Great tip - Nancy. I do have some empty tea bags, that I ordered some time ago. They were originally intended for mint, but found that mint is great stored dried/frozen, and then put in a tea "ball" add hot water for making a combination of black/mint tea. These bags, however, can be ironed shut, and perhaps they could best serve with the dried milk content. I use dried milk a lot in making bread anyway. Linda Lou - about my dehydrator - it is Excaliber, and I admit it seems a bit slow on the low setting, but preferred to wait a bit longer if necessary, so as not to have stuff over-dry - tasting like grass. Admittedly, I am still experimenting with it - as I find some things work better in other ways - as we all have found from experience. But perhaps those scapes could be cut a bit thinner too - like thick-walled peppers, which dry better when cut into rings. I'm not familiar with "mylar bags" - or "O2 absorbers" - unless by other names. The dessicant packets can be ordered over the Web - fresh without previous use I note. They seem awfully expensive - after adding the shipping cost, which is almost as much as the item itself - bummer. But will certainly try the dried milk - if it works, that's all that is necessary. Bejay

In my experience, gel stain applied in a thick paint like manner (no wiping) to a non sanded finish does not hold up well to heavy use. It worked out fine for us as our dining hutch and table are rarely used; they are not high quality; and they look so much better than before. My table has chipped just from carelessly putting things on it--we have not eaten on it yet. It def would not hold up to any scrubbing after a messy meal. I accidentally dripped paint on the hutch and the gel stain came off where i scrubbed off the paint. I did put several coats of poly on the hutch and table. The buffet (gel stain wiped on and off onto unfinished wood) and kitchen chair (gel stain wiped on and off to darken the wood) have both held up to heavy scrubbing. I have pictures below of the dining hutch and table (before the glass was put back in, ect) and buffet. You can see that the dining hutch and table almost look painted--no visible grain. The buffet top is clearly stained with visible grain. I don't have a pic of my kitchen chair after I gel stained it--but you can see it before it was gel stained in the first pic. It looks exactly the same but about 4 shades darker--i wiped the stain on and then off. There is also a dining room chair pictured--that was gel stained like the dining hutch and table.

Finished! Here is before and after of the kitchen: Before: After: So we used general finishes water-based stain (rosewood) to darken the wood and take care of any wood variations, followed by a few coats of general finishes gel stain (georgian cherry), which really smoothed out the open grainy-ness of the oak. My husband wanted the color to be very dark, without any light/dark variation, but you can still see that it is wood. The gel stain is great, because you don't see any paintbrush marks. I applied the gel stain with a sock, and just rubbed it in (rather than wiping some on, and wiping excess off with another sock/rag). I then applied one coat of Aqua Zar water-based polyurethane in semi gloss, then a final coat of Aqua Zar water-based polyurethane in satin (because we didn't want it too shiny). I had heard that if you use several coats of satin only over dark stain, it gets cloudy. The satin over semi-gloss looked great. After much deliberation, I opted for the Aqua Zar water based because I wanted something without fumes (we have children/pets), and that would be quick. In retrospect, I think that I could have used an oil-based polyurethane, or even general finished gel topcoat, and it would have been fine. Overall, the project was very easy and came out great! Thanks for everyone who provided input! Diane

I've examined the related posts on this topic, and seek additional advice from growers with that experienced the same thing. Sorry for length, but want to give detail to precisely describe the situation. Situation: - Arctic Star nectarine. It is spring 2016, it's 2nd year in the ground (planted spring 2015). Sourced bareroot from a retailer who sourced from Dave Wilson. - Oozes gel-like substance (not sticky/tacky, but more like hair gel) on pruning cuts on branches - I've also seen ooze at the base of where new (3" - 4") branches begin to form. The young branch wilts and dies. - I see no evidence of borers. No sawdust. No holes. There is no oozing or any unusual circumstances at the base of the tree. Ooze happens in the branching of the trees, on pruning cuts or new branches trying to grow. - This is not the fruit oozing, as I've seen other threads on that topic. Fruit is still small and the tree has lots, despite being only 2nd leaf. - Tree look very healthy and vigorous. There are a few leaves here and there with curl, but that should not be a big deal, I'm told. - Ooze seems to pick up when it rains. We've just had a day's rain, and the attached pics are after the rain. Prior, there was not ooze at these points. Actions - When I first saw ooze, I talked to my local nursery and he said that my best bet is prune out wood where I see the ooze. Better safe to hack the young tree than let the disease live on. - My tree had two main leaders. I cut off one entire leader (half the tree) well below where I saw the ooze. As I said, better safe than sorry. I placed tar on the cut because it was a 1" branch or larger. Check out one of the pics. Despite this low cut, I see a little ooze flowing out of the tar. - On the other half of the tree, I would cut off any branch where I saw ooze, at least 6-8" below the ooze. Now, even those pruning cuts are oozing today after the rain. Again the tree looks totally fine other than this. Questions: - I'm thinking of potentially taking out the whole tree before it infects nearby ones. Is that too harsh? One poster said it's normal for young trees to have high sap pressure, especially after a rain, and it will "take care of itself". - Does anyone have the same experience and tried to wait it out? What happened? - Would it hurt to see how the fruit forms and tastes? Will that be any sort of indication? - I'm a home gardener with high-density planting. If I take this out, I'd want to put another peach in the same spot. Would that be unwise? Again, looking for someone who has this experience, instead of general advice of not planting the same tree in a diseased location (for a tree only a year in the ground). Thanks! I know it takes a lot of time to read and respond, so it is much appreciated! Nectarine Ooze Pictures