Jim, thanks for the tour. Those corner guards are a great idea, and they add a real designer swoop to the whole look. What a difference a small touch like that can make. In case anyone wants to emulate you, I wonder if improving drainage under the wood would help it last longer - maybe a base layer of gravel or bricks. Also, for sourcing RRR materials, local craigslist is usually excellent for either free or cheap stuff. KarinL

hi ham01. this is my first season with the beds, we have clay based soil (it is terrible), to help fill the beds i mixed it with dried grass clippings (cause that is what i had on hand) and added a few yards of loam through out, i have never ammended the soil before and i really just wanted to fill the beds. since then i have learned about lasagna gardening and i have started a compost bin. i don't think i could be more excited about making my own dirt, it is just as much fun as the garden.... my cukes are in a bed that is primarily loam. although i have successfully grown them in the clay. make sure yours get adequate watering, we have been in a long dry spell that just ended last night into today (it must be our first rain in 1 1/2 mos.) last year mine didn't get even watering and they were SO bitter we actually threw them out (too bad i didn't have the compost then...) here is a link from another post that i thought was so interesting in diagnosing your veggie dilemmas, maybe look at that, it sounds like there may be something wrong and it may not be your soil at all. good luck. sarah Here is a link that might be useful: identifying veggie (cukes) diseases

Thanks, all...am enjoying this front garden out the LR windows...right next to the house across from bird arbor sancutary...been a good wet spring...hope first day of summer brings warmer weather! susieroses...all the plants on the ground are perennials...and the hosta's keep getting better each yr...and the dark burgandy are "coral bells" ... and they are doing good...to the right of planter is "Solomon's Seal"...a woodsland plant...does great there. I was worried because big Maple trees are gone & only arbor... but so far everything has done ok. The recycled planter are annuals...dark ivy geraniums, coleus & a spiky houseplant. Glad you enjoyed! Jeanne S. The "Tipsy Buckets" are growing also! A couple perennials were not doing good in the center 2 buckets so I took them out & planted in the ground & replaced them with an annual called "BlueDaze"...it's vining a bit & think it looks great! Here's a couple pics from last wk: BlueDaze Closer View: BottomView with Hollyhocks growing at side: Got to luv summer!!!

The following was posted on thekrib.com/lights/reflectors: Victor wrote: This exact same topic was discussed on one of my reef aquarium list a couple months back. One person, Dana Riddle (www.aquaticwildlife.com), has done many lighting studies on many types of light (MH, VHO and PC). He found that a white surface did indeed reflect as well as the metal reflectors. The only problem was that after sometime, 'painted' white reflectors turned yellowish and were less affective. Someone on that list is starting to use white rain gutters as a reflector and he will report to the list if the white 'powder' coated metal 'yellows' over time. Being a grower of many different kinds of plants for most of my life, I have tried just about everything under lites at one time or another. I've probably read every publication on the subject, in English, on growing plants under lites. One common item,in these writings, has always been a list on reflectivity values. And flat white paint has always been near the top of the list. It's cheap, it's easy and when the paint 'yellows' get out the paint brush! It ain't rocket science and your plants will bearly know the difference. Your wallet will! Michael - -- Michael Serpa * Bay Island Orchids 2311 Pacific Avenue * Alameda, CA 94501 Tel: (510) 521-8245 * Fax: (510) 865-1787 http://www.bayislandorchids.com My own take on it is that my old garden was packed with T12's, and the LIGHT GOT TRAPPED BEHIND THE LAMPS, whereas my current setup is with nicely spaced T8's, 20 tubes over a width of 70", so there is over 50" of space for the reflected light to get out from behind the lamp. That's also a reason that I like Gavita's for HPS, because I can mount a MH between them, and a little higher, and the Gavita lamp is so small that it hardly blocks any of the light, so I get a nice coverage with the Halide for the blue/violet supplement that seems to be of benefit. Paul Mozarowski. Here is a link that might be useful: Exhaustive discussion of paint vs mylar vs foil etc