Hi. Thank you. I looked at the pictures. Although the nuts look somewhat the same, the color is creamy white, and I would not describe these nuts as easy to crack. I think it was planted from a selection, from what I have read. These are good quality nuts and not terrible to remove from the shell. I really hate to lose this tree. It has fruit every year and not every other as the article states wild ones do.

Sigh... I just checked the last two large Sweet Meats in my squash patch. Both have major cracks. They're in the compost now. There are plenty of baseball sized fruits coming along, but they won't make anything useful in time. I had high hopes for Sweet Meat. It was supposed to be a Northwest favorite. In fairness I have to say that about half of the Marina Chioggias also split. But that one plant is gonna give me 5 impressively large specimens. Next year, I think I'll go with Bananas and Butternuts. And maybe a Warty Red Thing thrown in for laughs.

Good Morning all! I see it has changed some since I was last here! Hurray! Come on out the rest of you! It doesn't have to be a big box, just a little token of friendship and celebrating coming spring, which I think everyone is so ready for!! Sorry, I haven't been on much. My grandson is down with the flu! Not sure if it is a 48 hr. thing or if he should start getting better today! Just in time for me to get, as we are suppose to go to Springdale for my granddaughter's 13th birthday party Saturday! And I certainly don't want to miss it! She's my only girl and she is a girly girl!! Oh Lord! Mareas-so glad things are going better for you! I would love to see where you live! I bet it is very gorgeous there! Welcome to the little swap! Please stop in and post whenever you can! And everyone else also! Sharon-wonderful for you to join! (and everyone else also!) I know what you mean about peeking at your seeds every morning! I have broccoli, brussel sprouts, peppers, tomatoes, ornamental peppers, and other items, besides my flowers are waiting to pop up. I now have 6 lemon meyer seedlings about an inch tall! I peek at them several times daily!! For those of you who would join if was a little later-just send a little yard ornament or trinket and nice note with an IOU for a plant when they come up! It's not about what we get, just the fun in knowing someone is thinking of you and cares enough to send a little something! Soemthing to pick up everyone's spirits in the lousy economy everyone is having these days! Shirley-I hope things are going better with your Mom. Please keep us posted! I will continue to keep you and her in my prayers. Ok so now we are at: Melinda Gloria Nancy Paul Debbie Marea Sharon Looking good! Would love to see others coming out and posting to say hello even if don't want to swap! Love to get to know more of you better! Have a great day! Melinda

Ladies we have a celebrity in our midst!!! This picture and article appeared in the Monday April 21st edition of the Quincy Herald-Whig. Way to go Michelle!!!! lOLLY WAGNER Herald-Wnig Staff Writer The gardener's house on South 19th Street is easy to spot from the street. Michelle Reynolds' minuscule front yard is more straw than grass, but the tulips poking up in bunches around a tree stump, and the yard ornaments and bird feeders distract the eye. But the real work is going on inside, where the cold, dark days have been banished by grow lights and win­dow gardens. "The plants keep me busy," Reynolds said. "It gets me through winter to have stuff blooming here all the time." Reynolds will be putting most of her vegetable seedlings into the com- munity plots on North Eighth Street. She also has the beginnings of several butterfly and kitchen gardens for her­self, friends and relatives. While she regrets that the garden is too far to walk to, she's glad that it's away from the curious fingers of her sons, 5-year-old Timmy and 2-year-old Jeremy. This is her second year, and she has plants to share with the other gar­deners and flowers to contribute. The perennials have already sprouted in two portable greenhouses on the front porch. Reynolds put the shelves of flats, encased in plastic, on the porch last January and the seeds started to sprout last month. "I just water them," Reynolds said. A lot of seeds need the freeze-thaw cycle to germinate. "I just let nature do it." Reynolds' kitchen is a laboratory with plants in pots, plants wintering-over, a shelf-top greenhouse, house plants, Timmy's seedlings and plants hanging and sitting everywhere they'll find natural light. Outside the kitchen door, protected from freezing temperatures in the "mud room" on the back porch, are two more portable greenhouses sheltering seedlings. They hold snapdragon, roses, and cardinal climbers that will bloom with red trumpets that appeal to hum­mingbirds. The tiny backyard is completely mulched. "I want to water plants, not grass," she explains. The wood chips also provide a relatively clean play area for the boys, "not that they wouldn't love to play in the mud," Reynolds said. Birdhouses hang from the garage wall, and in the corner are several raised gardens for flowers. The hard-working plants are in the base­ment. More than 100 tomato plants, along with eggplants, pepper plants, and more flowers sprout from flats on the shelves that line three walls, leaving just enough room for the washer and dryer. Each shelf has a fluorescent bulb hanging from chains so it can be raised as the plants grow. "It's taken me a couple of years to get it where I want it," Reynolds said. Here are the beginnings of several kitchen gardens and a winter's worth of canned toma­toes and salsa. While Reynolds has not gotten involved with groups promoting locally grown foods, she's discovered the pleasure of being surrounded by nature and helping things to grow. "I talk about them to anybody who will lis­ten," she said. hwagner@whig.com/221-3374 GARDENWEB.COM Michelle Reynolds plants more seeds than she can use. She plans to give away her extras, including trading plants online at GardenWeb.com. She also has several kitchen gar­dens planned for friends and relatives. At only a few feet square, "a kitchen garden is something anybody can put in their yards," Reynolds said. Her kitchen gardens hold a few tomato plants, eggplants, onions, radishes, carrots and lettuce, "just any­thing you can toss in dinner," she said. There are also herbs such as basil and fennel for cooking, for the butterflies and just for the delicious aroma when they are crushed between the fingers.