April 21, 2009 To Whom it may concern: During the last days of winter (09') we had a gas line installed and we assume the workers did not realize exactly what type of evergreen they were cutting through on the front east side of our home and we believe that they may have caused the demise of our Golden Goddess Bamboo that we had planted the previous late summer/early fall of 2008. The damage was localized to the root ball itself even though it is still planted. The plant(?) was barely 3.5 to 4 tall then, and we gave it every chance to survive the winter while we planted. We cut the dead stalks back, however it is now a week or so into spring and we have yet to see proof of life other than some green around a few of the stalks where they meet the soil. Have we lost the plant? Could you please help us so that we can keep from destroying what is hopefully a slightly traumatic Bamboo? Could you also possibly cc: a reply to: batai@mac.com for us? Thanks. /AH Thank you, Allan Hill and Betty Donathan Optional link URL: http://www.me.com/gallery/#100057/Golden%20Goddess%20Bamboo Name of Link: MobilMe Gallery - Golden Goddess Bamboo (Apple website) /AH Thank you, Allan Hill and Betty Donathan Here is a link that might be useful: MobilMe Gallery - Golden Goddess Bamboo (Apple website)

What kinds of plants do you sell? Im into large foliage plants. The bigger the leaf, the more im interested!

The answers to your questions are all going to be based on opinions. For whatever its worth... 1) Taking a PDC is important. Spending time around on-the-ground permaculture operations is great too. I think there might be an advantage to taking the PDC first as it'll prepare you to make better sense of what you'll see in practice but.. your mileage may vary. 2) Making a living selling produce is challenging for a variety of reasons but there ARE people that do it. You need to be very motivated, skilled at growing, have enough pairs of hands to make it all happen, and creative in marketing your produce to get to a profitable space. I probably wouldn't retire the accounting shoes just yet... have a look at the farmers markets and CSAs around you... look at land options and have a solid plan of attack going in before you take the plunge. In the meantime learn all you can about permaculture and organic gardening... the knowledge will help you a great deal. Here is a link that might be useful: Permaculture road

Bill, in regards to your orchids, I'm sure you are aware that there is a lot of information available on the web, when you have time and feel up to it. There is also a forum on the gardening side of Gardenweb. I'm sure the people there would gladly answer questions you will have. A lot can be learned just by browsing through and reading the posts. Also a lot of pictures on the Orchid Gallery forum. In case you haven't found it yet, or haven't looked for it, here's a link to the Orchid forum: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/orchids Or, just go back to the Kitchen Table home page, on the upper left there is a link to the gardening side, click that and it will take you to a list of all of the gardening forums. Thoughts and prayers for you as you navigate through this heart breaking time. Rusty