To all, This is an old post. I do NOT have any Green Zebra, Old Ivory Egg, or Snow White cherry anymore. I DO have some unknown tomato seeds, unknown variety short orange carrot seeds, parsnip seeds, cherry belle radish seeds, and a few detroit dark red beet seeds. I mostly give away seeds on listia.com now, as they go quick, without me waiting for postage. Listia works on a "credit", points system. There's no cost, except shipping, so it's like a seed exchange, but better. I list seeds, get credits from the winner of my listing, then spend those credits on other seeds I don't have. I got so many seeds doing this, that I don't need any, but I'll consider a trade. You might have something I don't have. If you want to trade, I'm seeking... 1. Alter Communist tomato - 2. Andes Horn Tomato - 3. Aurora Tomato 4. Wisconson 55 GOLD Tomato- 5. Backa Tomato - 6. Banjan Rumi/roomi 7. Barlow Jap - 8. Bedouin Tomato - 9. Angel Heart Tomato (persimmon x) heart tomato 10. Angora Super Sweet Cherry 11. non hybrid broccoli and possibly others. If you want to do SASE, it will be one stamp for tomato, carrot and parsnip seeds, and two stamps for the others, or all the seeds. For 2 stamps, the seeds will be sent in a bubble envelope WITHOUT tracking. If you want tracking, you'll have to send 5 stamps, for 1st class small packet. I had an old email on here, that apparently wasn't working. I changed it, so I should get messages now.

Foolish, You are probably doing more harm than good spraying 3 different types of chemical fungicides and an organic one. Fungal problems are usually due to improper watering practices, over crowding of plants, and weak plants due to poor nutrition. I feel your pain, but I would evaluate the amount of stuff you are spraying on your plants as it is probably stressing them out more than the fungi are. My point was only that just because your garden is suffering from fungal issues does not mean socks eggplant is not producing because of fungus...especially when they did not provide pictures or even describe any damage that would suggest fungus being the problem... No need to potentially panic someone and have them treat for an issue that does not exist because you are panicked by what is occurring in your garden.

1) I am working overseas and will not finish this contract until 1st week of April. If I had all my supplies and hive(s) (- bees) set up before I got home...would it be too late to start a hive(s) from a NUC or package once I got home 2nd - 3rd week of April? Answer. It's important to get your packages ordered early. They always sell out. I order packages from Betterbee in Greenwich NY It's about 1 hr 1/4 away from me. They'll be taking package orders starting on Jan 4th. They usually have 3 or 4 delivery dates (saturdays) starting around april 15th Picking a date is hard because it all depends on the weather both up here and in Georgia where they get their packages. Delays from one week to 3 weeks aren't uncommon. You want to get your bees off to a good strong start but anything can happen. My first year I had a late delivery date. I was thinking that all the established hives would be building up while I was still be waiting to get bees. Well the weather here was cold and steady rain so the delay didn't hurt. Nucs usually come later because they have to be established already. I'd advise starting with package bees because you will be learning right from the get go. You'll have to install them in the hive, check for queen release, check to be sure she's laying a good brood pattern. In other words you'll be involved every step of the way and you'll learn more, and things will be gradual. 2) Everything I have read...the Italian bee seems to be the most docile bee. Would that be the bee for the beginner? answer. Italians are what I started with and still have the most of. I also have some Russians. It's all a matter of opinion. I don't find my Russians to be any more aggressive than my Italians. Russians have many good traits. One thing I definitely noticed with mine is they overwinter in a smaller cluster and consume much less honey. When buying a package, you may not have a choice as far as the type of queen you get. 3) How much time do you average a week working your hives? I have read numerous posts that "you experts" suggest starting with 2 - 3 hives (to gauge potential problems). How much time per week to manage my bees effectively with 3-hives? answer: You have to remember that this is agriculture so anything can happen and will, and it's all variable You'll plan your sight and get everything ready to go ahead of time which will take some work. On the big day, plan to spend a couple of hours being your first time. Once you have the hang of it you can install a package of bees in a matter of minutes. The first time you'll be double checking instructions and going over all of the details. You will be very excited and nervous at the same time. After your successful at that you do a check back in about 3 or 4 days, only to see that the queen has been released. At one week you'll check for signs that she's laying. You'll probably be feedin 1:1 sugar syrup to help them build up. In general there's lots of work in the beginning, less in the middle, lots toward the end. It's not an everyday thing and sometimes more than a week between any actual work. You want them to do their work without too much disturbance 4) I would like to sell my honey (- what we eat of course) and my wife is really into crafts so I am sure she will be interested in making candles etc. If the market was available in my area (which I am sure it is)...how much money could I expect to gross from my hives on an average season? answer: That's the toughest question of all. The saying goes the first year is a building up season, the second is a harvesting season, but it's all relative. (remember the agriculture thing)I've had 1st yr hives that gave a surplus of over 100 lbs and others that only made enough to get them through the winter. This year with some established and some new hives I got 375 pounds from the 5 that produced surplus. It ranged from over 100 to 35 lbs. We kept about 150 lbs and gave some away and are selling some. I'll probably gross about a grand but I'm not making a profit because I'm putting it back into bees and equipment. I hope to make another few hundred selling lip balm, salves, candles and soap. My first year I made enough to cover about half my costs. You'll get some wax from cappings but it won't amount to very much. You'll need to buy more for any real amount of crafting 5) I know I have read in several posts that an average hive produces about 110-lbs of honey (some 200-lbs). How does that compute into 1/2 pint, 1-pint, 1-qt jars of honey? I would think honey would weight a lot more per gallon than say water or milk? answer: Honey has to be sold by weight, so you'll be dealing in half pound, one pound jars etc. Do not get the idea that I am thinking strickly about the money...because I am not! When I get home in April, I want to semi retire (it pays well over here) and I would like to know what to expect. We have a huge garden, goats, chickens and soon to have meat rabbits. I have been slowly building a nice herd of goats the past 4-yrs and think I might break even or be in the "black" on them for the first time this year. We love the country life and if I could start these bees...who knows...diversity is awesome. I am just excited thinking about my little black / gold pollinators in my own garden. No more flowers falling off my pumpkins because "ZERO" bees to pollinate them. Sorry for rambling...I am just excited! I will continue to hang on "your guy's & gals" every word...so keep the posts coming. I am only up to about the 10th set of posts so far...so a lot of "back dated" ones to read. Hopefully by April I will have it all figured out (the process anyway). Sorry...one last question. How many times a week do you get stung...and...do you ever get used to it? answer: That's pretty variable too. A lot depends on the demeanor of your bees (demeaner dey are, da more you get stung)Actually if you work them at the right times and move slowly you may not get stung very often. This past year we worked our 10 hives mostly without gloves and sometimes in tee shirts, moving slowly and being as gentle as possible. I probably got a half dozen stings over the course of the season. If the bees seemed like they were getting angry we just backed off and waited, and wore gloves and long sleeves when it seemed necessary. A friend with a feisty hive got a half dozen at once, so you never know. Thanks, You're very welcome

One lesson that I have used over and over again is this: "Every room should have a surprise" It can be small, or big. Just something that someone who walks in might not be expecting. In my case, (we have a 2x4 island too) I hung a small Irish crystal chandy over the island. Most thought I was crazy when talking about this idea, but it really works in my space and it does give it that "surprise" that I needed. I also used the same light over the table with a sheer drum shade over it. This way my sparkle continued in the room. I always feel I don't want to spend the big bucks on anything risky--stuff I might want to change when it gets "old". So a backsplash that is popping wouldn't be my cup of tea. I can change my chandys without too much pain. Redroze--love the oranges--funny thing, I've got a bowl of them too decorating the kitchen right now. Love that pop of color. We get a giant box as a gift every Christmas, no way to eat them fast enough, so they accessorize for me. here is an "in progress" photo, still no paint on crown moulding and no backsplash yet... here is a shot to show you the chandy over the table, this is pre-floor, pre-paint, pre-lots of other stuff....