Your profile indicates you are in zone 2b. You are going to struggle with canteloupes. When you say canteloupes, do you mean traditional French canteloupes or American muskmelons? Muskmelons require a ton of heat, water and sun. Canteloupes are a little more forgiving, but not by much. Spacing: WAY too crowded. The root systems on a melon plant is approximately mirrored by the vine system. When you see the vines sprawling, the roots are trying to do the same. If you need the vines to sprawl out of the bed because you don't have enough space, how are the roots to have enough space? Personally, I grow my melons 4' on centre, with rows 4-5' apart. That may be a bit extreme, but I don't like watering every other day. I would not consider growing closer than 3' between plants. So in other words, no more than 5 plants per bed based on your dimensions.

Okay, I'll leave it be and hope for the best. The pine nuggets seemed perfect, with some pieces being dime sized at the largest and some being really fine mulchy stuff. I'll see if I can get a picture when I go down to my mother's house this weekend, I don't remember the brand name. Was a massive bag for pretty reasonable though, I've used that stuff for nearly ALL of my plants this last repotting season. While most are houseplants, for edibles I planted an olive and a cherry tree in soil amended with it. Guess I'll just see what happens over the winter!

Swatch, eh? I was hoping not to hear that bad word. ;-( I've never done one before...okay, maybe years ago! I just checked a dishcloth I made with 4mm needles, and the tension seems to be right. I think I'll plow ahead with the 4mm needles...5mm does seem large and the hat looks much finer than those needles would produce. Okay! Fingers crossed (as much as is possible while knitting), I'm plowing ahead! Thank you, Donna, and Socks, for taking the time to review that pattern for me. I sincerely appreciate it! ;-D ...Lindi

I couldn't find any pomegranates or seeds, so I just left them off and garnished with mint. This was the first time I've had to do that. I think the biggest down side was that without the pomegranate seeds to signal what the stuff is, people think it's bean dip. A rather reddish bean dip! So I had to tell them. Now, back to my question -- Linda, how much cream or butter would I need per cup of dip? How do you mix it in? I guess I could use the mixer, but it would have to be very gently, because I don't want to break up the nuts and corn too much.