We have plenty of copperheads, rattlesnakes and water moccasins around here, Larry. We don't need to import any! We even have an annual Rattlesnake roundup in Okemah--I think that's Indian for Forked Tongue! Just kidding. And, I don't own any Gucci boots, but the sweat was pouring down. I was wishing for someplace to sit and someway to hold the camera steady. I did have on my Tilley hat that my SIL bought me. I wouldn't have paid that much for a hat. But, it's made of hemp and works well. And my son has taken off with my other hat--the one with the nice broad brim. Elizabeth, I don't have a hairstreak site. I use my Kaufman's guide for ID purposes. Hairstreaks are hard to differentiate because they are so small. You need to have binoculars or a macro lens to get a good glimpse. And you can get tired of checking each one out just to find that it's another Red Banded. MissSherry, I haven't encountered a Banded yet, at least that I've IDed. I hope to find one soon. They are cool with the blue by the tail. You may have the Corals around your place also. I know you have the host plants. Sandy

Kirsty, Before you yank out your peas, try starting a thread just about the peas. Link one or two pea photos and ask a simple question like "what is wrong with these peas". Then, Dorothy and others who routinely grow peas will see that thread, and hopefully they can tell you what is going on. I think it probably is disease caused by the very wet spring, but also might be heat-related. Since I seldom grow peas, I don't feel qualified to state with confidence that it "is this" or "is that". I hate to see anyone rip out a maturing crop without taking time to be sure that the likelihood of getting a good harvest is diminishing. If that is powdery mildew on the peas, you can treat with any fungicide, organic or chemical in nature, that is labeled for use on edible crops. I would never attempt to transplant a tomato that is in the ground at this point, unless it is still very, very small (and yours are not). With tomato plants that are very overcrowded this early in the season, you have several options. 1.) Leave them as they are, have fun harvesting from the wild jungle this summer, and plant with better spacing next year. This isn't as bad as it sounds. If your worst garden problem is that you planted too early and have to crawl into a jungle to harvest your 'maters, then that's not such a horrible problem, is it? 2.) Take a cutting from every other plant. Root the cuttings in water or soil (your choice) and start raising replacement plants. When I raise cuttings, I put one variety per container and label it with masking tape labels to keep the varieties straight. A week or two later (once your rooted cuttings have nice roots), remove evey other plant (it's OK---you already have your replacements for them growing). By removing and composting (sorry!) those plants, you've given the remaining plants twice the space to grow, enlarge and fruit. Then, after peas, lettuce, brussels sprouts, broccoli and other cool season crops come out (it is hot enough that they should be finishing up soon now), plant your cutting-grown plants in those empty spaces. That way, you'll have great tomato plants for fall and your spring-planted plants will have more room. 3) Or, after you've got cuttings going, instead of pulling up and trashing the plants, you could cut the plants back HARD, removing all but about the bottom food of growth and then dig them up and attempt to transplant them. The key is to cut them back so the roots are not too stressed from the shock of transplant + trying to support a large amount of topgrowth. Keep them watered well the first month (moist, not soggy) after they were transplanted and they should regrow and produce for fall. If not, you have back-up cutting grown plants. This only works if the bottom foot of the plant has a lot of healthy foliage. Otherwise, if the bottom foot is all stem and few leaves, they likely will not survive the transplanting process. 4) Leave them exactly as they are, but prepare for their continued growth. First, remove the branches, limbs, and suckers from the bottom 12-18" of the crowded plants. This will open up that lower area for better air flow which is a key issue and will help your plants avoid summer diseases like Early Blight. Then, mulch heavily under the plants to keep weeds down and to reduce soil splash and disease. (Diseases in the soil are splashed up onto the tomato stems and leaves when it rains or when you use overhead watering.) To keep the plants from falling over and taking down their cages, stake them. You can use whatever you have handy to serve as stakes. When I need stakes, I go to the lumber area at Lowe's or Home Depot and buy a bundle of construction stakes. They usually come in 2' and 3' heights, and sometimes in 4'. Currently, I am using the ones that are 4'tall. Stake each cage with one or two stakes to keep them from falling over. I hammer the stakes into the ground with an ordinary hammer, and attach the stakes to the cages with zip ties. If you find more bargain cages on sale, buy enough that you can turn each small cage into a tall cage. Use zip-ties (found in the electrical section of hardware and home center stores) to attach one 'new' cage to each existing one. So, you're attaching the top ring of each new cage to the top ring of each old cage and the legs of the new cage are sticking up into the air. This will allow your plants to grow upwards for 2 or 3 more feet and will keep your plants from becoming such an unruly mass. Trust me, this is a great solution for your current dilemma. 5. Leave the tomato plants as they are, but put some 6' t-posts every few feet, buy some twine or wire, and use the Florida Weave techinique to keep your plants growing upwards above their current cages. Google to find some photos/how to's for the Florida Weave, or do a search on the tomato forum. There--I've given you several tomato options and any of them will help you maintain a little control without sacrificing too much of your potential harvest. By the way, winter time is a great time to make your tomato cages, trellises, etc. for spring and it allows you to spend the money then, instead of in the spring when garden costs are high. If you make your cages in several different diameters, you can store smaller ones inside of bigger ones which are stored inside still larger ones, and they won't take up too much storage space in the off-season. Dawn

They are very early this year....found their little exoskeletons on the foliage this weekend. And the stickelbacks have hatched already too. Quite amazed by the different sizes of tadpoles. Some are quite large and look like they are not far off legs, and others are very small indeed. I don't know if they vary in size due to the genetics of particular frogs, availablity of food, or whether I am seeing toad and/or newt 'poles' which hatch later than frogs.

I have some still like that in the pond so don't panic too much. Sometimes people say that they don't all change at the same time in case some disaster occurs which wipes them out. It is a kind of safety mechanism for the species. I have had them not change the whole year and go through the winter still as a tad. But it isn't generally all of them, most do change within a couple of months. Another thought which is probably completely wrong, but you say they are in a liner from a peddle bin. I am just wondering if the sides are high and they haven't begun to change as they can't get out of the 'pond' - I know - it probably sounds very far fetched, I am just thinking out loud. Alison Here is a link that might be useful: Alisons pond and garden