Thank you PV for your post all all great tips:) My balcony is facing north and there is a bit of sunlight in the front of in usually by noon. Then its all shade for the rest of the day...Lemon trees seem to be doing fine so this will be an experiment with herbs. I didn't know about carrots that they will not grow without full sunlight (too bad was excited for some sweet young carrots) but i will look into lettuce! Your basil is amazing. what kind of basil do you have? i bought seeds of sweet basil but saw some other kinds and had a little bit dilemma of which one to choose so went with sweet one. I like growing from seeds - more fun to watch and more satisfaction than buying a grown plant. Does growing broccoli or cauliflower require a big container? I might be interested in that but I don't have room for a big container on my balcony. Fortunately I am the only person who will be using herbs for cooking and veggies (if that works out for me) so I don't need a lot. I guess just a bit of everything that I like. I still want to get some dill seeds. I bought 2 new containers - one smaller one medium and will have to figure out what to plant there.... Thanks for tips on plants and flowers! i am interested more in once that will live longer than one season... and that will add some color to the balcony. unfortunately its more of a concrete balcony and I don''t have any railings to use for attaching a windowbox. SO I am left with whatever pots/containers I put on the floor i guess. I am excited to expand flowers/plants on my patio. It's probably not he best time of the year for it -fall - but in I live in San Diego so another 2 months should still be quite warm before it's around 45-50 degrees in the winter. I also attached below pictures of how the balcony looks like and other ones in the building (it wasn't a sunny day so actually it looks a bit more gray than usually): Magda

Considering the plant is close to 4ft tall the blooms are huge...Good thing I got that last picture of her flush..the tropical storm system that is coming through here has done a number on them..the wind was terrible..whipped the flowers to shreds and lost alot of leaves on the brugs that I do have...the scent was kinda spicy sweet..taking on more of a rose scent as the blooms got older...oh well..it was wonderful while it last..at least I wont have to knock off so many leaves when I bring them in..lol I do have a bud on Frosty Pink..err I should say I did have one..dont know if its still there or not though lol..pouring rain and wind have kept me from checking ..hopefully it will still be there and maybe bloom for me before frost...

Dale I would never be able to describe the exact location of where these morels were found. They were on private property, and I was invited by the owner, or I never would have found it by myself. Now, since she has moved, I'd probably have to trespass or get the new owner's permission. Anyways, you should be happy to know they are to be found in many locations in Oklahoma. Keep tabs on this link, and you should be able to zero in on a good location. I think there's another morel link for Oklahoma as well as this one online. You won't be disappointed if you luck onto a good morel spot. As you will see in the pics in this link, even the homeies love them, lol! Just wait til about April and about four days after a rain. Look for a moist woodland, where some deer and cows have roamed, and there are many such places in Oklahoma. I LOVE morels just about any way you can prepare them. And especially morel soup, or perhaps cut up in small pieces for tempura. A real delicacy. I've been thinking of starting my own little shitake patch. You can buy the spores of those online and perhaps other varieties as well. Dawn I can relate to the harvesting, canning and preserving fatigue. Getting kind of tired of it myself, so when dinner time rolls around and it's just me, it's catch as catch can from the garden. I really do hate to see the summer crops dwindling. Okra not bearing well. The cucumbers that store boughts will NEVER be able to rival are just about kaput. I still have tons of BIG tomatos that haven't ripened yet. Since it's been dry, with no recent rain, I've been allowing them to store up all that deliciousness and not get soggy or insipidly flavorless, so they have been amazing! Especially enjoying the Indian Stipes, which were not new to you, but certainly a delightful first for me. I'm hoping I don't get stuck with having to can jars of pickled tomatos or green tomato relish. I like it, but there's only so much of it I can eat. Today's menu was simply one of my baked buttercup squash, (just the right size for me), with butter and brown sugar, and cooked to pieces pole beans. Since I don't have a family to cook for, sometimes I kind of 'batch' and my folks used to call it. Nice in a way, since I can eat weird stuff that I like, when I like and not have to worry about meal planning per se. Barbara Here is a link that might be useful: Morels of Oklahoma

Well, my kitchen still isn't quite done. But for now, it is my full extension drawers and the soft close on the doors and drawers. What a great feature. DB (dear boyfriend) used to make me jump everytime he shut (aka slammed) the cabinet door. Now it is quiet as a whisper--my whisper not his--he doesn't have a quiet bone in his body! I also love my faucet (pre-rinse faucet). I now know why they use those things in restaurants. Makes your life so much easier. My under cab lights which make my kitchen sexy! My Bosch dishwasher. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that thing. It is quieter than my new fridge. Cleans gunked up, caked on stuff that has been sitting there a week. Everything comes out clean as a whistle. Did I tell you that I love the thing? Granite is not too bad either Oh, by the way I Chick--check is in the mail... along with the other checks for CA state employees....Not so LOL...but one must keep a sense of humor...