I like to trade seed with people from OK and the Ozarks region because I feel like I'm getting something that will grow well here. I don't know how many times I've wasted my time, etc., trading for seed for plants that won't make it through the heat of the summer, or that need a longer growing season than I have or that need a couple of years to fully mature but can't tolerate the winters we have. That said, I have had some very nice trades over on the seed exchange forum and have met some very nice people. I've also run into a few huffy people who think that just because they've had a bad experience they have to take it out on everyone, or who seem to think that everything they have is so much more valuable than anything anyone else could send them, that they turn me off. But if you read what they write at the beginning of their seed and plant lists, you can generally spot one of those.

Scott, You're welcome. I thought everyone might like seeing what it looked like all over our state early this morning. I cannot even imagine having the kind of low temperatures that y'all had up there. With those kinds of low temperatures, can you imagine what your wind chill must have been? This week's weather brought epic snowfall and cold temperatures that we likely will be talking about for years and years. It is simply amazing. At our house, our temperatures often vary greatly from those at our Mesonet station at Burneyville, and often are close to those recorded at the Gainesville airport. This morning, though, our temp only differed from Burneyville's by one degree. Currently, we're at 34 degrees and the thaw has begun. I can hear the steady drip, drip, drip of ice and snow melting off the roof and the trees and you can see the puddles of melting snow on the lawn. We're already at our forecast high for the day, so I think we'll get warmer than they forecasted. I hope the rest of y'all get warmer than forecasted too. We need for the Big Thaw to begin in earnest and melt alway all the ice and snow so everyone can get back to their normal routines. I have a lot of sympathy for all those whose school schedules have been wrecked by this snow. It sure is going to be hard to make up all the missed days. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: New Record Low for Oklahoma

I CAN direct-seed okra if the soil is warm enough; but if we then get heavy rains (which often happens) germination can be slow and/or spotty. To get a decent yield, I use transplants: Jiffy 32's (with extra holes pinched into the bottoms), and 5-6 seeds per cell (more if older seed). The seeds germinate in 4-5 days, but may need to be misted several times a day to break out of their "helmets". After transplant & once the plants get established, I thin to the strongest 3-4 per cell. This enables me to get about 100 plants out of one tray... which I need, since we only have a few months of warm weather.

Ruffian, that's a good idea, saving the $20 for a new washer. Yes, DH is a keeper. That's why we have been married since 1967. Together we raised two children and we are just finishing up raising a couple of grandsons we adopted. He was a welder for many years. He did physical labor in the heat and the cold to provide for his family. Then he had to retire early because of degenerative arthritis in his knees. I worked to provide insurance and to pay for his quite expensive medications because he also had high blood pressure and had had a stent placed in his heart. My employer paid for my insurance premium but I had to pay for DH's and for the DGS'. I was paid twice a month and for awhile I brought home only $200 each payday because of my huge payroll deductions. He qualified for Disability and a year later Medicare kicked in. It was like getting a big raise! We worked very hard, both of us, to raise those grandchildren, to see that they got an education, got to participate in sports, and got to have some advantages they wouldn't have otherwise had. They came to us with issues from the rough start in life that they got. Now they are 18 and 19 and DH and I are both retired. He was finally cleared for double knee replacement and that was done this summer. We both suffer from arthritis and the physical reminders that we are no longer young. I have arthritis in my back that causes painful muscle spasm attacks about once a year, and otherwise "talks to me" every day. But we hang in there together and support each other whenever the need arises. That's what the marriage vows mean.