I wish I had a nickel for every time someone came to my yard, admired my plants and then said since I was a "professional" I must be using some secret fertilizer on my plants to make them look so nice. Are they surprised when I explained I buy what is cheapest at the time! K-grow from K-mart for a liquid fertilizer. High in Urea so it takes about two weeks before you see any reaction by the plant. I mention this because their are no "miracle fertilizers". I am not buying tomato grow, rose grow ect for each plant i fertilize. Yes I agree some plants are more heavy nitrogen feeders than others. Sometimes the issue is the fertility of the soil you have. I have used 10-10-10 on my tree fruits with good results. I have used lawn fertilizer (28-0-16) and had good results too, just use at a much lower rate as higher in nitrogen. My soils are fine on phosphorus and we have a phosphorus ban here anyway unless it is a new planting. I did not spring for a soil test but let the trees tell me the problem. I strive for 18"-24" of new growth on young fruit trees. If I don't get it, then next year I fertilize. Too much growth, then cut back or eliminate fertilizing the following year. I fertilize all my young fruit trees with a granular fertilizer just after leaf out by broadcasting it around the drip-line of the tree. My soil must be very low in nitrogen as imust apply a lite application around old established trees too or their foliage turns yellow-green by mid-June. I fertilize the old trees at about half the rate I use on the young ones so I do not promote a lot of growth but have good leaf color. I know this is not scientific but it has worked for me and I am happy with the results. If I was professionally growing fruit for a living, I would gladly pay for a soil test as well worth the cost and not worth the risk of going without it.

Met my friend who is up from the beach for Christmas. She spends most of her time, at the beach, but still maintains her home here and we visit when she is up. Billy's for a Christmas special lunch: I had Blackened Catfish w/ Creole & Crawfish Tails and she had Chicken Saltimbocca-Topped w/ Sweet Marsala, Prosciutto, Cheddar, Parmesan & Mozzarella Cheeses

I made minestrone soup today and had that for supper, forgot all about the sauerkraut. There are some indiv. containers of sauerkraut and sausage I had made up one time and froze, hope they are still good to eat. Guess I'll try one tomorrow and find out. My Aunt told me to come up to her house tonight, she's making all kinds of appetizers for she and her two grandaughters who are spending the night; but I'm another one who doesn't like to be on the roads at this time.

I made a wonderful beef stew late last night so right now I am reheating a bowl of it for a late supper. My brother Paul was over today so I sent him home with 2 large containers of stew. I was going to just make a small amount but it is just as easy to make a large amount and share it. Perfect thing to eat on a chilly night. Anne