There are several things you should consider. One of the most important is to get the right varieties for your area. Your county extension should have that information. Find out what they need for a pollinator because if you limit yourself to just three apple trees, and pick them out just because you want that variety, then you need to be sure there is a tree close-by who can pollinate it. If you're serious about fruit production, then you don't want to get smaller than semi-dwarf. Consider frost dates and in Kansas I think that's especially important. Your early bloomers could have their buds frozen out. I lost all my peaches this year, and a good deal of my apples from a late freeze. This is the first time that has ever happened, but once in a while it just will..........nature is unpredictable. But, you hedge your bets as best you can. I keep enough trees for our own purposes and I do a lot of baking, canning, juices and jelly making. Likewise I share with my family things like eggs and fruit and they share theirs with me. So, know your consumption to be sure you have enough. I have four peach trees. Two established and just planted two more last year. Ten apple trees. Just one sour cherry, because the stock several years back when I was installing them, had something 'going on'. Prolly from the same supplier and it was bad. The birds get my cherries every year anyway. LOL. I plan on ordering a rip of them....about a dozen because they're beautiful trees anyway. The more you have, the better chance you have of getting enough left to harvest. And I have a lovely Medlar plum tree, three or four quince trees, and a persimmon. The apricot......well.......I suspect it wasn't true to type because the fruit never survives, gets frozen out. That's not my fault, it was the supplier. The most important issue is finding a reputable source. I had two supposed sugar pear trees and when they fruited up the first time, I chain-sawed them down. They were bradford pears, labled wrong. Man was I peeved. Years wasted is the big thing and then two spaces taken up in my little orchard for crap trees. The same source also sent standard apple trees and charged me for semi-dwarf. You don't find these things out until they're established and in the ground and then it's too late. I'd have had to move my whole flipping orchard. I am fine with standard trees, I'm a professional gardener and have no qualms about ladder work, but that meant they're spaced closer than I'd like.

I have been growing eggplants for three years in east central Wisconsin. Ichiban Imp.- wonderful, prolific, tasty Snowy - delicious, prolific, white and lavender Rosa Bianca - only got two, tasty Millionaire - heavy cropping, delicious purple I had the most success growing them in very large plastic and wood pots on my cement patio, which gets quite hot with a lot of reflected sun. I planted petunias in front and eggplant in back of the pots, fertilized them with bloom booster every other week, usually watered daily, depending on the weather. My favorite recipe is to slice them diagonally, add red sweet pepper strips, sometimes zucchini, onion, garlic, then lightly drizzle with a mixture of balsamic vinegar & olive oil. Toss. Spread in foil lined pan, sprinkle with "Mayo Clinic Everyday Seasoning" and roast at 400 degrees for about 25 min. Spread basil pesto on both sides of a split french bread loaf. Layer on veggies, sometimes shrimp or thin sliced smoked ham. Top with cheese. Bake till bubbly & golden. Eat open faced or closed.

Hi Patti! Kathy will give us each a partner. And you and your partner send seeds and swap to each other only. It is not like the tomato swap where you need to send your seeds to a host. Actually, this is how we usually do swaps here at IE, with partners. The tomato swap was an exception. It is really fun swapping with a partner! Hope this helps! Happy you joined! Christy

This site sells both 41 short and long rimfire cartridges. They appear to be original/antique, as all are marked "obsolete" and a comment after the 41 short "M" made by Remington says "This was the last US made .41 RF." (That could also be interpreted that they were made overseas after WWII?) I'd try a gun forum. There are a couple I visit and many members there are major firearms enthusiasts, both modern and antique ;)