Bravo...a 19 YEAR OLD GARDENER...bravo to you. Although I never heard of the maxipad idea for sprouting..it seems like a good idea. It reminds me of how folks start avocado seeds by sticking them with toothpicks and suspending the seed in water 1/2 way. I am sure mango's would grow in the warm climate of Colton since they are a tropical fruit. Did the video tell you want to do after they start to sprout? A tree in general will take some time to get big enough to produce an abundant amount of fruit. I found this information on another website 1 Purchase a large healthy mango at the grocery store. Keep in mind that a healthy fruit will often produce the healthiest seeds. Resist the temptation to purchase a shriveled mango for a discounted price just to get the seed. Step 2 Slice and eat the mango. Be careful not to cut into the husky seed in the center. Step 3 Remove the seed husk and wash any remaining mango meat from the husk. Scrub lightly with a scouring brush to remove any residue. Set aside to dry for a few days. Step 4 Pry the husk open with a butter knife once it begins to crack slightly. You can also cut a thin slice around the rim of the husk until you see a tiny opening to the inside. Crack the entire husk open and remove the giant lima bean-shaped seed. Step 5 Use care when handling the seed as it may have a large root that has begun to grow. If the root is present, do not remove it. Don't worry if there isn't any root, yet. There is plenty of time for your seed to grow. Step 6 Fill a 6-inch pot with a regular potting soil. One with extended release fertilizer is a good choice. Be sure the soil is fully moistened before planting your mango seed. Step 7 Make a small indentation in the center of the pot. Plant your mango seed with the curved edges down and the rounded hump just above the surface of the soil. Cover the seed, leaving the very tip of the hump visible. Step 8 Keep the soil moist, but not soggy. Place the seed in a sunny location where the temperature will remain as close to 80 degrees as possible for the next week. Cover loosely with a clear plastic bag to increase the temperature and humidity level. The seed should germinate within a week. Step 9 Try sprouting your mango seed in a layer of moist paper towels. Insert the seed and paper towels in a plastic storage bag and set it in a warm location. The top of a TV or water heater works great. Once roots have developed, plant the seed in potting soil and place in a sunny location. Here is a link that might be useful: grow a mango tree

The best deals I've seen lately is laundry detergent. We have two grocery stores in town, one a big box, but they do compete on soft drinks and a few other items. The smaller store often has better quality fresh fruits and vetables. Last week at Piggly Wiggly, found a special on laundry detergent: $2 for a medium size jug, normally goes for $5 to $8. Bought 2 jugs. Had been buying at Sams Club, but these prices were better cost per ounce. This week, the big box store, Pick'n Save, countered with same size detergent at $2 per jug, a different brand than the other store. Gonna buy 2 more jugs tomorrow. Won't need any more for a few months. I haven't found any bargains in tree nuts. These have been going up steadily in price since mid-last year. Two yeara ago, I could buy a 2 lbs can of mixed nuts (50% peanuts) for $10; this week the price went up to $13 when on sale, regular price: $14. Peanuts are still reasonable, but also creeping upward. Yesterday, I came home a bit miffed. I decided to pick up a loaf of rye bread to go with sliced ham. Wow, a small loaf was expensive, and then I spied a local brand, loaf same size as regular and lower cost. It had blazed in big letters on the end of the wrapper, RYE. I perchanced to read the ingredients. Guess what - no rye flour, dust, or anything. How can they get off putting RYE in bold letters on the wrapper when there is no rye in the bread??? I think it was wheat flour, a little Barley, and rye flavoring. Paahhh!

That's awesome, nicole! Let's see. Hubby's birthday is this week and I scored a free room for two nights at Harvey's South Lake Tahoe with a view of the lake. I can't really take credit though. I get this free offer twice a year ever since I signed up for their rewards program. I always take them up on the offer if we're not busy with something else and we always have a great time. Other than that, our local market sent out some great coupons a month or so ago. Each week a different coupon is valid and then expires at the end of the week. For the life of me, I haven't been able to remember to use those darn coupons until finally last week. Got a 12 pack of toilet paper for free! Also, I've been working on a new flower bed and needed some sort of border to hold the soil back. After looking at what's available at the nurseries and DIY stores and seeing nothing that appealed to me, I went down the road and gathered all the boulders I wanted for free to use as my border. On a roll here (no pun intended)!

OK, that makes some sense. I just couldn't picture picking something that long up. I'm used to just the regular snow shovel although my "shovel" part is heavy plastic so it's lighter than the metal one I use to have. A neighbor has something I haven't seen before. It's a battery operated "snow shovel" that acts like a blower. Pretty neat. It makes a narrow path and it can't be deep snow but it works pretty good.