When I am at the market, and I purchase things such as garlic ~ After all who can have too much garlic.... I also purchase those white bunching onions or scallions as they are sometimes called ..... you know the ones that you dice up to put on top of you salads... I chop up the scallions/bunching onions I want for my salads. However, instead of throwing the ends of them away like you normally do, or for composting, as in my case. I save them, and plant them in my garden. Instead of throwing the meager garlic centers away, I also plant those as well. It does take some time but eventually you will get more garlic, and bunching onions as well. I also do the same with the garlic with the tiny pieces in the center of the garlic that normally you might toss anyways. I now have a great patch of Jerusalem artichoke's as well; from a few spent tubers that were going to be thrown out by the produce guy at my local store anyways.... The Jerusalem artichokes are great for that extra nutty crunch in your salads if you have not tried them.... They grow very similar to sunflowers and bloom similarly to sunflowers as well although the blooms are quite a bit smaller. At least they are quite tall, and add a place for my runner beans to grow upon as well. The bonus is that they are a perennial crop as well. I do caution though that they will try and take over your garden if you don't keep an eye on them! Another good one is horseradish roots for those of you who might make your own horseradish sauce... Pineapple tops normally you twist them off and toss... Pot them up and, you have an interesting houseplant. If you are like me you now look at extra bits of produce in a whole new way... happy gardening! bgrow_gardens

I'm in Pasco, so I hope I can help. Country Club Nursery in Largo is good. They have a website of the same name. Also, defintely, the St. Pete Green Thumb Festival April 25th & 26th. USF is good, but I think the St. Pete is better and it has free admission and free parking. Get there by 9am and you get a free butterfly plant. Kerby's is good, but you are probably closer to Country Club. Over at the Oldsmar Flea Market, there's a good garden center. They have a nice selection and good prices and are right there to ask questions. If you enter from Tampa Rd., they are at the far right end. I've been to Crowley's and the Florida Native nursery and they are both good, but nothing I couldn't get anywhere else. Also Crowley's should be at both USF & St. Pete. Julie

Susan, I love your light stand and always will love it. I realize it was the best solution for you, but if I told Tim I wanted to buy one of those, he'd hand me a hammer and tell me to build my own....which is why I have the one that I have. : ) Mine is hidden away out of sight in a room where guests rarely venture, although anyone who knows me and who knows I raise my own seedlings always asks to go upstairs and see it in the spring. So much for putting it out of sight....I just should have set it up in the dining room or breakfast room or something.... I am sure you'll be deliriously happy with it and will have many wonder seed-starting adventures and I look forward to hearing all about them. I think you got a great deal considering it was Gardener's Supply. I never buy anything of theirs for full price. They have sales often enough (and especially in November when, I think, some of us gardeners are shopping for ourselves) that a person can be patient and get a good price during their periodic sales. I've noticed that prices often are not as good in December when gardeners' spouses or family members are doing what I call "panic Christmas buying" and cannot afford, time-wise, to wait for a sale. I don't think you were repetitive at all. The more we all share about what we do, how we do it and why we do it (as well as pointing out what didn't work for us!), the better for all of us to learn from one another's experiences! Carol, Our weather is just like yours. Our high was 70 degrees yesterday and it was so gorgeous outside I could hardly stand it. I wanted to jump up and down and scream "Spring Is Here!". That was exacerbated by the smell of the orange blossoms on my little orange tree. However, I controlled myself because I knew it was a false spring and that winter was returning today. It was 56 degrees around 7 a.m. here at our house and now it is 36 degrees and we have had very, very light rain but lots of thunder. Phooey on winter! I think you showed those folks at the co-op that one benefit of being a gardener is that it keeps your muscles and joints strong, healthy and fit. I'd rather "work out" in the garden any day, than walk on the treadmill or work out on the weight machine. Who wouldn't? Trees, Nope, sorry, I just haven't gotten to it. I am trying. Watch for it in a couple of hours or in the morning. I'm about to start typing mow after I close up the chicken coops, put out the deer corn for my favorite deer, refill the bird feeders (those little birdies are eating nonstop today trying to stay warm), etc. I'm kind of dreading going out into the cold wind but I need to do it now before it gets dark. I have to warn you that I don't use the same planting schemes every year because I don't want to get stuck in a rut, but I'll try to mention some of the planting schemes in my usual rotation. Dawn

Growing a good healthy lawn starts with making the soil that lawn is growing in into a good healthy soil. What is the level of organic matter in your soil? What is your soils pH? How well does that soil drain" How well does that soil retain moisture? How is your soils tilth (workability)? What kind of life is in that soil? What is the nutrient balance of the soil? Contact your counties office of Purdue Cooperative Extension Service for information about where to have a good, reliable soil test done and then dig in with these simple soil tests, 1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what you have now and determine what you need to do to make that soil into the good healthy soil.