Larry I will post some information from the Ronniger's site where I buy my seed potatoes. I will also add the link to their site. They have very good information on how to grow them. I think this will answer all of your questions better than I can. But if you have any more just ask them. I will say I doubt if hilling no would be beneficial in my opinion. Jay Page 5 Cutting Seed Potatoes l Cutting Seed Potatoes All tubers the size of a hen's egg (1-3 oz.) may be planted whole. For larger tubers, cut the potato using a clean, sharp knife so that each piece will contain 1 or more eyes. Pieces should be cut with plenty of flesh around the eyes, since the plant will utilize this stored food during the first 2 or 3 weeks of growth. If the variety has many eyes, try for two or more eyes on each piece. This provides opportunity for more vines to grow and thus yield more potatoes. Seeds may be planted immediately after cutting if you have good control of soil moisture. If theres a chance the soil may be too wet for a long period of time, youÂll want to allow the cut pieces to dry out prior to planting. Spread them out on a table in the shade or one layer deep in shallow boxes for drying. Avoid shriveling which may weaken the seed piece. Also rec- ommended for wet soil conditions is the application of sulfur or Fir bark dust to the freshly cut pieces. Place 1 or more table spoons in a large paper bag, and toss the pieces around to cover them with dust. This may guard against threat of infection by bacteria and fungus in wetter soil. If you are able to plant cut seed successfully, then there's no reason to go through the extra steps of drying and dusting. Planting The rule of thumb to follow, for the earliest planting time, is to plant 2 weeks before your last spring frost. Then of course,you can plant anytime after that, giving yourself at least 3 months growing season before a major fall frost. Some growers plant later than this for better growing temperatures. Check with the locals. A good beginning soil temperature to plant in is 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The width between rows is determined by the size of your garden and method of cultivation. Farmers need 30" -36" be- tween rows, while gardeners can get by with 20" -26". You might adjust your spacing to suit adverse conditions. Wider spacing can help alleviate stress due to drought or poor soil. Tighter spacing may give you a uniform canopy of foliage to cool the soil in summer. Dig a shallow trench about 6" - 8" deep. Plant your seed potatoes about 12" apart. Using a rake, cover the seed pieces immediately after planting. Do not cover too deep, 4" maxi- mum, and leave the remaining soil for later. Hilling In approximately two weeks, depending on soil temperature, green leaves will emerge. When the plants have grown to about 8" high, gently hill with soil brought up from both sides of the plant using a dull hoe. Bring the soil up about 3" inches leaving 4" - 6" of the plant exposed. Hilling cools the soil and creates space for tuber development. All tubers will form at the same depth of the seed piece and higher. Another hilling of 1 to 2" is beneficial 2 - 3 weeks later. Keep the blade of your hoe well away from the plants so you do not damage the roots. If you see potatoes poking out of the hills, add more soil to cover them. Potato Growers Guide Hilling is crucial to establishing your crop. By gradually building an ever-larger hill of soil around the plant, you are building the site for your potatoes to develop. Give them plenty of room between rows and build your hills wide and ample to produce your bumper crop. Raised Bed Method Make your raised bed at least 12" deep and fill with soil. Plant seed potatoes 6" deep and cover to the top. If you are crowded, space them 8" - 10" apart in rows 20" apart. If you have room, plant 12" apart in rows 24" - 30" apart. Cover to the top. If you live in a wet climate, only cover to 4" deep so that the potatoes can get a quicker start. Then cover to the top later when the plants are tall enough. Mulch Alternative Method The Mulch Method is a good alternative if your soil is shal- low, rocky or compact; if youÂre planting in the heat of sum- mer, or have problems with scab in your soil. The best mulch to use is loose, seed-free hay or straw. Leaves and dried grass clip- pings can be used. It is important to have plenty on hand. Prepare your seed bed. Plant the seed pieces. They can be placed on the surface or lightly trenched, spaced as usual. Loosely shake mulch over the bed, 6" - 10" deep. As the plants grow, continue to add more loose straw, as if hilling. Be sure you keep the tubers well covered so that sunlight doesnÂt get to them and turn them green. The mulching method provides ex- cellent weed and moisture control and reduces stress due to heat. At harvest, pull back mulch. Your nest of potatoes will be clean, uniform and easy to harvest. Cage Method Alternative Grow potatoes in vertical boxes, cribs, barrels or wire cages. Set your cage on prepared soil. Plant strong seed pieces 6" - 8" apart and cover lightly with 4" of soil. When the plant emerges and grows, begin adding mellow compost, mulch or soil always leaving at lest 6 inches of plant exposed. Continue this process until the plants stop their upward progress and/or blossom. Then let them finish out their growing season providing them with plenty of water. As the plant stems lengthen, so do the length and number of underground stolons, which are what produce the potato tubers. More potatoes form in less space and the yield is increased 2 or 3 times. This is a great way to grow a lot of potatoes with limited garden spac Potatoes need about 1" - 2" of water per week. Keep the soil evenly moist, but not too wet, from the time of emergence until then end of the season. Try not to let the soil completely dry out as this will cause sudden re-growth when watered, giving your tubers ears and noses, splits, or hollow heart. Each time you water, let it soak down 8" to 12". A few thorough waterings,along with your efforts at hilling or mulching will be an adequate program to conserve soil moisture. Come up with a schedule, every three days or so, to check the soil moisture down at the roots.

Yes, congrats to everyone! The "other" generous winner was buteau3rd, who made 3 blocks for us and declined to enter the drawing. What a lady! Congrats to calliope and carolnv. You're both getting a treasure trove! In order to get a picture of all the blocks together, I'd have had to lay them out in the yard and take a picture from the deck! So they're posted on the Google docs December 2010 page by participant (link below). Calliope, if you'd like, go ahead and choose which blocks you'd like so I'll know how to split them! No need for extra postage, our postage kitty has been gradually creeping upward, so there's enough to cover the split packages. Again. congratulations to EVERYONE for such a wonderful lotto month! What a great way to close 2010! Kay Here is a link that might be useful: December 2010 Block Photos

My husband retired in January at 62, and I retired in April at 55. I am enjoying every day. He says he doesn't feel useful. I took some watercolor classes and am painting and doing crafts. I don't care if I'm useful or not! I stay up as late as I want, and sleep in if I want. Coffee on the back porch watching the birds in the mornings. Shopping when everyone else is at work. Doctor's appts during the day so I don't have to fight evening traffic. Love it. If you don't finish something today, there is always tomorrow. My elderly mother lives with us, so we can't travel unless someone she knows stays here. Luckily we have a neighbor who will stay with her if we need it, but we can't impose too much, so no traveling. But there is so much to do here (Charleston, SC), I really don't care about that. My hub is retired navy, and we each have a supplemental to Tricare through our previous employers. We pay our portion, but it isn't the full amount we would have to pay on our own. I am looking at volunteering with an animal rescue group, as that is also something else I wanted to do when I retired. This winter I'm starting on a cookbook, too. At least, that is the plan right now.

Garden phlox cultivars differ notably in things like colour and height but also on when they routinely come into bloom. We currently have several dozen different garden phlox cultivars, usually with more than one plant of the same cultivar. Location within our garden is certainly a major influence on when plants of a particular cultivar come into bloom (notably how sunny the particular location is). Still as said there are some systematic differences in bloom time between cultivars. I could not rank our cultivars by bloom time, but occasionally earlier versus later-bloom time seems quite evident. 'Glamour Girl' (in a number of locations in our garden) comes into bloom after most of our other cultivars. Again, in all of this, "which and when" is complicated by location. Our garden phlox which blooms the latest is certainly 'Nora Leigh' (relatively nondescript bloom but variegated foliage). The foliage of many of these plants still looks fine here in October. I've been thinking that the strong mildew resistance of this cultivar might be related to it's late bloom time. I'd say that the way to have garden phlox in bloom for a long time includes having many different cultivars and healthy plants in good growing conditions.