i take it you do this because it is more cost effective? ~ a bale of peatmoss & a huge bag (which i have)of perlite is a better buy than a large, compressed bag of potting mix? ~ i can never *think* that through, cuz it's like comparing apples & oranges ~ sortof ~ for instance, i bought a *compressed* bale of pro-mix bx for $27 at a feed store ~ i dunno ~ is that a good deal? how the heck do i compare a *compressed* bale to a non-compressed bale? ~ and, boy o boy, it is really compressed ~ i almost have to cut out a chunk with a butcher knife! thanks for any insight ~ phyl

It is probably impossible to identify by the photo but it is the one out in front. ***** It is impossible to ID it by a photo other than to say that it's a typical gold/red bicolor. But there are close to 100 varieties of gold/red bicolors that are known, and most of them look pretty much alike. As for saved seeds, the nice thing is that if you save your own you know exactly what the age is. When buying seed you often see a packed for date but that only means when the seeds were packed, not when they were produced. Some, but not all seed companies, do germination tests on the seeds they sell. And some companies produce all the seed they sell, some subcontract out for seed production, and some buy wholesale off the shelf and some do a combo of what I've said. The one place where you can be sure of buying tomato seed that's never more than two years old is Sandhill Preservation, and I can't make that comment for any other company that I know of. iF any of you know any other companies that can make that claim, please let me know. Carolyn

Usually the owner of the money gives a pot of money now, or makes regular payments over a period of time, to usually an insurance company, in exchange for a benefit that the insurance company offers. The insurance company agrees to begin paying a specified amount to that person, beginning at a certain date and, often, continuing for the rest of the person's life. Or, at a lower rate of regular payout, to include a surviving spouse. However ... some people found that the original owner of the money often died within a few months of beginning to receive the annuity ... and that was the end of the contract: the full amount paid was kept by the insurance company (except for the small amounts paid out). One financial advisor that I knew had a client over 80, with no dependents, that considered buying an annuity (i.e. was in the process of being sold an annuity by an agent). He, cancelling another appointment, travelled some distance to meet with the two, and when he asked how much of a benefit there would be if the lady died in a couple of months, was told that there was no such provision in the proposed agreement. Many people who were much younger than that lady, when considering a proposed contract, didn't like that idea, so there's an option available for the original purchaser to have a provision in the contract where the payout period will be for his/her life but, should s/he not live long after the payout begins, the annuity will continue (at a reduced rate) for a 10, or 15 year, or other length, period. The rates that insurance companies offer regarding annuity payout lebvels usually bear some connection with current interest rates. When rates are high, often the rates of payout offered by annuities are higher than average, but usually not comparable. When rates are low, as they have been lately, payout rates offered are usually low. The reason being that the insurance company has guaranteed to make payouts at predetermined levels, but don't have certainty as to how much they can earn on the invested assets in the meantime. The insurance company doesn't give a guarantee to make a level of payout that is going to hurt them in the end. In the case of life insurance, the owner of the policy bets that s/he's going to die prematurely, when some non-employable dependents require an income for them to live on for a number of years, but leaving no one to provide it. The insurance company bets that the buyer of the life insurance is going to live to an advanced age, paying premiums throughout. The insurance companies are the ones with the actuaries. In the case of an annuity, the buyer is betting that s/he is going to live for a long time ... collecting that annuity payment regularly through to, say, 104. And the insurance company bet that s/he's going to die before they've paid out a bucket of money in total to that person. And if they're covering a spouse, as well, or have given a guarantee that they'll continue paying for, say 10 years, even if the owner dies a month after payout begins ... the amounts of the regular payout the the company is willing to offer is lower. As their risk is greater. I confess to a bias against insurance companies' practices, largely because they marketed whole life insurance policies for ages, telling ofthe great value in having some value build up in the policy over the years. But, in order to collect that "extra value" ... ... the owner of the policy pretty well had to arrange to be alive and dead at the same time. For many, who want to spend some time learning how money works, and are not going to get all bent out of shape if the value of theri assets drops for a while when there are corrections in the equity markets, I think that they can likely do better investing on their own, if they do it skilfully. For quite a long time, I said that no one cares as much about your money as you, so it's wise to learn how to manage it well. But in recent years I've changed the tune somewhat, to ... no one cares as much about your money as you ... except some folks that would like to shift some (most? all?) of it from your pocket ... ... into theirs. Your job is to keep that from happening ... unless you get good value in return. Enough for now. Good wishes for making themost effective coices, given your circumstances. ole joyful

Image by: wintersown Seed Storage Boxes That's a tough question to answer because some plants have seeds that will remain viable years and years, and some plants have seed that will be viable for a much shorter time, perhaps just a year or two. Plant varieties are genetically different and Mother Nature controls this aspect. So, we have to look at the question differently, and maybe even ask it differently. Let's change the question to: What can I do to make my seeds last as long as they can? There's several ways to do this. We must first assure that the seeds are ripe when we collect them and have been allowed to dry in an open and well ventilated area, the moisture will slowly evaporate from them. For some simple and general information on harvesting and drying seeds please see the Seed Saving Forum FAQ called: "Saving your own seeds is easy to do!" How can I store my seeds after they've been dried? There are many favorite methods. The most important aspects of seed storage is to assure that they're consistantly dry and away from severe fluctuations of heat. I store my seeds in cardboard file boxes. I even have alpha-sort cards in them so I can organize the seeds alphabetically....you could also use shoe-boxes for the same purpose, they work great and it's an excellent way to recycle too! I keep four boxes for my seeds, a box each for: Annuals, Perennials, Vines, and Veggies and Trees and Bushes. I keep the boxes on a shelf in my house. The room has a comfortable temperature all year round, and the shelf is out of direct sun. Any sunlight streaming through the windows won't fall directly on the boxes and their contents won't heat inside from the warming sunshine. ============== Some of my seed-saving friends keep their seeds in recycled popcorn tins. These are very colorful and they have a tight fitting lid. After you eat the popcorn do wash the container and it's lid inside and out with hot soapy water. Rinse it well and dry it thoroughly. Any moisture left inside the can could foster rotting of the seeds, and it might cause the can to rust too ;-( They place their packets of seeds in zip bags, squeeze out as much air as they can, and zip them shut. Their seeds are organized bag by bag by their own preferences. The can goes out of direct light for storage. Place it in a closet, or under a table skirt, or up on a shelf....anywhere that it won't get fluctuating heat and won't be in direct sunshine streaming through a window. ===================== Another friend places his seeds in plastic boxes with tight fitting lids and stores them in the refrigerator. The refrigerator does not have fluctuating temperatures and the light only goes on when he's snacking or cooking ;-) ===================== Can I use something with my stored seeds to help absorb any moisture from the air that might linger in the container when I go into it for a pack of seeds? Yes you can! I use packets of silica gel and toss a few into each file-box of seeds I have. (They can go into baggies or tins or plastic boxes too.) Where do I get the silica packets? I save mine whenever I get a freebie pack. Sometimes when you buy shoes, or a wallet, or a handbag there's a pack of silica gel with the item to help absorb moisture. Another excellent freebie source is in vials of prescription drugs. Can I buy Silica Gel packets too? Yes you can! Ask for silica gel at luggage stores and shoe shops. Generally, wherever good leather products are sold you can find silica gel for sale too. =============== I hope this FAQ has been informative and that your seeds last for a very long time! Trudi