Can I jump in here and ask some questions to Al? Al, you seem to be the guy to ask, as you are quiet insistent on not watering from above. I use soaker hoses extensively on my beds, only a few do not have them. This year, we have had a drought here in Missouri, and literally went almost 6 weeks without any rain. I know it is not good for the environment and for farmers, but it has been great for growing flowers! IF, that is, the flower grower has soaker hoses. If not, it has been a summer from hell for gardeners using watering cans or hoses. Almost all of my plants have grown uniformly, couldnt have been any more perfect, and I think all the success has been due to my being able to totally regulate watering and fertilizing. The only time the tops of my plants have gotten wet was when I would fertilize. And then.............the rain from Hurricane Dennis came.........and it stayed for two weeks streight. And now, I have all kinds of fungal problems. My question to you is (Al), do you practice any means of "extreme gardening" to keep rain off your flowers? I mean, I know you cannot control what goes into the ground, but some kind of effort to keep flowers from getting spoiled? For example: petunias. I detest what rain does to the flowers. I, personally, prefer the non-waves over the waves (though I love both), and am quite diligent with deadheading. However, all it takes is one rain shower to destroy the flowers, and then it is like starting all over again. Also, impatiens get destroyed by rain. I know you are going to think I am a complete fruitcake, but next year I am planning to build some kind of "umbrella" for certain areas of my beds. In fact, I already plan on building cages for certain areas to keep rabbits and other animals out at night time--these cages will be exclusively used at night time only. I love my petunias THAT MUCH. What I envision for the rain issue is, when anticipating a rain storm, simply put the cages on top an cover with plastic. Not tightly to seal out air, just to direct the rain off the flowers and foliage. Am I a complete loonatic here? Or has this been done before and is "old news"? Has anyone else ever considered this or actually done it?! Al, can you give me some tips for doing this? I'd appreciate you!

If skinned properly the skins are pulled off and are like a tube of skin and fir on the inside. We used 1/2" plywood forms to pull the skins onto (fur on inside toward the plywood). We made several different sizes of plywood forms so that the hides were stretched very tight. They were then hung up to dry for about a week to 10 days at which time the fats were pealed off the skin carefully as not to tear the skin. Then we would sell them to a fur dealer who would give us $2 for pure white and for the different colored furs as little as $.50 each. That was good for the late 1950's to early 60's. During the summer I would keep them in large fenced in areas and the feed cost was nothing. We buried the fence 1' deep and 1' flat away for the fenced area like an "L" for a total of 2' under ground. We used several 4'x8' sheets of marine plywood and put these on top of cement blocks so the rabbits had a place the was shaded and gave them cover form weather and hawks and owls. There were many bushes and pines in there for them to nest and hide in also. Only one buck and 20 does were in each 3/4 acre pen. We usually culled the young every 30 days or so and pen raise them to butchering size-about 8-12 week depending on the breed. During the winter only the buck was left in the pens. There was enough food for 1 rabbit for the winter months. Sometimes we would give them so hay if we noticed that they were over browsing the shrubs due to deep snow. They were so much healthier this way. Ma would fry the rabbit that she dipped in her herbal blend of flour mix. After they were 1/2 way cooked she would transfer them to her famous 'Dutch Oven' over low heat and added a cup of cheap wine (MD, it was the brand Charlie Weaver used to push on TV) and of course the cook always saved herself a wee bit of wine to sip on while preparing the rest of the meal. VERY TASTEY-the rabbit I mean.

Hello, everyone! I am a new member, and glad to be here. This is a long post, but it's worth reading, because it is a simple, inexpensive and permanent solution to the problem of rabbits eating your flowers and vegetables. I do cannot understand why so many people pass up this infallible solution for keeping rabbits and other small critters (and maybe deer, as well) from eating their flowers and vegetables. IT WORKS, PERIOD. Put in a blender the following, none of which need to be peeled or otherwise fooled with, except for the onion, which should be cut in quarters, to facilitate blending: 2 dozen habanero peppers 1 whole head garlic 1 medium red onion 1 tablespoon peppermint oil Add enough water so that it comes to about 4 inches above ingredients.(This really means to add enough water that ingredients will get as liquefied as possible.) Blend on highest speed until it appears to you that all ingredients are thoroughly liquefied. Add enough additional water to come up to the 1 quart mark on blender. Blend again at high speed for 30 seconds or so. Strain the mixture through a nylon stocking, or better yet, a nut milk bag, if you have one. It might even be worth your while to buy a nut bag expressly for the purpose of making this recipe. (Just do a search under "Not bag" or "nut milk bag.) But a nylon stocking will work. Strain mixture over a bowl through stocking (or nut bag) till no more liquid runs through. Then squeeze as much more liquid as possible out of what is still in the stocking. WASH YOUR HANDS AND UNDER YOUR NAILS VERY WELL WITH LOTS OF SOAP AND WARM WATER AFTER HANDLING THE MIXTURE. Using a funnel, pour the strained liquid into a 1 quart spray/stream bottle. Now you are ready to spray or squirt the mixture on your plants. Rabbits will NOT eat plants on which you spray this stuff. You don't need to over spray, but don't be stingy, either. Make sure whatever you spray gets a decent dousing. It won't take long before the critters keep away just because of the smell HOWEVER, you MUST be vigilant about using this stuff. After it rains, especially after a hard rain, spray your plants again. Whether it rains or not, spray every 3 weeks. If the smell wears off sufficiently, the rabbits will be back. Also, there will be young, "unschooled" rabbits coming along throughout the season, That's it. No rabbit fences, no dogs, cats, traps, etc. The main reason this mixture works is because rabbits will not take more than a nibble of a leaf with this stuff on it before they try something else. By the way, rabbits have a "favorites" list." So if you spray this mixture on whatever is their favorite item in your garden, they will begin eating whatever is second, then third, fourth, etc. on their list. So that means you need to spray most things in your garden, except for plants you know they won't eat, like tomatoes, for instance. I read the post about rabbits eating someone's tomatoes, and I would not believe it unless I actually saw it. The reason is that tomatoes, potatoes and other nightshade family plants have a horrible tasting poison in their leaves and stems. Rabbits simply cannot to tolerate it. Try a little nibble on a leaf yourself, and you'll see... Well, that's it: Capsaicin is the end of the line for rabbit problems, as well as other small critter problems. I think this stuff also works for deer, but am not sure. It may be that a mixture for deer needs to also have "putrefied egg solids" in it. THAT is something I would buy, not make!

Dee--When you're in Myrtle Beach, I hope we're in your EATING THOUGHTS---lol. Remember, you have to answer to us upon your return! I am almost through my 5th day of CONTROLLED EATING!!!! Hey, ya gotta start somewhere and I am doing well so far. The weather is HOT --for HERE, milkdud--lol--we're in the upper 70's and lower 80's. That helps me drink more and eat less. I'll have my FIRST weigh in on Monday, so I'll be here for that. Wodka, I am on the same page with you and the dentist's drill. When I was a youngster, my dad and mom took me to an old military dentist friend and his novocaine was WAY out of date and didn't work. I never recovered from those experiences and every dental visit is MAJOR trauma for me, emotionally---besides pinching me in the pocket book! DonnaSNJ! YAY! Good to hear from you! Stay in Touch!!!!! Whatcha been doin'? TreKaren---You've got more guts than me. I went to ONE cycling class and quit---about 2 years ago. It KILLED ME! I do ride my "outside" bike in the summer though. I have padded seat bike pants AND a gel seat---hey! Even though I have extra *fat* padding on my fanny, I still need the other padding; I don't know why! Joyce---You don't want to see your grandchildren, I gather! haha. I can TOTALLY relate to getting your house ready for an open house--it took me SO long--but I finally found I couldn't be a perfectionist about it. Just so the surface stuff and CLEAR it out into the garage or a storage bin as much as you can---then breathe, relax, and get ready! REANNE, NHSuzanne,Marci, and Besh---Get in here---NOW. You guys are MIA too often lately. We're SISTAHS, remember. Ohana now. No one gets left behind... What ever happened to PJ from CA? I wonder what she's up to???? Anybody remember her? Tikanas was her online name. I so enjoyed hearing about her busy and active life... Okay, enjoy! Oh, BTW, DH fired me yesterday at about 9:30am--WOW! I am back at work now, but I have to tell you, working FOR your spouse is a sticky wicket--in more ways than one. (I've only been fired once before, when my ex was having an affair with my boss and she wanted me out of the picture. They served me divorce papers on my birthday...but that was another lifetime ago...)