Countrygrl, I use exterior primer (Zinsser) and paints, just like you paint your house with. I get it in the mis mix section at HD, Lowes, or find it at Habitat Restores as well as in the trash behind stores, etc. Here in California, there are SOOO many regulations about how you're allowed to throw anything away, so many people just dump it where they can get away with it. It's good for us, lol. I sprayed underneath this with a can of car undercoating (get it at auto supply stores), so if it ever collects water underneath, it can't soak in. Someone here suggested it a while back and it works really well. It can also be painted. Linda

That is ok. The bigger the better. I have grown them in North Fulton, not far from Alpharetta, many times in the past. I never did support them like you have done. NO, NO!! don,t cut them !. Keep them on the vine as long as the vine is live, till frost or whatever. Then you can cut an let them mature/fully dry in a shack, or garage for several months., before doing any work on them. Just protect them from squirrels. --------------------------------------- P.S. You might think that with that size they must be heavy(like pumpkins), BUT they are not, b/c they are hollow inside with just some seeds, No flesh, except the wall thickness that hardens as they mature. This post was edited by seysonn on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 1:21

The purple martins took off for South America yesterday. It was sooner than I expected. I'm a little sad. Every year, I get used to seeing them when I come home. I always take some time to watch them. It is so relaxing to take a few minutes to sit on the bench to watch them soar around the sky and talk to each other. It is great to invite friends over to sit under the tree, have a glass of ice tea and watch the martins. That last set of babies fledged and boy, the colony didn't waste any time at all. I saw them late yesterday morning and had a sense that they were getting ready to go. Their fluttering around the house wasn't quite their normal behavior. By noon there wasn't a purple martin in sight. None came into the birdhouse at dusk last night and this morning, the house was still empty. So I took the house down this afternoon and cleaned it out. Got it ready to put into the attic until Christmas/January. I sure do miss them already! Carol

I was afraid that might be the case, they all look around the same size (martins) and info I found today said that the martins usually start to arrive here in February and look for nesting spots. In addition to All the other potential dangers/problems with the house/location where these martins are possibly planning to nest and raise babies, same neighbors also have a HAMM RADIO tower in their back yard and every year around late spring/ summer a great horned owl perches up there on and off and and hoots, I've heard him and seen him up there several nights in a row before. Is there anything I can do at this point, like put up a safe Martin house, or will they stay there now regardless? I'm hoping that if I talk to neighbors and explain the situation, they will do something about it. I feel sick at the thought of the martins going through whole process and end up losing babies or being harmed themselves. If I thought there was a possibility that they would relocate this late in the game, I'd gladly put up a safe place for them to nest and make sure it stays that wAy, although I'd be learning as I go, ughh, whole situation makes me nervous. I'm going to post the pics of the house and the birds tonight, I'm pretty sure the house is not the ideal layout either, it has little porches with metal railings on both floors and another railing across top and from what I've read so far, that makes it easy for owls to get to them. Thanks