Thanks everyone! I managed to scrabble together a few containers and got some spinach and tomatoes in this weekend. I also collected some seeds from my echinacea and a "maximillian sunflower" that I got last year. Going to try to plant those too. Lots of other veggie seeds to go in, and I direct sowed some sugar snap peas in a new raised bed I built this weekend with a trellis attatched. I wish I knew how to embed pics in this forum, I'd show ya!

When we bought our house 3 years ago we closed in July, so I inherited a highly neglected garden in mid-summer. It had been neglected for years, even to the point that I found a stone walkway completely covered underneath 2-3 inches of Siberian iris and daylily roots. I waited a bit to see what bloomed, and, knowing nothing about plants, took the blooms that interested me to the local nursery for an ID. I spent hours weeding. I know I ripped out some bulbs and spring blooming plants, but what else could I do? The next year I saw some Dianthus blooming in the scrap pile in a very beautiful pink and thought, "Oh, well, such is the life of a weeder!" The next year I did more weeding, ripped out what seemed like acres of Siberian irises, ditch/tiger lilies, and yellow daylilies, and covered everything that wasn't an established perennial (most of it was weeds) in landscape cloth and 6 inches of mulch. That whole year I let it sit hoping to choke out the weeds, with the exception of a couple of things I couldn't resist buying. I also spent time learning more about gardening and plants. Last year was my first year to do REAL planting. I ripped out the rest of the ditch lilies, barerooted every established perennial because the weeds that had survived were either already in those roots or had migrated to the roots from under the cloth, and began planting. This year I still have plenty of yellow daylilies, an overabundance of Siberian irises, many wonderful old and new perennials (many from winter sowing), and a garden with very manageable, mostly immature, weeds. Waiting that long and letting things sit for a season under that cloth was a wonderful plan. The only things I couldn't bare root were the peonies, but they have very few weeds. One Siberian iris patch is so big (and those roots set up like concrete) that I actually have gotten the word of the construction crew building our garage that they will use their backhoe to rip it out. Then I 'll be able to do some dividing and give them away to friends. My friends hope one day I'll have something other than purple Siberian irises to give away! So, it's not to too late to weed! Hopefully you know more than I did and you'll recognize some spring bloomers by their foliage. And, I have found some weeds are things I really like. Purslane grows, a usually hated weed, and we eat it on salads because it's one of the current fads in superfoods. Just found out the weed lambs quarter is also edible, nutritious, and good. And I love the dandelions. In the spring when our world is filled with mud from melting snow, the dandelions are one of the earlier (thought not earliest) things, and they are such a brilliant yellow in the landscape. I keep dandelions, which means I'm probably not certifiable as a True Gardener! And as for ox-eye daisies, our native "weedy" daisy, I can't get enough of them. They don't grow out into a full bush, but stay scraggly and spindly. That means I can tuck them in between plants and from amongst all those fancy blooms out pops a few completely beautiful white and yellow daisy flowers. They are great mixers! As for quack grass, if I can annihilate the entire species, I would! Wow, that was really long. If your garden was not as neglected as mine you won't need to do nearly as much as I did, and that would be a good thing! Basically my advice is to weed now and take as much time as necessary to really kill the weeds. You'll be glad later on if you do a thorough job right from the beginning! I don't think there's a weeding "season." For me weeding goes on as long as the ground isn't covered by snow. At least we get a nice winter break from weeding in New England!

seniorgal- if you are the oldest, chi and I are probably tied for the youngest and even our lives are drastically different. I'm an early 30s stay at home mom with 4 kids and I believe her and her husband are around the same age, no kids, living in a metropolis. You are older than my grandmother, if she were still alive. I think one of the things I love about the KT, and communication on the internet in general is that we aren't prejudged because of our age or appearance. In fact, no one ever need know our age unless we reveal it! At any one moment I can be having a philosophical debate or a friendly exchange with a 16 year old or a 96 year old and I won't even realize it. Regarding what eld6161 said- I'm reminded of one of my mom's frequent sayings when I was growing up. If a person comes up to you and tells you there is a tail growing out your butt, you can ignore them. If 2 people tell you, you might be able to put it down to gossip. If 3 or more people tell you there's a tail growing out your butt, you better turn around and check!!! The KT is great not only for laughs but also for "tail-checking". :)

I really like it, however I use it with my credit card and not a debit card, but find not enough places around here support it. Love it while travelling though as the support is much higher in Europe from what I've noticed. I rarely use my debit card for anything as I get points with the credit card and can earn interest on my money each month until I pay the credit card off. Less chance of someone getting access to my bank account as well as it is much more complicated when fraud happens with the bank account (debit card) than the credit card. I carry my phone everywhere at all times since I'm type 1 diabetic and I need my phone for my continuous glucose monitor and the alarms it provides as I don't notice low blood sugars until they are very low myself so it would be really nice if I could always just carry my phone and not have to carry anything else, but more places need to support it around us. Gas pumps would be nice for a start.