Cathy, I suspect the problem is with sbcglocal. Might you want to set up a free hotmail or yahoo email addy, to see if my emails will then get to you? Maybe you could use it then just for your GW emails....hint, hint. I just got your email saying that you had not gotten the other ones. Anyway...have not mailed yet, but will plan to either Sat or Mon. Anyway...recapping again here Seeds-Aster Jim Dai Seeds-HL Maroon Red cockscomb with huge blooms up to 10+" across. Dormant Mayapples Plants-small by nature-pussytoes Jacks-a few-later when they emerge....late April or thereabouts-pot luck on what size they will be once dug In one email I asked if you might like some Dentaria Laciniata...aka toothwort. I forget where you are planting the mayapples, but think it is a woodland as opposed to a 'shade' bed...right? Anyway. the toothwort will drop seed and naturalize everywhere. I also asked if you might like a shooting star (white). Feel free to reply here and watch for any other updates. I had hoped to mail earlier this week, but it did not happen...was gone Mon pm and then to town and a bunch of errands on Tues. Sorry to be so long with this...and am really wanting/trying to keep you updated. I know wonder about so many posts where members say the other member (trader) quits responding to emails...I wonder if at least some of them are going off into cyberspace somewhere and never being received....sigh. I just checked and see you replied to this thread already...I thought you might after just getting the email from me. I hope I have not forgotten anything. I need to make a folder fro just my emails from this one trade...there are a bunch of them, since they could not be sent and kept in one long string. Did I forget anything that we had talked about earlier? LMK if I did...thanks! Sue

also, that's what we all do after everything is in the ground and we're waiting for harvest...weed...weed..weed Speak for yourself. I detest weeding and do everything in my power to prevent them from growing in the first place. I'd say I've done less that 45 minutes of hand picking weeds this entire year. Doug, The key to getting rid of weeds and keeping an area weed free is planning far enough ahead and constant maintenance. I don't recommend Roundup, you don't need it. Weed eating is a futile effort unless your taking out the roots as well. So long as the roots are still in the ground, most of your weeds will continue to come back. You need to completely eliminate the entire plant: top and bottom. Depending on what "weeds" were in your soil that you tilled, you most likely brought up dormant weed seeds that were too deep to sprout and broke up stems (crab grass for instance) into smaller pieces where the nodes still sprouted. If tilling is the chosen method, then do so at least six weeks in advance, and preferably months in advance in order for the soil tilth to build back again as well as for dormant seeds to sprout so you can skim them to kill them as they come up. Do this a few times for a couple of weeks until they've subsided, then you're ready to plant. Next you need to mulch and mulch well (2-3 inches). This will prevent further sprouting of weeds and prevent migrating wind born seeds from taking root in your soil. If you plant vegetable seeds, you can mulch with a thin layer of shredded leaves or grass clippings or compost or straw, etc. When the seedlings get 3-4 inches tall you can mulch at a greater thickness and more as they get larger. Mulch will help keep your soil moist and the soil temperature stable. I use grass clippings because my neighbors provide me with a steady supply for free. If you want to go the newspaper route, try Freecycle.org and ask for newspaper. You might be pleasantly surprised. There's probably someone out there (like me) with plenty of newspaper to share, especially if it's going to good use and getting recycled. You can also call your local newspaper, tell them what you need it for and ask if they have any discards. You need to do layers of 8-12 damp (soak them in a bucket of water first) sheet, then cover with soil. If you don't it will dry and fly away. But if you can cover with soil, or mulch, it would work. You can also try cardboard. Call local businesses for both. You can also try black plastic mulch, but it won't add organic matter to your soil. The issue with straw are seeds which might sprout and cause problems. It works great, just make sure you know what you're getting: When using hay or straw, you need to know your source and exactly what is in the bales. Hay and Straw Glossary A popular organic mulch, hay is commonly used to protect soil and plants from the elements, to line pathways, and to address various needs in the garden. What many people don't realize, however, is that various products are often labeled as "hay" at garden centers, but there are many different types of hay and straw that are commonly sold in bales. While they are easily confused, it's important for gardeners to become familiar with the differences. Salt hay Salt hay, or Spartina patens, is a grassy plant that grows in salt marshes and wetlands. Martha has long used salt hay in her gardens. It is useful for keeping weeds from growing in paths, preventing runoff, and keeping soil from turning into mud whenever it rains or the garden is watered. A layer of salt hay will keep soil moist and encourage worms to come to the surface, which will help to aerate the soil. It also makes an attractive path to walk on between garden rows. Salt hay is an ideal all-purpose mulch because its seeds won't grow away from salt water so it won't germinate in your garden. Golden straw What is commonly termed "Golden straw" is either oat straw, Avena, or wheat straw, Triticum. This straw is a by-product of the process of separating oat or wheat seeds from their stalks. Golden straw is often used as bedding in horse stalls; because there are no seeds, the horses won't eat it. This straw spreads nicely, and the lack of seeds means there is no risk of it germinating in your garden. It can be used in the same way as salt hay. Wheat straw An excellent choice for straw for use in the vegetable garden. Lay down six inches in height in the fall then direct sow seeds in the spring. No need to dig. There will be a handful of weak sprouts from seeds, just pull them out. Feed hay Just as its name implies, feed hay is used to feed livestock. Though inexpensive and plentiful, it is not a good choice for use in gardens because it is full of seeds. The main ingredient of feed hay is alfalfa, Medicago sativa. It also frequently contains flowers and seeds from many other plants and weeds such as clover and golden rod. These seeds are likely to germinate, resulting in a garden full of weeds rather than flowers and vegetables. Soil Solarization is another technique you can use, using clear 6 mil plastic. It has been around for a long time. It's effective for those who have patience and can plan ahead. A drawback is that it kills beneficial organisms and bacteria in the soil. What I do is lay roof shingles over any area where I want to create a bed. Within two weeks vegetation underneath is weak and pretty close to dead. I wait until the soil is crumbly underneath, sink my spade in and start hand sifting and pulling out everything then I crumble it back in the spot along with compost so it's light and airy and never walk on it again. Then I'll mulch with leaves and/or grass clippings. Usually the latter. I don't do huge areas of space at a time. Literally just lay them on top of the grass and overlap them a bit so light doesn't get thru. After a couple of weeks and after a rain check to see if the soil is "friable" (soil crumbles in your hands). Length of time after a rain will depend on whether your soil is sandy, clay, etc. For me it can be 2-3 days in certain parts of the yard, 1 day in another area of the yard. When you lift the shingles, you'll see there is little to no grass and what you can see is yellow or white. Sink a spade in and lift up, then just get in there with your hands and fingers and take a chunk and pull out the roots. This works fabulously with bermuda grass because the main runner stem is in tact but the roots have died off so all you have to do is follow the runners. Sometimes they're 4 feet long. But they're soooo much easier to get out! Much less work than tilling and sifting. Then crumble the soil lightly back into the spot with your fingers. As you crumble take out out any weed matter and into the compost pile they go. This is the best time to incorporate compost or any other soil amendments. Now don't walk on the area or you'll compact the soil. I'll take out large rocks as well since we grow rocks around here. I've responded to "Wanted: Rocks" on freecycle.org a couple of times so now they're gone and have found use to fill holes under fences so dogs don't escape. The problem with tilling bermuda grass is that when you do that, you create a lot of little pieces that are not easy to find and get out without a sifter. If one tiny piece with a node gets left behind, it'll take root and take off and you have the same problem all over again.

It sure helps to vent, and what better place than here? You are trying so hard to be everything for everybody else that you've forgotten to look after yourself. Learn to say No now and then, and mean it. You might be a super woman, but Superwoman you aren't. So stop trying. Can you get occasional respite care for your mother? Try having a chat with the doctor, and the social worker at the hospital, or a local church or charity organisation. One day a week to yourself will be very rejuvenating for you. Pass the buck onto SIL if necessary. I have a friend who takes things on like you seem to, and people walk all over her with hobnailed boots. Now and then she remembers some good advice I gave her some time back - use the 'what if I were dead? ' tactic. In other words, if you got run over by a bus tomorrow, the world would still revolve, someone would step in to take over from you. They'd cope. So - sometimes, let 'em cope! Meantime, you need some free time, some space, and some freedom to live and breathe for yourself. You've earned that right.

Half my milkweeds are popping, and there's not much happening to the pots that were on the right side of the T5. I'm worried that the light was too close to those pots and they cooked. I took the baggies for humidity off of those pots. It looked and some amplexicaulis seeds were still good, and the pot tipped over and a bunch of soil spilled out. LOL Another mishap. I just packed everything back in and sprinkled sand over the top for good luck.🙏🙏🙏 There's at least 1 fungus gnat flying around. Maybe if I run the metal halide light when the T5 is off, any fungus gnats will fly unto it and get fried. Is there a dunk or something I could use when watering that would kill them naturally? So I'm worried and I just put more seeds into moist coffee filters for 30 more days CMS. This is backup in case the other ones never pop up. I give people who sell plants or run nurseries a lot of credit, because it's a lot of time consuming work, taking care of plants. I'll check out those grasses you mentioned. I wanted to do about 50 percent of the front lawn in shorter grasses and sedges, and I want different textures intermingling, so these curly grasses can help do that. The garden half will be all crazy, imagine having Prairie Dock with its ginormous leaves in the front yard.