than as a real science. They believe that their way is the only way. I routinely use science to improve and develop new fig propagation methods and in the growing of my trees....not everyone does that. I have posted some of my findings that should be helpful to others. Funny how some people get a bee under their bonnet whenever I post anything that is not in their particular Fig Bible or in agreement with their past postings. IMLO, Al has misspoken at the beginning of this thread. Words have meaning and their context is very important. Putting up a Straw Man argument will not deter me from proving what I stated at the very beginning of this thread: [If you use a SLOW RELEASE fertilizer (such as Osmocote) for your container grown fig trees, you WILL NOT have a problem with EC/TDS (Electric Conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids). Also, you will never see a situation where a slow release fertilizer (applied as per directions), will EVER "make it unnecessarily difficult for plants to absorb water and the nutrients dissolved in water." That simply WILL NOT happen because of the physical design of the product.] Me stating that I am an experienced chemist is not boasting. It is a fact and is why I fully understand chemicals better than most people.....even Al. I understand both the PHYSICAL and CHEMICAL properties of matter. As a chemist I KNOW the significance and meaning of chemical testing and specifications. Chemist know how to both develop and interpret chemical data. Chemist know that data comes in several forms.....directly measured data, inferred data, and extrapolated data. Not all data is equally good or reliable......more about that later. I report my fig growing results not to boast or to brag.....but to let others know that I know a bit about what I am talking about and that I do not operate in a vacuum. I simply do not see ANY of the ill effects that are postulated by Al. I and many others get EXCELLENT results that cannot be denied or impugned by anyone's THEORY or beliefs. To say one will have a EC or TDS issue when using a slow release fertilizer is pure BALONEY!!! Only someone who does not understand both the "physical" and chemical properties of this type fertilizer would ever say something like that.......it is more than just the "chemical" nutrient ratio that dictates what will occur during its usage. Jodki, and others demanding a quick explanation from me. As, I've stated several times.....I will respond when I get a chance. Remember it has been several months since Al has promised to post his fig rooting method.......you know...the one that is THEORETICALLY much superior to the all others including the one's that I use. He whips out some pages from his horticulture Bible in seconds. Other pages take a long time to come forth. Why does it take so long to whip out his FIG propagation method that he BOASTS is much superior?? Seems like those FIG propagation pages would already be available in his Bible. IMO, he just can't back up his boastful THEORETICAL claims. No one who practices good science should have a problem with others challenging their work or boastful claims. I sure don't. Those who choose to read (with an open mind) what I will later post in this thread should see just where the facts lie. Sometimes I feel like Galileo who dared to disagree with the conventional wisdom of the leaders of his time. He dared to disagree with the Pope's Bible and was locked up for years by the Inquisition because he stated a scientific FACT..... that THE EARTH REVOLVED AROUND THE SUN. Everyone during his time was taught and KNEW that the earth was the center of the universe.....according to their particular Bible and the religious dogma of those times. He was taunted, ridiculed, laughed at, and locked up in prison for practicing good science. Today we all know who was right. Science always prevails in the end and he who laughs last laughs the hardest. Dan Semper Fi

The standard recommended dose of Wisk HE (to the first line of the cap) is 1 oz. That's equivalent to 2 tablespoons (four tablespoons = 1/4 cup, which is 2 oz.). Running a load of queen-size sheets (fitted, flat, & three pillow cases), I used 2 tablespoons at the start. The EcoActive wash phase had "slippery" water and a slight bit of sudsing. The deep wash phase filled to the medium/low water level. Checking the water, it was just on the fringes of being slippery, but not quite enough. I added more Wisk HE, one teaspoon at a time. Two more teaspoons got the water feeling about right. Three teaspoons is equivalent to one tablespoon. So 2-2/3 tablespoons of triple-concentrated Wisk HE is the proper dosage for a lightly soiled load at medium-low water level in my F&P toploader (at approximately 11 grains water hardness). Of course, regular (not triple-concentrated) powdered or liquid detergents would need correspondingly more. This is the sheets at medium-low water level. To illustrate the difference, this is high water level. Doesn't seem likely 2-2/3 tablespoons would be sufficient. People who are using minuscule amounts of detergent and getting good results may have softened water, or are running small loads. Either way, follow whatever dosing and procedures work for you!

@Design Girl - I asked the rep to order a larger sample of the Thassos Bold Basketweave. The largest rectangular piece is representative of the size of the white pieces. When I put them up against the subway tile I plan to use, I notice the ratio of L x W is very different. Would that bother you? I'm attaching the large patter and the small. Anyone else care to comment? Thanks! Photo of Bold Basketweave floor tile and subway wall tile