mnwsgal: I don't know if it's an issue, maybe sometimes after several generations of smaller-than-target plants, I can see how it would be. But many of us receivd our initial seeds right from Emily and failed to get them close to the height of her 6 footers. That's why I was brainstorming in another direction. Like could it be the soil? Maybe a more sandy soil is better while mine is clay. Maybe they thrive in acidic soil where mine is a slightly alkaline pH. Mostly, though, in my case I keep coming back to the same reasons for myself: 1. Wintersown rather than inside under lights 2. No high-test fertilizers used. 3. I lack Emily's and Yvonne's green thumb Did you ever notice how some folks can grow big beautiful healthy plants anytime, anyplace, in anything? I'm not so blessed. Karen

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to weigh in on this discussion, though I've been corresponding privately with ajsmama. The Just-Like-Gregg's recipe intrigued me, so I decided to try it. Here's what I learned: The cucumbers get salty, dilly, and garlicky without becoming pickles, because no vinegar is added and no fermentation occurs. I've had these in the refrigerator for about a month now, and they're now getting a bit too hot from the peppers. But, as I expected, there is no sign of spoilage. When ajsmama wrote me regarding this forum discussion, I was alarmed by a post about listeria in fermented pickles. Now I can't find the post; perhaps it was removed? Anyhow, I looked up the study that was mentioned, "Listeria monocytogenes Survival in Refrigerator Dill Pickles," on the website of the National Center for Home Preservation, and I urge anyone worried about the safety of unpasteurized fermented pickles to do the same. Here's my summary of the study: Cucumbers were soaked in a listeria inoculum for 15 minutes (I recommend washing cucumbers in clean tap water instead). Some of the cukes were then fermented in a weak brine, some in a medium brine, and some in a very strong brine. In all cases, the listeria population increased slightly during the first few days, declined sharply by the end of the seven-day fermentation, and continued to decline slowly during refrigerator storage. Although the listeria didn't disappear entirely, it fell to ONE-ONE HUNDRED-THOUSANDTH of the peak amount. If for fear of listeria you want to avoid eating fermented cucumbers that haven't been heat-processed, you should certainly also avoid eating raw cucumbers or any other raw vegetables or fruits.

mudlady - If these devices still function but you're reluctant to use them because they have now un-updated Windows XP, I say.....go ahead and use them. As long as they have a solid antivirus/security system with an updated and active firewall, I think there's little to no risk of having a problem from surfing to known and legit websites, nor from the possibility of an intrusion coming up your internet connection. When googling for information, be careful not to click through to sites of unknown provenance. Also, I'd turn the devices off when not in use. Others will surely disagree, maybe they'll post and explain why.

You said MS live email, if you mean Windows Live Mail, I like it. I did not like it at first, but I kept trying because I could not get Windows Mail or OE anymore. When I discovered the "quick access tool bar", I started using it. Now I like it fine. I looked through all the menu tabs and right clicked on what I wanted on the QA Bar then clicked on "Add to QA bar". It is not to different from OE now. I still have a problem with font size which involves rich text or plain. I put that icon on the compose so I can switch when I want to. I like my email on my desktop so I can access it there rather than on line. I also get my gmail through WLM. I have windows 7 and had to adjust to a lot of things that I did not like, but I stuck with it and have adjusted to the changes.