Elisa, I got the onions form a friend who was tilling up his garden late in the year. He didn't use them and thought they were too big and old. I say waste not, want not. I think they'll make it just fine, but some of those onions are about the size of an entire bunch that you'd buy at the grocery store, so I'm not sure about the whole "old tasting" thing. And thanks for the recommendations on the other lettuces. I'm always willing to try new crops. Jay, I've actually got row cover on order so I should be good there. The only problem is going to be with my job. I am a professional FireFighter and work 24 hr shifts, so if it gets too cold during the night that I'm at work, it won't be covered for that night. Hopefully since I chose all cold hard plants, it won't be a problem. The napa cabbage and kohlrabi sound great to me, but I'm afraid I'm all out of room. Thought I might have a little room to try a thin row of peas, but I have to research if they'll make it or not. I also gave a fleeting thought about heating with manure in the spots that I use to walk in there, but I've been reading of a lot of sites that say the minimum size of a pile to produce heat has to be 2 to 3 feet deep. I don't think I can get that much manure on a monthly basis, nor do I think I would have the room to dig the trench in there without crushing/messing up some plants. Guess I'll just stick to the milk jugs for now.

Here's more info from an article (link below). 'The study only found a link between vitamins and increased risk of death; it didn't prove that the supplements caused the deaths. The authors say the reasons behind their findings aren't clear..... To conduct the study, Mursu led a team who analyzed data from the Iowa Women's Health Study. The women in that study filled out 16-page questionnaires in 1986 about their diet, their use of vitamins and their general health. They recorded their of use of multivitamins, vitamins A, C, D and E as well as beta-carotene, B vitamins and minerals such as calcium, copper, magnesium, selenium and zinc. They were asked again about their supplement use in 1997 and 2004. The proportion of women who said they took one or more vitamin supplement soared during the study period, from 62.7 per cent in 1986 to 85.1 per cent in 2004. The researchers found that over the 19 years of follow-up, 41 per cent of multivitamin users died, compared to 40 per cent of non-users.' So basically, over 19 years, they were given a survey to take three times. The survey was self-reporting, which is not always the most reliable, as people tend to over or under estimate and report things about their compliance and general health...and there was only a 1% difference in mortality. I bet big pharmacuetical companies are jumping for joy about this study. Now we can all go to our doctors and get more pills for things that vitamins may have helped. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pro-vitamin (I rarely take them myself), but I'm pro-not believing everything you read. Here is a link that might be useful: Study about vitamins

Thanks everyone for all the additional info! Y'all have been great!! TETE-A-TETE ... No, I don't care if you don't shut up! I can use all the help I can get! I didn't know that if there is a dry spot on the root, in clay that it will always stay dry. And when I soak the plant, I take it out of the pot, right? I told family your suggestions and they thought y'all were saying to submerge the pot in the water. LAZY_GARDENS - Great tip about the drip tubing. Can this be found in one of those drip irrigation kits at Home Depot? KIMMQ - Love the idea of the drip ring about a tree - especially when I plant more trees in the fall! Also, your explanation about the water flow helped me understand why just amending the hole is not good. All this time I was thinking it was just the fear that the amendments would burn the roots to the plant if not well mixed. I am just finding out it had to do with drainage as much as anything! GREENMAN62 - Thanks for the tip on the banana ring! I liked your suggestion of putting it in the middle of trees! And about nitrogen producing trees, I heard that wax myrtles were like this, which happens to be what I'm planting. I originally purchased some knock outs for a flowerbed towards my curb but then right before I was going to plant, I realized it would probably be better to put some trees right there instead. Do you think the myrtles would shade it too much to plant roses too? It's been tricky because you will see some trees like wax myrtles that have tons of sun around them and others produce a ton of shade. I guess it's the angle of the sun and how much the tree has been pruned. My curb gets blasted by the sun so I didn't now if I could pull off some bushes in between or not. I've also heard the rumor that wax myrtles kill things around them and I've also heard that wax myrtles don't like certain plants around them but don't know if this is true. But, I wanted a row of small trees along my curb since my large tree was cut down and the sun beats in on my house and I have no privacy. But, I realize it's going to look really bland while those myrtles are growing. I had already carved out a beautiful flowerbed for roses and I think my neighbors were all excited I was going to plant some flowers there! It was a difficult choice and I'm still wondering if I could cheat and squeeze in a few between.

Directing water from a leaking hollow-block foundation through the B-Dry system should be a lot cheaper and less intrusive than outside waterproofing with a membrane and new weepers. Plywood on top of extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam board provides protection for virtually any type of basement flooring. Photo: Green Building Advisor Damp carpeting, unless it's no-pile synthetic, should be removed in any case. Then replace it with less water-sensitive materials for flooring. Or install flooring on top of systems designed for basements, such as: layers of XPS (extruded polystyrene) followed by ply or OSB; Delta-FL or equivalent; or Dri-Core or equivalent.