Northwoods: I am not sure why so many of your bagged apples fell off but I presume from June drop? If you are bagging early in the season that might be a reason. Most are bagging when the fruit is the size of a dime to beat insect damage from curculio/leafroller but when June drop comes, the trees will drop some fruit naturally. I prefer to spray early for insects (starting at petal fall) and then bag mid-late june. This also gives me plenty of time to get them bagged since I am covered against insects anyway. Just a thought that perhaps june drop is the reason. Of course since I am only bagging the Haralson this is not an issue for me. It would be if I bagged all my apple varieties. Tony: The last time I bought Imidan 70 was from Schlabach's Nursery in Medina NY. They stopped selling it this year and now offer Avuant instead due to the restricted use issue for many states for Imidan. Not a problem for me. I have many friends in the orchard industry who will sell me a pound or I can get it direct if I buy it in 4 lb lots from Keystone. 4 pounds at time will last me for about 7-8 years. I keep it triple packaged,cool and dry and have no problems with the longevity issue. 8 year old Imidan seemed to work for me just as well as fresh. Imidan can be purchased IF you have a pesticide applicator's license (if it is a restricted use chemical for your state) and if you are willing to buy 4 lbs at a time. For many home growers with just 2-3 apple trees, the cost for such quantity and the pesticide applicator's license required make Imidan out of reach.

Susan, Cheyenne Spirit was bred by Pan AM Seed and Keift Seed breeder Ping Ren in Illinois. I assume the seed is being produced in The Netherlands. I knew it was being trialed in the AAS Trial Gardens so have been watching it for a couple of years. Last year the seed was available from a handful of online retailers, and I almost purchased it then, but (mindful of the disappointment in Terra Nova's pricey new echinaceas the last few years) I really wanted to wait and see how this variety performed in the AAS Trials. Since "Cheyenne Spirit" was trialed in 37 AAS Trial Gardens across the USA and was selected as an AAS winner, I have high hopes for it. There's no way to know, though, without trying it and seeing how it does, which is precisely what I intend to do. I feel like any plant that was trialed for multiple years in AAS Trial Gardens in the recent drought years has to be really good to emerge a winner. I think the watermelon looks very interesting. My dad's family grew Moon and Stars when he was a kid, and I still plant it about 1 year out of 3. I'd grow it more often, but the plants take up so much space and I'd rather grow smaller refrigerator-sized melons. Thus, I find this new watermelon very intriguing and likely will grow it in 2013 if seeds are available early enough, or in 2014. It looks like it would produce a nice melon that's larger than the refrigerator melons but not nearly as huge as the regular OP Moon and Stars. I already have my Grow List pretty much figured out for 2013, but I always leave a little room to try a few new things. We have a new fenced garden area with very sandy/silty soil that we used last year for the first time in about a decade. I had grown flowers and winter squash there before in and prior to 2006, but then the deer discovered the garden and that area wasn't fenced, so I stopped using it. This year I grew corn and 'Moon and Stars' watermelong there along with some Tahitian Melon winter squash and some drought-tolerant bush beans called Kebarika. That soil is so sandy that the moisture just ran right through it and I had to water and water and water those plants like crazy this past summer. After I amend that area's soil by adding a whole lot of organic matter and some chicken manure this winter, I think it will be a great place to grow watermelons and sweet potatoes, so that's likely where I'll plant both those crops this coming spring. I'd like to grow the new watermelon variety there. I find the color range of the Cheyenne Spirit echinaceas very intriguing and they'd look great with the other hot colors of plants like butterfly weed, Texas star hibiscus, and zinnias that I always grow in the veggie garden's flower border. I love hot colors in that area because those hot-colored flowers seem to attract oodles of pollinators. Dawn

My advice would be if they aren't spreading enough then there is a bit too much flour. Try cutting down 1/4 cup and do a test cookie, if it's spreading too much then add a bit more flour until you get it how you like it. Betty Crocker cookbook has this tip in their old cookbook. I think most people are trying to figure it out when it's really just as simple as too much or not enough flour that affects the spread of the cookie. Try not to over-think it so much. EDIT TO ADD: The cookies in the picture look good though...they don't look like they didn't spread enough to me. Here's a thought too, why not use a round cookie scoop to form them and flatten them out a bit with the bottom or a glass or something? This post was edited by arkansas_girl on Thu, Dec 27, 12 at 10:31

Well, I have addresses for Raven and OutsidePlaying. Those are ready to mail when the snowstorm stops. Raven, I had to click on Activity too. Wonder what is going on with Houzz again? If anyone talks to Katlan, Donna_Loomis or Abbisgram let them know they are winners I messaged them thru their pages, except Abbisgram doesn't have a message thing on her page.