Gosh philo,when I read that you are giving away those fine plants,I stopped breathing ! [gasp!] I can picture myself as a bromeliad grower,like Michael,and a customer walks in. And I'd probably say,"Hi there,if your here to just look around,thats fine,...but if you were thinking of buying something,I think you had better leave right now" Not a good business man,but what the heck,I'd have the best nursery and the most plants.;)) Stephania,how did you ever notice the var.cyanea? I barely made it out even when I located it ! But the neoglaziovia I did spot righy away. And philofan,its PIZZA...another one of my favorites! ;)) And you're sure right about the anticipation and fun of unpacking a box of broms.I've even got my usps maillady interested in them now,from her delivering so many boxes this past summer.Life is good! Bob

Not sure it you will have the same results in your climate, but I showed no difference in production past the first season (and only mildly more fickle watering requirements of the easy way during the first season) in a side by side test several years back. One bed that was double-dug with compost interspersed versus planting in 6" of compost placed in a bin created by putting cardboard on undisturbed ground then filling with pure compost. I think my biggest possible help here would be to recommend putting that effort into building durable trellis structures.

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This was so much information! Thank you! I want to pull out what I found to be the most interesting and post it on it's own. "Just as the body was formed and operates on a priority basis, so it heals on a priority basis. This means that the most important parts of the body get the healing attention before the less vital tissues. We can't force the body to place its healing priority on weight loss when in fact the liver is about to die, for example. The liver is more important to your body than the extra pounds. So all the energies of the body go to heal the liver and weight loss will stop. The body will not compromise what health and vitality it does have in one part of the body to bring about healing in another. In other words, the body will not "rob Peter to pay Paul." So you may be eating nutritionally and exercising and you start out losing some weight. But then all of a sudden, you become stuck at a certain weight -- the needle on the scale won't budge anymore. The body is rejoicing on the inside and saying things like, "You know, we have all this extra energy now because Mr. Doughnut here has decided to start eating right and exercising -- let's take some of our new available energy and start the healing process on his congested liver!" So the body will take all the available energy and channel it into the liver. As a result the weight loss stops. The body will NOT take away any energy needed for daily activities and maintenance. It will only take what is left over to start the healing process. It's my belief that the body does not completely heal one part before moving on to the next item on its priority list. Rather, it heals a part to the degree that it is no longer a priority. At that point the healing attention is shifted to the part of the body that is now in most need of repair. In the above example, once the liver has been cleansed somewhat, the body will refocus its attention on other areas... perhaps back to weight loss. During my weight loss period, I would hit plateaus where it seemed like I'd never lose another pound. I lost 10 pounds and then nothing for 3 weeks. During that time I woke up one morning and my arthritis was gone and my blood sugar had stabilized somewhat. If you keep on your diet and exercise program, you will eventually lose all the weight you want. A healthy body is not overweight. Remember, "Always strive for health and the weight loss will happen!"