Perhaps the clearest delineation I come across between gardeners can be found in the variation between how eager growers are to accept anecdote over science; or said in reverse, how diligent growers are in determining whether something can or should be taken at face value. How much we learn or how much we actually know about plants and gardening isn't necessarily related directly to the effort we expend to learn, or even to the effort we expend to gain what passes for experience. Experience is only valuable if we are learning from our errors and changing patterns so we don't make the same errors a second, third, fourth ..... time; and being bitten continually by the error half of 'trial and error' is actually one of the slowest ways to learn. It's not experience that has learning value if we are doing the same thing over and over again without improvement. I think experience is extremely overrated unless it's being used to validate previously acquired knowledge. IOW, learning by error and then changing 'something' in the hope of making things better is far less efficient than learning something from a reliable source and using our practical experience to validate that knowledge, or in some cases refute it as impractical for our application. Limiting our opportunities to learn to only those sources that are in accord with our personal views may increase the enjoyment we get from the affirmations we seek, but learning from a source that is concerned to the greatest degree possible with disseminating information w/o bias, puts us on the fast track when it comes to acquiring valuable experience, penultimately, and user-friendly knowledge, ultimately. I think it's pretty easy to take the measure of a gardener, at least on these forums, by considering how his observations and statements are qualified. The casual gardener is more likely to make broad statements and assumptions with little in the way of qualification; while the more analytical gardener understands that everything isn't always black and white, and illustrates the analytical side by thinking through his offerings to see if it holds water as a broad statement in all cases or if it needs qualification. As an example - the casual gardener might say, or accept on its face, the idea that because Mg is a critical part of the photosynthetic process, and that because banana peels or Epsom salts contain Mg, that adding either to your soil can only be a good thing. The analytic gardener understands it's not that black & white & qualifies the statement by saying it can be a good thing if the soil is deficient of Mg because they are both sources of Mg. Or, he might note that in the case of the banana peel, if there is no Mg deficiency, the excess may be (in the tiniest of degrees) a potential limiting factor that could be offset in other ways because of the addition of the OM. I don't think that analytic gardeners are necessarily better gardeners, but I think they have the potential to be better gardeners because they want to know 'why'. I also think that ambition has a LOT to do with how successful a gardener is. The diligent casual gardener will probably fare much better at harvest than the lazy analyst, illustrating that gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration; and the best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. Al

Chocolate mint sounds heavenly! I'm a sucker for chocolate, have a huge sweet tooth, and that's what makes dieting so difficult for me! I just love bakery and chocolate... preferably chocolate bakery! I usually grow some regular mint and also spearmint in the garden, along with oregano, basil, thyme, sage, cilantro, parsley and chives. The herbs are mixed in with the perennials, and the mint usually takes over and requires a drastic cutting back in summer! This spring, I have to dig out some of the oregano... it's overtaking the dianthus and coreopsis, and starting to get in the way of the garage door! Some herbs are just a tad bit invasive! Good zucchini bread is a great trade off for tolerating a few plants and bulbs! You have lucky roommates! They not only get to enjoy your baking... they also get to enjoy your flowers! I've heard that species tulips are fabulous for forcing... I may try some next year. I also want to try forcing Lily-Of-The-Valley... now, that would be a wonderful mid-winter pick-me-up with that heavenly scent! This is my first year forcing any bulb, and I've got a nice pot of hyacinths getting bigger every day, just begging to bloom and spread that lovely perfume! Without my indoor garden, I'd go winter wacky!

I am surprised to see this post still rocking along. I have been a MG for 10 years, and for the most part, it has been wonderful for me. I started in a neighboring county, as we didn't have a group in our county at the time, but did transfer when a group was organized and seemed to be thriving. We have a new class beginning January 20, 2009. We have a membership of 42 members at this time, so we are hoping that this new class will give us a dozen new and enthusiastic members. Our classes are $100.00, with 50 volunteer hours required in the year to be certified. Re-certification requirements are for 12 hours volunteer work, and 6 hours CEU training. I was co-ordinator for our last class, and a lot of problems can be laid at the feet of a co-ordinator who doesn't teach responsibilities of the MG. It becomes a social organization, and after they learn they don't have to do anything for Extension, it is difficult to persuade them that it is necessary that MG help out in the office, and that we follow the rules of our state organization. I have served as Secretary, Vice President, and this past year, President. I have represented us at the state level, have chaired just about everything there is to chair. It was a lot of time, and a lot of work, but worth every minute to me. And I hope that our MG would think I did a good job. The charter class of this organization is 5 years old this year. They have worked hard and they are just tired. Not short of enthusiasm, but they are ready for someone else to take the reins of leadership now. This new year gives us new leadership, and everyone is very excited for it. Our new president is beginning her second year as a certified MG, as is our new secretary. Our new vice president and treasurer are both brand new- just certified on December 15, 2008! We are sure they will do a wonderful job, and it is nice to see the 'young ones' being excited about being involved in running things. Not just these 4, but all the newer MGs are excited. And us 'old ones' are excited for our group too. We have problems to work out, but we have come a long way. We have for the past 3 years held a free for the public seminar once a month, January through October, on a variety of subjects. We have wonderful plant sales, and we are soon to begin a demonstration garden of our very own. We have several project we have taken on and completed over the past 3 years that we are very proud of. We could never take the place of our agents. These people work so hard, and we are there to help them. I don't know how 5 of us could do what one of our agents gets done in a week. We also have a website, and I am the Webmaster. This is one job I am really looking forward to this year. To anyone contemplating the MG course, I would encourage you to try it. Oh, yes, our classes are in the evening for the past 3 years. It makes a little difficult to organize projects, workdays, and outings sometimes, but it is o.k. Janie Here is a link that might be useful: Jackson County Master Gardener Association

Dr. Lstiburek's rule of thumb is a minimum R20 in basement walls north of the Mason-Dixon Line. (Of course, he doesn't always follow his own rules.) I've used R13 dense fg batts and 1" of XPS in basements plus spf in the rim joist area. That yields a nominal R18. However, in your colder climate (very cold on climate maps) I would be concerned that the 1" board (R5) would not be enough to keep the wall free from condensation on the above grade portion. What's more important than the nominal R value is the tightness of the wall to air penetration. That's why the tape, t&g, caulking and polyurethane spray is so important. BTW, since I live in my own homes, I can say the basement comfort in homes with the XPS/fg combo is noticeably greater than the previous standard fg. Plus there's less need for supplementary heating.