Hi Graficaamy, I've been gardening and starting plants from seed for over 20 years, but this is my 2nd year winter-sowing and now I grow 10 times more from seed than ever before. If you have limited space indoors, can't or don't want to pay for lights, electricity, etc., winter-sowing outdoors is a great and inexpensive way to start seeds! Especially for temperate perennials that require cold stratification, because Nature will provide the perfect cold wet treatment when you put the containers/pots/flats outside in the winter. I would plant your seedlings outside as soon as possible. Seedlings grown indoors generally need to be hardened off, and you may have to wait until after frost for tender plants, but the sooner they get in the ground, the more they will grow and establish, and the greater chance that some will bloom in the first season. You must make sure they are consistently watered, and sometimes, slugs and other critters will find your small seedlings very tasty (Sluggo or Escargo are safe slug baits that work well). Last year I ended up planting a lot of the perennials (especially the vines) in small nursery pots, as I didn't have garden beds or trellises ready for them! There are still about 25 or so small pots that overwintered in the pot ghetto. So you don't HAVE to get them in the ground the first year, but it usually results in the best headstart on growth. You can grow almost anything using the winter-sowing technique, a hoop house or cold frame outdoors, or even flats in a sunny spot. You can also get lots of seeds for next to no $$ by browsing the Seed Exchange forum, where seed traders often offer extra seeds for the cost of postage.

Carol posted a good site for you. It is the most reliable one I know of. If you have a deep stock pot that will hold the jars and have enough room to put water over the tops by 1-2 inches and have room for it to boil, you can use it to process your pickles in. Put a folded towel or a cake rack or something in the bottom so the jars don't break. You will need a lid on the pot. You can use a cookie sheet even as a lid. If you are near a thrift store you may be able to buy a blue speckled water bath canner there more cheaply, if you want to buy one. You will need a canning jar tong to put the jars in and out of the water with. Here you can buy them for just a few dollars at Walmart or places that sell canning supplies. Even the grocery store has them here. You will need pickling salt, too, for your pickles. If you like sweet ones, the ones they call "Linda Lou's Sweet Chunk Pickles" are good ! Well, I could be a bit biased, ha ha ! Sweet pickle chunks: Pour boiling water over 24 pickling cukes for 4 days. On 5th day, drain, add this syrup.Cut cukes in chunks. 8 cups sugar 4 cups cider vinegar 5% acidity 3 1/2 tsp. pickling and canning salt 2 Tbsp. pickling spices, tied in a bag. Drain and heat syrup for 3 more days. On 4th day, pack pickles into jars, seal with lid. Process in water bath canner for 10 minutes. I love these with tuna! I use this recipe for dill pickles: It is my favorite one for dills. I cut in spears, some were in thicker slices, some I did whole. KOSHER DILL PICKLES (HEINZ RECIPE) 4 lbs pickling cukes 14 cloves garlic, peeled & split 1/4 cup salt 2 3/4 cups distilled or apple cider vinegar 5% acidity 2 3/4 cups water 12 to 14 sprigs fresh dill weed 28 peppercorns Wash cucumbers; remove 1/16 inch from blossom end, cut in half lengthwise. Combine garlic and next 3 ingredients; heat to boiling. Remove garlic and place 4 halves into each clean jar, then pack cucumbers, adding 2 sprigs of dill and 4 peppercorns. Pour hot vinegar solution over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of top. Immediately adjust covers as jar manufacturer directs. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Makes 6-7 pints

dunmoanin, I am so glad i have read your post. My situation is not what you have discribed but i see some similarities. I had a blow out with my husband last week. I understand that men from divorce are stuck between two families...but last week just took the straw for me. I'm lucky , very lucky in one sense because my sd does nto live with us. She comes EOW. BUT she manipulates and tries to hog alot of time from her father when it suites her. IE she is very jealous of her own brother when he spends time with his dad when they both come over. My dh puts her in her place but this jealousy has been there since i'm met her when she was 5 years old. She definitely was jealous when i came into her dads life and he again put her in her place. So in none sense , dad doesn't put his daughter all the time on a pedestal BUT he does favor her above both his sons...which i find disgusting. He does share way too much info...i mean, all daily activity with her on the phone when she phones. She use to phone all the time...but thankfully that has stopped because she is older, in her teens and fights with her dad because he now has opened his eyes. But what happened last week really stabbed me. I have been testing her by telling her about plans ahead of time...and she sabotages them. I only told my dh 2 days ago. I blew up...God help...i've never been so angry in my life and some of the things i said were so vile towards him and his daugther but i just erupted. i basically said that he should marry his daughter and go......i wont say it further...but you get the gist..... i told him she says jump andhe says how high...that he backstabbed me as a wife and friend. He knew we had plans but the dear daugther phones and he promised to take her to lunch and watch her game and dumps all the plans out the door for the entire family for her! Well i told him off , told him my feelings..and also told him to keep his plans wih his daugther and that i would make other arrangments. i slept separatly for 2 nights We spoke, mended...and low and behold she phones again..says someting to him that shocked him and he defended me..and told her to stay at home ... I'm drained....i'm unhappy...not at my husband...but at the events that unfolded. The stupid games...andi todl him last night that i'm starting to hate her, resent her and not care....its building. I wnat to let it go..but i do not trust her and she plays games.....Been taught by her mother , she's influenced by her mother....so there is nothing i can do about it....but i do notsee it gettign any better when she is older. I just see more games...i just pray that my husband keeps his eyes open. He does buckle from time to time. He said he wanted to give a diamond necklace for her sweet 16....keep in mind he doesn't havea penny to his name! He wont give jewellery to me but he wants to do it for his daughter!!!!????? I'm not jealous. Honestly i'm not. BUt i just do not think its normal for a man to share every detail moment of his life with his daugther....he's also pulled back from doing that now as well. But how long will this happen? After reading your story, i just cannot believe you stayed that long and took so much disrespect. I had one incident last week and i made sure he knew exactly how i felt adn i told him he goes down that path, i will be out the door...no lie there! I encourage him to see his kids and be with them....but not to leave me hanging because of sd manipulations. To make him choose between me and her..or now...her and my son. I hate it. I hate the games. Its disgusting me this week and i'm sooooooo upset about this. I really have no interest in seeing her next time. I need a break

I can't speak to permacon as they're not sold in my area, but that looks like a pretty standard wet cast step slab. At this point most of the paver manufacturers have ripped off one another's designs so much that structurally, most products are virtually similar. The big difference is in the finished look. For example, Techo-Bloc's Rocka step (similar to your Hemmingford) has less color variation than the equivalent from Cambridge-Armortec. For areas that see a good bit of traffic, we generally only use wet cast slab steps or sawn natural stone slabs (when we're not doing a full masonry set of steps). The really natural steps just have too much variation in height and depth to pass the official Revolutionary Gardens test of "can I navigate this safely after a bottle of wine?" For coming out of a house you will likely need something on the sides, but it's impossible to advise beyond that without knowing what you're looking at.