mmqchdygg, I am recently disabled. My spine is broken at three places (not repairable by surgery due to a prior surgery gone bad) and I have numerous other nerve disturbances and degenerative processes going on in my body because of that. I can no longer stand, or walk very well, or for very long. Getting down on my hands and knees and bending over is completely out of the question. Kinda hard to garden if one can't do any of those things, wouldn't you say? My gardening friends here, are just trying to help me find ways to continue doing what I love to do. I would consider the planting pole a "tool" not a gadget and I think it would be great tool for anyone who suffers from back pain if they bend over too much or have bad knees or trouble getting off the ground etc. It works readily from a standing or sitting position. You just have to make it to the proper length that will work for you. Yesterday, equipped with my new planting pole, so beautifully created by you wonderful Cottage Gardeners, I was able to plant more than 300 Hollyhock seeds. There is a little trick to using it, I found. It took me a bit to figure it out though. Finally I realized that if you stick the attached stick in the ground at an angle vs straight down, with the pole lying directly above the stick, rather than pulling the wooden stick completely up and out of the hole and then fiddling to line the pole back up over the hole, you can instead pull the stick partially out of the hole (because it went in at an angle). Automatically the pole is lined up over the hole. You can now drop your seed down the pole and it acts like a chute sending the seed straight into the hole. One warning, don't push the stick into the earth so far that you plug the pole with dirt! It is a little bit tricky to get it up in the air so you can clean out the hole without spilling all your seed out of the yogurt cup that is up at the top by your funnel, LOL! Otherwise...You are in bussiness!! With many many thanks to all of you, I'm gardening again! I can't tell you what it means to me. MeMo

I have added amended soil in areas where I will soon sow my fall seeds. I moved so many plants around that I needed to add the extra soil, but it is going to make it easier to keep my seeds from washing down the slope. BACHELOR'S BUTTON, BLUE BOY BACHELOR'S BUTTON, RED BALL BACHELOR'S BUTTON, SNOWMAN Centranthus ruber 'Alba' Centranthus ruber 'Rosyred' Convolvulus 'Ensign Blue' dwarf (free seeds) Dalea purpurea (Purple Prairie Clover) Eryngium amethystinum GAILLARDIA, BURGUNDY GAILLARDIA, YELLOW QUEEN Larkspur 'Galilee Blue' LARKSPUR, BLUE SPIRE LARKSPUR, LILAC SPIRE LARKSPUR, WHITE KING Linum narbonense 'Heavenly Blue' (Blue Flax) Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Blue' (Love-in-a-Mist) Papaver rhoeas 'American Legion' (Flanders Poppy) Salvia farinacea 'Blue Bedder' Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's Root) Gathered seeds from my garden or from friends: Asclepias incarnata Asclepias tuberosa Castor Bean Society Garlic I will continue to gather seeds from plants in the my garden (echinacea, hyacinth bean, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds). Cameron

> "I am using the paper towel method. It has been 5 days since I initiated the process. I noticed tiny spots of mold on the orange habaneros, and decided to cut those sections of the towel away. Is that a good decision? " Not really. Cutting it won't control the mold. For that you need hydrogen peroxide. But don't be too anxious - mold doesn't really hurt the seeds unless it can get inside. I soak the seeds overnight in a mild hydrogen peroxide solution. Then place in bags on towels moistened with water and sprinkled or spritzed with hydrogen peroxide. (Actually, I use a syringe.) When I'm germinating, I check the baggies twice a day so that the newly emerged rootlets don't have time to adhere to the towel. If they do adhere, don't try to separate but cut the towel out around the root. Plant rootlet down, a good 1/2" deep. The seed case is rubbed off as the seedling emerges. If you have too many cases of "helmet head", it's because you are planting too shallow. Lots to learn about germinating. Biggest factor IMO is maintaining a steady mid-80s temperature. Dennis

To me a pasta salad where the pasta absorbs some dressing is much more flavorfull than one fresh dressed. If you toss the pasta in oil it will prevent it from absorbing the sauce....and the flavor...I just make sure I have extra dressing to add at the last. You want a recipe? I have lots....but here's one. Mastoccioli 1 lb mastoccioli cooked al dente drain and cool Pour sauce over and refrigerate over night Sauce 3 cups cider vinegar 1 ½ cups sugar 1 tsp ground pepper 1 tsp salt 1 tsp garlic powder 2 Tbls prepared mustard 1 ½ onions sliced…about 1 ½ cups 1 cuke diced…a big cuke or even 2…I remove the seeds so I need 2 Small jar chopped red pimento Chopped parsley Dry oregano. about2 teaspoons full....add one and taste. Can also add sliced radishes, red and green peppers and halved cherry tomatoes.