I'm in 5b/6a, so a little warmer. All my peppers ripened. What really made the difference was buying a cheap cold frame. It increased temps outside by 20 degrees. So when it was 40 degrees I could put pepper plants out as it was 60 degrees in the cold frame. I brought them in at night. I did this for about 3 weeks, what a pain, but what a harvest!! By the end of three weeks they barely fit, and it was still kinda cool outside. i think they were slightly stunted when taken out, but were pretty much hardened off. I used a fan inside, so they were ready for wind etc. My tomatoes were in there too. My first tomato was around June 28th. Still have some as a matter of fact. When it got to be 60 outside I had to vent the frame as it was 80-90 degrees inside. The peppers grew like mad in it! When planted out they were over 12 inches tall, all had flowers. here's a photo of them in the cold frame

I am over here in Southeast Montana and have sandy soil that melons love. When I started raising melons in the 1970's, my Burpee Hybrid muskmelons were simply delicious, now I cannot get hardly anything good out of a muskmelon. The exception was the Sunder which was superb, but Willhite quit selling. I can get good-tasting Savors in the early part of the season, but the later ones rot before they taste good. As for watermelons, some do not do well for me (Desert King). I have had only two watermelons that had a "perfume" when eaten. The one I remember the most was a White Seeded Simpson. I used to grow lots of watermelons, did not rotate and eventually my field got too diseased. Now, years later, I start on new ground, till in lots of leaves and I have vines all over the place. I really like the Sweet Favorite. They ripen early (around a month after setting on), and I can turn around and get two crops off the same vine. Some Sweet Favorites do not get the sweetness of the others, I wonder if one should withhold the water for a few weeks before ripening. To tell when a melon is ripe: I used to scratch the melon with the date it set on. For example, if a melon set on July 19, I would take a knife or nail and scratch "J19 on the skin and the resulting scar would remain. Then, since it takes six weeks for most watermelons to ripen, I would harvest the melon six weeks later (September 1st for the above J19 melon. Now, I think I will take an ear tag (that they use in a calf's ear), and if a watermelon sets on July 19 th, write that on the ear tag and set it beside the melon. I actually would go out July 23 d, see a watermelon the size of a chicken egg, and subtract a few days and write J19 on the tag. But I do agree that the Orange Glo is a very delicious watermelon. And it has a taste that is more than sweet. This year my Orange Glos tailed off in sweetness at the end of the season. I tried the Moon and Stars a few years ago and was impressed with their earliness. But I ran into problems this past year as I picked the first ones too early. I think that in excellent soil, they ripen later than if they are on just average soil. And they do taste very good. This year, I will plant around 50% Sweet Favorite and 50% Moon and Stars. With a few new ones. I finally found a source for the Tiger Baby (Anderson Seed and Garden Logan Utah.) The Tiger Baby is a small melon, short vines and ripens in 30 days from setting on for me. The flesh is only pink, but I am going to try plastic tunnels, underground heating to try and get very early melons. I like to take a heat lamp (put in a 100 watt bulb), and set it next to the watermelon plants in the plastic hot kap for overnight heating of the soil (heat lamp is face down on the dirt). Sometimes the bulb breaks due to moisture on the bulb. But the plants really thrive and grow fast if it is 100 degrees in the hot kap at night. I like the Tiger Baby's short vines because I have to cover all my watermelons with wire with small holes due to the hail we seem to get every year. Is that called hardware cloth?

I'm pretty sure this is a first year female RB Grosbeak. A family was born here this year. Just checked Cornell, and I think she should be on her way to South America. Doubt that she would listen to me, but does anyone still have any RBGs around? Of course, I could be wrong and maybe she's a hybrid Lowes/HD sparrow, but she's the only one of her kind here. Jane This post was edited by corunum on Thu, Oct 16, 14 at 17:25

My seeds came yesterday, but I have not had time to look at them. I'll post later with the high points. Thanks MIchelle, for another successful swap. Finally had a chance to open my envelope. Everyone sent great seeds and I will be sowing a lot of them this season. The most creative referenced the poultry and egg garden, including several plumes, Turkey Craw pole beans, a couple of feathers and one Cranesbill, not to mention a couple of foxes in the hen house (Foxgloves). I am always surprised and delighted by some of the associations people make in this swap. Other themes got nice seeds too and poor Miss Lottie could not help but be encouraged by all the different kinds of Marigold. Thanks again! Alana This post was edited by poisondartfrog on Tue, Feb 25, 14 at 19:09