At one house, I nabbed some bags of what I thought were leaves (We have chickens, and a good way to keep the run from stinking is to dump leaves and other organic stuff on top. It rots down and never seems to get any higher . . . ) and upon dumping it into the run, to the surprise of me and the chickens I found I had three huge bags of cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior). I had no desire for any of it, so I put it up for grabs on Craigslist. Man was it popular. I had to dole it out but no one complained about getting a full grocery bag of the stuff. I'm bored to death with it so I was rather surprised at all the people, some who drove twenty miles to get it (They called and asked, and then drove knowing full well what they were getting when they arrived). I have also gotten african irises. Here and there someone tosses in dog poop or beer cans, but hey, that is the luck of the draw when you are curb snatching.

I guess I used both this year, and aside from a few heating glitches at night (because my seedlings came up sooner than expected), it seems to be working quite well. I sowed all of my veggie and annual seeds in flats indoors, and kept them indoors until they germinated. Then very quickly after they came up, I moved them out to the greenhouse so they'd have plenty of light and heat during the day, and just enough heat to keep them going at night (my goal is 55 degrees overnight, but I've been having insulating "issues", and I'm impatiently waiting for a thermostat for my heater to arrive since I couldn't find one anywhere in town). I don't have enough room indoors to house all these plants once they've gotten big enough to pot up, so the greenhouse was a necessity if I wanted to start things early (which I really did for our short growing season). Right now it's kind of a pain having to cover the flats out there at night, and keep adjusting the heater, but once I get the insulation finished, and the thermostat here and installed, things should be much easier. And truth be told, I do enjoy going out there to check on all the plants growing several times a day...it's nice to have them out of my way, and be able to start more things earlier than I would be able to inside. I don't have the space inside, so for me, the Free Light wins. The amount of light and space I'd need to grow plants out starting this early to our frost date (May 15th) is definately worth a higher electric bill for a few months to me.

Hi - I just read your post, and I would be very interested in coming out to your place with a shovel to get some plants. I knew Vlad, and I would love to have some of his blackberries, some of your raspberries, and a few other plants. I am in Lusby and not real sure where other places are. Could you please let me know if/what you have left and what town you are in? Thanks so much, Christine

>I am hoping they are going to do wonders cleaning the inside of the car windows too Just a word of caution--microfiber comes in many different 'strengths', so test carefully first. I have MF cloths that can clean a camera lens, and MF cloths that will take the top layer of finish off the furniture. They're not all the same, and not all are suitable for use on glass.