Interesting questions being asked, both small and large. Am I "afraid" of Roundup? No. I use it several times a year to control weeds in various areas, around driveways, perimeters of beds, and to sometimes kill otherwise hard to control, invasive weeds. Would I eat something that had been sprayed. No, sorry, I draw the line there. I liked Dave's question the best -- why would you consider doing such a thing -- I guess its a calculated risk, like riding a motorcycle or smoking or drinking -- what are the odds I might get a benefit from the action/behavior versus the odds of suffering a detriment. You can buy a bunch of mint at the local grocery store for about $.79. I wonder what's in THAT mint?

Hi there. Where in Socal are you? You might try Marina del Rey Nursery or a bit further south Roger's in Corona del Mar. Best of luck.

A person who owns a home can file a claim to the insurance company that they pay a premium to-THEY pay the premium and in most cases it is up to them as to whether they use that money for repairs or otherwise. If they have a mortgage, usually the check is made out to the homeowner and the mortgage company-and because the mortgage company is part owner, they want the damages fixed and will normally inspect the project to assure that something they are vested in is repaired. It's the same with owning a car-if you own your car and get a dent, insurance will pay you but if you don't have it financed, you can choose to fix it or not with the check. The down side to that is-if you do not have it fixed or the home repaired with the money, the insurance company can refuse to renew your insurance when the time rolls around.

Roy, You can buy them in little containers at places like Wal-mart, Lowe's or Home Depot or at nurseries in late winter/early spring. They aren't that hard from seed either. Maybe you had old seed. Chive seed that is more than 3 years old doesn't germinate very well. You can raise them inside by sowing the seeds in flats about 8-10 weeks before your average last freeze date of spring and then transplant them into the ground, or you can directly sow them into the soil once soil temperatures are around 60 degrees. I think their ideal soil temperature for quick germination is 65 degrees. Don't get discouraged if your first attempt at raising the from seed didn't work out. There's so much that can go wrong---seed can be old, it can wash away ,some sort of little varmint like field mice or voles can eat the seed before it germinates, or eat the young plants as soon as they germinate, etc. Chives seeds are hard and you can improve your chance of getting germination by soaking them in water for 12-24 hours before you plant them. Or, you can soak them first, then wrap the seeds in a coffee filter or paper towel and put them inside a ziplock baggie. They will sprout right in there. Check every day, and as soon as you see tiny sprouts, then sow the seeds into a flat or into the ground. Often, seeds that are outdoors get dry at the wrong time and fail to sprout, or they sprout but fail to grow. Chives seeds like to be in a moist growing medium in order to sprout. With the weather we had this year, it wouldn't surprise me if rain washed your seeds away. Or, if you waited too late and the ground was to warm, the seeds wouldn't germinate in hot soil and then would rot, blow away or wash away before the soil cooled down again in fall. I haven't tried sowing them outdoors in the fall but it probably would work as long as the young plants had time to make some root growth and get established before really cold weather hit them. They are cold hardy in general, but maybe not if bitter cold arrives just a week or two after they sprout. Hope this helps, Dawn