Welcome to Garden Party. Please drop in often :) New foods? No way to know what's new to you ~ may be same-old for us! Take your time when you next visit the produce department ~ if there's a fruit or veggie you've never tried, well there's your "new"; otherwise find one or two that you haven't eaten in a while and then go on-line to get a recipe or serving idea. Try to stay with whatever is seasonal for your locale; it sometimes surprises me how few people realize that there are seasonal foods even in January. Try kale, korean [or oriental] cabbage, parsnips, or yams. Try a week of no-meat meals ~ unless you are already a vegetarian, this effort should provide some meals you've never had before. My favorite resource for new recipes is allrecipes.com; I've liked everything with 5 stars, and almost everything with 4 1/2 stars ~ this is especially helpful when you are staring at a raw food you've never met before :) I wholeheartedly concur in visiting your local library. Try a book from any section you don't usually go to. Lots of variety is available in non-fiction; biography can give you an insight into someone's culture that may otherwise be overlooked; crafts can offer a how-to for something never before tried from potlifters to birdhouses to mosaic steppping stones. Unless you've some experience in the technique, check the youth section for basic directions. Or ask the librarian for his/her recommendation of interesting books. Take a walk instead of sitting around the next time you visit a friend or relative. People seem to talk even more freely while their legs are moving. Go to your local elementary school and see if they would like a volunteer reader. An hour a week is easy to do, free, thrills the kids, and give your day variety. If you are comfortable with children, most schools have a great need for one-on-one tutors. For 24 hours, try to never use the words "I", "me", "my" or "mine".

Well I for one am most interested in the cost savings you may eventually find in your geo-upgrade. We are still kind of looking at that but the cost savings benefit still has me somewhat befuddled - would it be worth it in what's left of my lifetime or would it enrich future owners of my propery.... Please provide some feedback on the Okra - that is one of my favorite veggies and I have never tried it. I am guessing this is a cold weather crop...... A note of interest for those who like brussels sprouts - had a couple self starters come up this spring. Last fall I got invaded with fairly large, gray aphids. Never seen them before. It took quite a while to clean out the sprouts and since I obviously missed many, it must have been a nutritional benefit in the form of extra protein. I don't mean to totally hijack this thread but the new dog problem has been solved............in week or so we will be the proud owners of of a black and white parti standard poodle, and from excellent lineage. I am still not exactly sure about that - time will tell. Undoubtedly good fodder for future web pages if anything. ~dRahme

Howdy, Cindy and Will. Mel says the only change in the book is the artwork. He's not in favor of buying a new copy, and he's the author, so.... Personally, I find the changes between the old book and the new Web site to be HUGE. Per the book, I bought a small tiller and amended my 98% red clay soil, then bought very expensive additions, besides the peat, compost and vermicullite. (I had to burn brush for my potash...) This was a *lot* of heavy labor, and took me many hours of hard labor over 6 weeks to build space for 50 plants ('maters, peppers, and a couple basil). It was a big strain on my bod, too. For my neighbor, I built a new-style cinderblock bed of 4 x 12, filled it, and planted it with sprouted seeds in a couple of hours, for much less cost and hugely less toil and time. That's what squarefooting is all about. My tiller has a nice new home, and I will raise all my beds from now on. My only change is expanded shale instead of vermiculite, and coir instead of peat. Otherwise, I follow the new soil recipe and ignore the existing dirt.

I've only poured into premade forms a long time ago. I'm glad you are back and can maybe generate some interest here. Be sure to look at the miniature babies a few posts down.