Hey FBB: Don't feel bad, it happens to me to a varying extent every year. My extols me to hill the corn every year. She thinks that it will produce more prop roots thereby minimizing the lodging. I agree with her about causing greater prop root formation but, still I get blowdown. The reasons I don't like hilling: 1) it is alot of physical work 2) it doesn't seem to stop the lodging 3) I have to flatten the hills back out in the fall (more work). However, this year, in order to reduce the labor I used my tiller to loosen about an inch of soil on both sides of each row and hilled the plants with the easy to move soil. It made hills about 8" tall around the plants. We had 3" of rain wind and pea sized hail Monday evening over a 2 hour period and my corn is still standing. HURRAY! I'm looking forward to picking standing like a homo sapiens rather than a gorilla this year. There may be another benefit to hilling. For the 1st time ever, I have corn root worms. Having the extra roots that formed from hilling may have saved me from serious losses from the worm s the plants may have grew new roots faster than the worms could kill them. About 5% of my plants fell over and shriveled which is how I discovered the (very late in the season) worms.

Never learned to sew anything other than the required "home ec" school projects, lol. What I really don't understand is "this senior person at a fabric company could not answer a question about copying designs and copyright." Whether you're a professional or a "lay" guest with the sewing skills of an accomplished home seamstress, isn't the point learning about fabrics in order to buy same to replicate a design idea into something that would work in your own/client's home? Was this a "thing" directed at professional decorators, or just the average home seamstress interested in making their own home decor items? Obviously, I'm missing something regarding copyright being be an issue?

Your yellow looks like Jean Giono to me - but I'm not sure by any means. :) Love your New Dawn - such a beautiful climber. Here in zone 3 - I can only wish. :) Thanks for the look. Carol

You weren't listening very well, Brandon, despite the fact you had a front row seat. I said that we monitored carefully for RRD and I offered to send you samples of chilli thrips, mostly because of your trite attitude. We have never sprayed for RRD and I hope we don't have to. Yes, this is Tom Carruth. Please don't bother attending any more of my lectures since your reporting of the event is so full of errors.