HI! I got a lovely email that this thread had been retrieved so I'm here to give an update! Actually, I've been so consumed with this project that I haven't even been to the forum. The store is going to open October 1!!!!! It's called "Southern Seasons" and it's in Shelbyville, TX. I actually got my LLC with Moo's Garden & Market but I found that I had to spell and explain too much with this name. Plus I kept getting mail addressed to Moose Gardens (?) I found Southern Seasons explained that concept much better. If someone will post the "code" on how to paste a picture I'll be happy to show you the progress. It's quite a transformation! It has been my passion to make this store THE store that I would want to shop at. It must have everything that I find enjoyable in a store. I think I might have done it, for the most part. First of all, we are all about the seasons. When we open in October I'm having a half a semi load of pumpkins delivered for sale and display. Their premium pumpkins from West Texas in all sizes shapes and colors. These bear NO resemblance to your Wal Mart or grocery store pumpkins. There is big and tiny, red and white and blue and orange, tall and fat and even some with warts! My husband and I bundled up corn shocks from our garden for decoration, I'm going to Louisiana for a load of barley and wheat straw bales. We'll have mums and snapdraggons, panseys, and fall garden veggie plants. The day after Thanksgiving, all the Fall stuff goes to the cows to enjoy and in comes the Fraser Firs from North Carolina. I'm getting table top sizes for my older customers who find large trees too much to deal with. Then comes spring with hanging baskets and beddding plants, fountains and bird baths, feeders, wind chimes, sun catchers etc. Back to October- Inside the store is seperated into two sections which I lovingly call womans world/man's world. The theme of the whole store is based on entertaining at home. Whether it's a formal dinner party, backyard cookout, or a cozy evening at home alone, I have what you need! - Let me explain! The ladies side will greet you when you walk in with a huge centerpiece of fresh cut flowers (which are for sale) and often times a fruit and vegetable centerpiece like a pomegranate and lemon topiary or such. I also carry Colonial Candles, and sachets and poporri from Sentations, candle sticks & georgeous table runners. Wine, iced tea, rocks, shot, martini glasses, pitchers, stirrers, decanters, swizzle sticks both silly and classic. Trays to carry your cup and saucer, the BEST music CD's ranging from jazz to love songs, books from Southern Lady publishing on entertaining and tabletops and flowers. Magazines also like Southern Lady, Taste of the South (Not taste of home) Victoria and Tea Time. On the counter you will find fresh muffins, cookies, croissants, cupcakes, fruitcakes, pies and bagles. Fresh hot coffee (perhaps cappaccino, I'm working on that) and you can take your coffee and muffin and go out on the back deck (20x24) and enjoy your coffee looking at the gardens and reading a magazine or newspaper. There will be a nice fountain and seasonal decor, of course. I want people to LOVE to be here! Man's world has Salty snacks like Real Virginia peanuts both in a can and in the shell, fresh fruits and vegetables grown localy and in from the Texas Rio Grand Valley, glass bottled cokes, the real can sugar Dr. Pepper from Dublin, TX. Deer corn and fall plot mixes. A meat counter with actual USDA PRIME BEEF! Yes, it's pricey but it's so difficult to find that I decided we MUST carry it for those who want something special. We'll have delicious smoked link sausage by the pound, and other food items that I'm still working on. I'm sure there's so much that I'm forgetting! It's a lot especially when you see that the store is so tiny but it will be loaded to the rafters which is what I wanted! Also, different yes, but I will NOT decorate for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving! This gives you a reason to come back often to see what is new with the decor and centerpieces and foods. Thank you all for your interest and please come and see me when we get open! It's going to be nothing if not interesting. I've got to go paint....again! Love, Moo!

The consumer must educate themselves. Obviously there exists widely varying opinions and deep emotions on the subject of GM foods as well as sources of information on the subject. Let there be a broad, bright source of light whose source is rooted in science rather than emotion and opinion shining out across the world. What precious little research on GMOs in food I've seen in refereed journals doesn't make a good case for consuming GMOs but I haven't seen nearly enough to conclude that they are a threat to my diet. Much more work needs to be done for me to make a rational, knowledge based decision. In the meantime, this country needs to get it's feces congregated and institute COOL, Country of Origin Labeling at the very least, if we can't get that done there is no hope for trying to get GM labeling. The thought of eating produce from China is both sickening and a tad frightening considering their environmental laws and regs..

I really dont like it when someone uses a gardening forum to bash people they disagree with politically. I also tire of trying to inform people about the farce global warming but I will never give up (LOL). I put this together for another gardenweb thread when someone crying about how global warming was going to doom our children and how we need to follow the advise of the experts at the UN. Here goes... In order to put public policy actions in place to combat global warming which could have negative effects on economic progress, the following should be true. 1. global warming is occurring (probably true). This is not all that unexpected since we may still be coming out of the little ice age which we know occurred at least from 1600-1850. Also warming is much smaller when measuring from satellite rather than from ground based measuring devices that are affected by urban heat islands. 2. the majority of the warming is due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions and not natural (questionable). Correlation between rising temperatures and CO2 is problematic. Ice core data appears to show that CO2 increases follow or lag higher temperatures and is therefore an effect and not a cause. Additional, the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere is small (0.03 percent). Mans contribution to CO2 is a small percentage of CO2 (5%). CO2 contribution to global warming is small (4%). Much of the increase in CO2 due to man entered carbon sinks and is not still in the atmosphere (50%). 3. unnatural levels of global warming will occur during the next century (questionable) IPCC predictions have ranged from a 1.5C to 5.8C increase by year 2100 over the last ten years (needless to say the best answer may be they dont know) Computer models so far have done a poor job at predicting recent and past results. There is still a poor understanding of the global carbon cycle which makes any climate change due to CO2 unpredictable 4. The consequences of this warming will be disastrous (unlikely) Typically only negative aspects of warming is noted, positive consequences should be noted as well *Nighttime lows may be higher in temperate regions extending farming regions north *Increased CO2 encourages plant growth *Some desert regions (the Sahara in particular) may see increased rainfall based on historical data In addition, if changes to the climate take place it will be over long periods of time allowing for the adaptation and migration 5. we have enough knowledge to put in place world-wide policy action that can reverse the warming (unlikely) Also, any solution must be effective and be better than alternative actions (or inaction) and not produce unacceptable new problems. The thought of political leaders from around the world sitting around a conference table debating the best policy to put in place (and enforce) in order to keep 2100 global temperatures at a +0C increase instead of +2.5C is laughable. Fossil fuels are the life blood of the human economic engine that has improved the life of nearly every person on the planet. The level of proof for those wishing to change or effect the way we live is very high. The proof so far is quite lacking in my opinion. In addition, the proposed methods to combat this theoretical problem have been either impossible to implement or likely ineffective. Let the flame throwing begin. :) BTW. The 2003 map was very similiar to maps from the 1960's. Zones were lowered during the 70s and 80s when the earth went through 'global cooling'. Kind of blows that GW theory a little...

Hahaha! Don't worry, I'm eating!!! I just made a huge salad and added hard-boiled eggs and some tomato. Normally I don't care for tomatoes in salads, but I have them, so I did. I had a pear, but they're still too hard. The grapes and oranges are so good! I had just bought a 10-lb bag of Yukon Gold potatoes so I now have lots! The ones in my box are russets.