Just came cross your post, Zora. I expect you already have dealt with your growing seedlings, but I thought I�d describe my technique. See the link below for a photo of some of my little herb & flower seedlings at Flickr. Over the years, I have started thousands of plants just as you did (though I happen to use pots, not pop bottles--but certainly your containers are just fine!). I learned this technique when I worked at a small, family-run nursery; my boss started all her seeds for her commercial nursery as well as her husband�s truck farm in paper strawberry boxes (pints and quarts), starting literally thousands of plants in this way each year. I was the only person she employed as seeder & transplanter (she did much of that herself), so I have had hours and hours of experience doing this! After she retired & closed the nursery, I continued at home the techniques I learned, but on a much smaller scale! I learned always to water the pots from the bottom. I set mine in a dishpan with a few inches of liquid kelp solution (I use Maxi-Crop per label directions). Once the seedlings have grown their 2nd set of leaves (first true leaves), I allow the pots to get fairly dry, but not to the point that the seedlings become wilted or stressed. Of course, I have the cell packs prepared: labeled with the plant name & variety and filled with moist soilless mix that I make up (a blend of peat, vermiculite, perlite, coir, and my worm compost). I also have a quart bowl of extra potting medium within reach. I knock the chunk of seedlings out of the pot, cradling the top of the pot in my left hand (I am right-handed) and sharply smacking the base with my right. Sometimes the soil block takes some persuasion, but the roots are all intertwined and all should come out in a block. Some types of seedlings fall apart easily once out of the pot, others have to be teased apart by gently tickling at the root ball. Don�t squeeze the stems to separate the individual plants or they may be killed; try to handle them carefully by the leaves. This comes easier with practice! Using your fingers, create a small planting hole in the cell pack (or a pot), lay the seedling into the hole, scoop up a small quantity of your soilless mix from your bowl of extra mix and fill the hole in, firming it gently around your seedling. Once the cell pack is complete, set it briefly into a pan of water as described above. The kelp solution helps avoid transplant shock and adds a very light bit of fertilizer. Leave it in the water only for a moment; when you lift it, the surface should not be wetter than the mix you used, but the container will feel heavy and water will drizzle from the bottom. That�s enough; the water is down where the roots need it. Too much water invites damping-off as well as fungus gnats! Set your planted packs into a flat with drainage holes; this may be set into another flat with a solid bottom. Put it under lights (or into your sunny window) and that�s it. These usually will not need watering again for several days. Again, lift the container: if it feels heavy, it needs little, if any, water. Depending on what and why I am growing (sometimes I plant for friends or relatives) and weather & timing, I often will pot on once more from cell packs into individual pots. I always plant lots of Genovese basil as everyone I know loves it. And it is such a pleasure transplanting these & other herbs since they are so fragrant! Best wishes! Here is a link that might be useful: Herb & Flower seedlings

So after incentives, the solar hot water is about $3k on the new house. Last house there was an additional utility incentive and price was less so it was about $1500. At that price, even with NG availability, payback is 5 year range. New house is all electric so payback is still less than 10 years. My payback goals are 15-20 years. Solar PV is right about there - I just don't have a great roof for it. We may get a group buy where the goal is 10 year payback and even with my east roof, it maybe worth it. ES certification with blower door test does not have a requirement for smoke test I guess. Maybe if it fails, then it does. For me - I just got the pat on the back. The only problem with that $2k incentive is proof. My current house uses less than 1/2 the energy of code houses but I bet I couldn't prove that before it was done. I will have to check into it but I'm not sure the new house could ever make the cut because of the huge east windows with minimal overhang in a cooling climate. If they don't take those things into consideration, then 50% should be possible and solar hot water would put me over that. The overhangs are limited by things outside of my control - but there are wind issues that also limit overhangs. The governing body counts the overhang as footprint and has significant restrictions. Now an awning can come later....

I love this thread. Thanks for the list, Linda. I really should have read the whole thread carefully, and then I would have known, but I was in a hurry. POF? I'm ROFL! I guess I have a PIG--horrible pieces I cut out for a Stack n whack and found that that particular material won't look good in that pattern--but it's not in a bag. In fact, I don't know where I put it. Then there is my fish batik Slideshow quilt--still a M2M ("mean to make"). I have all the material for it, but have gotten sidetracked. A stack n whack I started with a material that does look good has been a UFO for some time, but now I have bought the material I wanted for the background and it will be a WIP again in a few days. And, of course, a Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, a WIP that is probably going to be around as such for a loooong time!

So many people with issues with parents...sad. I was loved, I had toys and gifts,dresses, dolls, books, sport stuff, games,I lacked for nothing . But as I got older, I think I tried to "recapture" my childhood. As an adult, I loved antique shows, flea markets, garage sales. Any time I saw something we had in our house growing up, I had to buy it. I even bought too many rose bushes and planted them in my garden, trying to re-create my Grandma's rose garden. I now have a linen closet stacked with doilies and tablecloths I'll never use, sets of fancy glasses too fragile to use, things like that. Oh, and on the funny side, my daughter cleaned out my bathroom just yesterday. She found eleven bottles of Listerine. I don't know, I hate the stuff, it burns... I remember buying one bottle because it did everything, whitens teeth, freshens breath, makes gums healthy, strengthens the enamel. I'm just always looking for something to make me happy.