Thank you Fetters. Really good post. Quite timely for us as DH has suggested putting in a garden pond. My first question was, "What about the mosquitoes?" I was intrigued by the mention of Lemon Eucalyptus. E maculata sounded somewhat familiar so I assumed we call it something else down here. I googled it and this is what I found. E maculata is known as Spotted Gum or Honey Gum (good for bees). E citriodora is known as Lemon-Scented Gum. And there is a hybrid E maculata citriodora. Recently these particular gums have been reclassified from Eucalyptus to Corymbia (useful to know in case the nurseries change the labels). I debated whether to mention the next bit. In some areas they are getting a reputation as an invasive weed. It's hard to know when such a reputation is truly warranted. (I have some birch trees, which are most definately not indigenous to my area, and I do get seedlings coming up, but after all these years my birches haven't taken over the nearby bushland. Or is that because they have no chance against the Patterson's Curse, which was once an introduced garden flower.) I suppose all I can say is do some research if you're thinking of planting one. Perhaps conditions in the areas of the US where they are grown are such that they are happy enough to grow okay but not so happy that they get out of control. And the good news is if you change your mind after you've planted one, it apparently makes really good timber. Hello OzOrganic. Sorry to hear about your landlord issue. Don't get me started on that subject. Hope you find a solution soon.

The fog is really a northern CA phenomenon. Mainly because of the colder water currents. In Southern CA (south of Big Sur/Cambria), the water currents are a lot warmer. So we have cold ocean water against the land mass. But the fog, as noted in many posts, stays pretty close to the coastline during the summer. We're about 6 miles inland and get some of that fog, altho it burns off earlier in the day than it does closer to the water. And we don't have fog every day! The fog situation is also affected by the ins and outs of the coastline. Santa Cruz is usually warmer and sunnier than Monterey, on the other side of the Monterey Bay. But a typical summer weather pattern here is night and morning low fog along the coast, burning off by mid-morning. You can drive 20 or 30 miles inland and have hot weather. It can be 65 here and 90 up in Gilroy during the day. And it can be 65 at night and 90 during the day. But San Francisco and Monterey are usually a lot more moderate than the hot inland areas like Sacramento or Fresno. We also have mild winters, so we have no complaints at all! I want to know what's happened, too! Angc... are you out there? Or out here?

As has been said before....go to the school board....they made that policy. I volunteered for several years in a program where I ate lunch with elementary grade kids and then spent time reading with them. In this school nearly 90% of the kids were getting free lunch. And the reason why I and the rest of the volunteers were there was not only to boost reading skills but to provide some one on one time and to provide a positive adult role model. The lunches are not horrible...mostly! Things like turkey or ham and cheese sandwich, frozen fruit, or spaghetti green beans a meatball and a cookie, or tacoes or chicken nuggets, corn and mashed potatoes. Apples were always available as was milk both chocolate and plain. There was always white roll or bread of some sort....often a package of teddy grahams. The amount of the food that was tossed was amazing... One little girl ate nothing but bread and chocolate milk....and she was plump. I asked her what her mother fixed for dinner, she said she didn't make dinner so she, the child just got what she wanted to eat. I asked like what....she said pop tarts, lucky charms etc. her mother had no job so all was from wellfare. Another's mother worked at the backery in Wal_Mart so she got all sorts of good stuff. another one time brought his lunch one day because Mom's boy friend had brought Twinkies and Ho ho's or something similar, so her brought that for lunch. I sure am not for banning lunches from home....but as has been said you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. If they are only used to getting garbage at home all the plates of roast turkey mashed potatoes and green beans won't get eaten. Kids who will get a fully subsidized lunch may not eat it and those not eligible may find that $2.25 a day is very expensive. Linda C

keswick_sniders I loved your poem, many parts of your journey into gardening although on a different level hit home with me, along with happy times there were some tough years to get through as I was growing up. Not only does a garden give one a lot of joy and pleasure, it, at least for me when I was very young without going into detail, grandpa's garden was a place where all my little worries and cares disappeared. There was a tall patch of grass behind his vegetable garden where on a sunny day I would lie down in amongst it and watch all the billowy clouds roll by, sometimes even take a nap, the warmth from the sun, a slight breeze, lovely. I used to have a huge library but have since passed many of my books on to up and coming gardeners, magazines, I had a bookcase full of them which I used to pull out and reread during the winter months, those have now been handed on to others. I've only been using a computer for a few years and still on the learning curve, very thankful I have DH to straighten it all up when I hit a snag but those times I'm happy to say are getting less frequent. I'm sure most of you have discovered not only does a garden give you satisfaction at creating beauty even if it is just in your own mind, like me, a garden is a great healer. For those of us dealing with disabilities, illness, hardships or even emotional issues that can wear one down a garden becomes a sanctuary where you can relax and toss all your cares to the wind at least for a little while, that is... until you look down at your favorite hosta that some damn slug has used as a smorgasbord the night before, but after a little searching you find the culprit, the crunching sound heard when you bring the heel of you boot down on the little sucker... ahhhh such satisfaction... all is right with the world again :). Gardens, so many different styles of gardening to choose from, it's a place where you can do your own thing, whether it's acreage, a few raised beds, containers or even just a simple window box to start with, welcome to the wonderful world of gardening, enjoy. WARNING!!! it can become very addictive LOL. Annette