Tanaka has a great reputation, and Robin equipment is always good stuff (Makita sells exact copies under their name, BTW). I have a RedMax BCZ2400S that I have been very impressed with. It's pretty quiet and light, and runs incredibly well with lots of power. They've got a unique stratified-charge system of induction that allows them to pass all emissions requirements without a catalytic converter. It works well. I've had good luck with Echos, too. I've heard/read mixed reviews on Stihl, where some models are great and some are not so hot. The Shindaiwa brand is highly respected, but some of the newer models with the catalytic converters have not run as consistently well as their older ones. I haven't read anything but praise for the Husqvarna trimmers.

That is a good idea, but I think it may have negative results on you. Lets say you post a neg fb for "123 seeds" a group that swaps reg. (I don't know of any group by that name, and am not suggesting any group either) Then, you want to join in with "abc seeds", they have seen your fb and don't want you talking about there group so you are not welcome. Also, you might want to consider this, lets say 123 has 18 ppl in it that swap on a reg basis and you join one swap, get a bad package and don't do any more with them, one bad apple.......I've done a few swaps with a few diff groups and have had very diff packages from ppl in the same group, one might send just what is in the guidelines, and someone else in that same group might send a whole lot more! (Fortunately I've always gotten boxes I'm happy with :) So, it's not just the "group" it's the individual. I have also seen posts in some threads regarding ppl not sending the appropriate amt of seeds/plants/etc, and usually it is taken care of there. Did you try posting your dissapointment on the swap thread? Have you tried looking up old threads of the groups before you join? You might want to look and see what type of ppl are in them first. Some groups are very chatty, share a lot of pics n things, others are just pretty cut and clear and stay on topic of the swap at hand. Just my thoughts Vic

I received the seed box in the mail today!!! I haven't had a chance to go thru it this afternoon -- but I will tomorrow when I get home from work! I cant' wait to see what's in there :) Thanks to all the original members who participated in the tomato seed round robin -- ya'll were awesome :) Just to let everyone know -- we'll be starting round 2 soon and we'll be adding new members to the round robin. If you're interested, please check back on this message thread in a day or so and I'll get the details for the signups posted. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the 1st round! The round robin went so smoothly and was definitely a success! Judy

Katherine, isn't it cool how something so simple can brighten up your day? I'm glad the box arrived and did just that for you! So, how is our little robin doing? Does it have far to go before arriving back here in Michigan? Robins are a sign of Spring, and it would indeed be great to see one right about now! Let's take a look and see where our robin has been, and has yet to go, shall we? So, here's our current list... dan/dan_the_mailman..... SENT/ melissa/hazelnutbunny .....SENT/RECEIVED deb/debbya...................SENT/RECEIVED cindy/quiltpartner ...........SENT/RECEIVED linda/linda ruzicka ...........SENT/RECEIVED melinda/ilovefarac michelle/micyrey ...........SENT/RECEIVED katherine/justamomofsix .........../RECEIVED Where will our robin land next? Hmmm, it looks to me like it's going to go to Melinda next! Yayyyyy for Melinda! Kath, how's the box holding up? -Dan