"The festival has a policy stating that all vendors must test their product and it must be proven free of GBN in order to be able to sell there." Who performs the testing? Private labs? Does Minnesota have state-sponsored testing? I hope to see the USDA & state extension offices become more active in fighting GBN. It would be in everyone's best interest if that testing is made available & affordable to gardeners and collectors as well, since some of those are unwittingly spreading the organism through trades. I am no fan of Federal intervention in commerce, but since infected stock is being sold across state lines, this is a case where a USDA "GBN free" certification program should be initiated for all garlic sold as seed stock. "I have some Artichoke types but I generally shy away from softnecks because under my growing conditions most of those plants are weakly bolting and create bulbils in various locations - at the top of the the bulbs in the wrappers, just above the bulbs, halfway up the pseudostem, etc." While I have read of this behavior, mine have only rarely produced stem bulbils. I wish that was a more frequent occurrence, it would offer some hope of salvaging a variety, should GBN infect the bulb. It is the artichoke & other softneck garlics which are most at risk from the spread of GBN; my fear is that we could lose some heirloom softnecks completely before this infestation has been dealt with. "I too have noticed a general decline in size of what is being grown and offered out there. It was a goofy growing season in many parts of the U.S., wondering if that is the reason. I also suspect that a lot of bulb/clove stock is infected with viruses which can affect bulb quality and size, especially when combined with the stresses of a poor growing season. IMO people would be wise to break the chain and replace their entire stock by planting bulbils every five years or so, at least with types that produce bulbils. Not a complete solution but it is helpful." On that topic... correct me if I am wrong, Tom, but the use of bulbils as planting stock would only offer protection against GBN and other soil-borne organisms. Diseases tend to be systemic, and any part of the plant - bulbils included - would be infected. I have read comments from several garlic growers who believe that if they grow bulbils from stock infected with aster yellows, that the resultant crop would be free of the disease. It would be wonderful if that were true, but I doubt that would be an effective remedy. I do believe that hardneck garlic offered as seed stock (both commercially & through trades) should be more available in the form of bulbils. When I again offer garlic through SSE, I will make a statement explaining the threat of GBN, and encouraging more growers to offer bulbils. I will be doing so for all of my hardnecks. Spreading knowledge to other gardeners is key to getting a handle on GBN... my sincere thanks, Tom, for bringing this to our attention. It sure opened my eyes, especially as I begin to rebuild & expand my collection. I hope the "goofy season" is the reason for the predominance of small bulbs this year. Several of the growers that I obtained stock from ascribe to this theory, and I hope they are right. Looking back, I had several years with small bulbs, followed by years where bulbs grown from that smaller stock returned to their full size. Obviously, I hope that will happen with the stock I am planting now. It seems odd, though, to see this phenomenon occur on a national level. I don't necessarily suspect a virus, but that is a possibility... and if true, it might be yet another threat that is not being tested for. If there was one good thing about the aster yellows outbreak, it was that it generated awareness of just how fragile our garlic industry really is. Any vegetable which owes its continued existence to vegetative propagation is vulnerable to disease buildup... think Irish potatoes. " I focus instead on hardnecks, Rocamboles in particular. To me they are the best and are the focus of my attention (although I think most growers around here focus on growing Porcelains). Rokes are very winter-hardy plants. Their clove size, ease of peeling, flavor, and roasting attributes put them in high demand, even if they do not have the best storage attributes." Rocamboles are my favorite hardnecks as well. They tend to have larger bulbs than my porcelain garlics; one of them, "Special Idaho", had bulbs almost as large as my artichoke types. Additionally - and importantly - rocamboles also have especially large bulbils. Those of "Special Idaho" were often marble size. This means that it is realistic to propagate rocamboles from bulbils in a short time frame. I had been meaning to test that large-scale in 2012, but aster yellows put a halt to that. Sadfly, I have been unable to find sources for some of the rocamboles I lost... including "Special Idaho" and "Chrysalis Purple".

Thank you to all who've helped guide me through this!!! Racin' I sure hope someone comes along that knows what causes that coloration on the rose stems. How many plants have you lost that displayed it? Hopefully it was only the one plant. Although even losing one plant is too many. (Especially if you cant identify what the cause is!) I will alwayz be grateful ! In the midst of a storm, there's always a silver lining, ;-) âÂÂ¥Lyna

Hi, pinch: I'm 55 with 8 years left to go on the mortgage, so I can relate. Sometimes I wish I'd taken the thirty grand "equity" loan and remodeled the kitchen, but I just had a sense that there was no way my house was "worth" almost a half-million dollars and that something had to give. So now I am eight years to free and clear -- with an old kitchen. The most serious problem with this kitchen is that it has no dishwasher -- and no place to put one other than losing a cabinet to a hard-to-find 18" dishwasher. I don't miss it, there are just 2 of us and I'm used to washing dishes. Another reason why a buyer would want to rip out the whole kitchen, and I would either price accordingly at sell time or offer a "remodeling allowance" in the form of cash at closing. So where I am right now is laminate for the countertops. That high-end Formica 180FX is nice, but it still looks like laminate, albeit very nice laminate. On the other hand, it doesn't show dirt, which is a plus or minus depending on how good a housekeeper you are (I am not a great one). I would want either a wood or ogee edge; I think it just looks more finished. Probably something mid-range in color; the kitchen is somewhat dark. Not sure what to do about the floor; I'm leaning towards a stone look because with all that oak, the risk is looking too "woody." That's another reason I'm leaning towards cream painted for the wall o'cabinets I posted about elsewhere. The walls are a very pale buff, which I would want to keep (close to the Benjamin Moore Ylang-Ylang color, only a bit less yellow); the trim is painted cream. I have soffits with plumbing and wiring in them, so I can't rip them out, unfortunately. If I had it to do over again, I'd have just painted the cabinets and gotten new doors and painted them...but I am well into this reface job and I've done such a whiz-bang-up job that this veneer is probably NEVER coming off. When I can I'll post some before, during, and maybe even after pix once I get it done. Not wanting to rain on the parade of those lucky enough to be able to do a full remodel, but I keep hoping that someday granite will be as harvest gold is today. :-(

I only have them in a beverage center portion of my kitchen and it's only been a month but I LOVE them! They did a brushed finish (as opposed to shiny) so any potential scratches would be hidden, but no scratches so far and we have a young child who is always putting glasses on it. LOVE the stainless!! Would not hesitate to use it in my whole kitchen.