The first time I heard the hog story was from a popular recording of it by Farm and Ranch Magazine editor Tom Anderson, of Tennessee. His speech given before an audience of John Birch Society members was recorded in the early 1960's, and also contained the hunter and his dog story, the hunter and the bear story, and dozens of other great stories meant to teach and warn about big government. The 33-1/3 album with his speech, called "Bi-partisan Treason" was so popular because of Anderson's rich Tennessee drawl, and his masterful blending of serious warnings sprinkled with pointed humor and practical tips on how to help America head - off the welfare staters, Pinkos, and communists dominating both political parties in the early 60's. Anderson was a popular syndicated newspaper columnist whose "Straight Talk" columns were featured in many small town, weekly newspapers in those years. He was a patriot, a gifted speaker and I am sorry that he never lived to see the rise of our current Tea Party movement and candidates - he would have been wildly popular and appreciated today.

two cycle nut....I am glad to hear that your renovation worked well and that weeds were crowded out by KBG. I probably haven't seen enough to really say for sure, but if I were betting, I would say that the average renovated lawn will not be able to crowd out weeds for quite some time and that some use of weed killer will go a long way to helping things move along. I walked over to my neighbor's new KBG lawn today (renovated in the fall), and I absolutely couldn't believe the difference in just 2 weeks. I declared war on the weeds, and it appears that the grass has spread into most of the areas where the weeds had died out. The only bare spots that he has are where some animals went to work and dug out large holes early in the spring. When I renovate next year, I am going to use weed killer in the same way that he did. I enjoy fertilizing organically, but my new policy is "hybrid" and I'll cheat whenever necessary.

I am a little confused on this because in Carolyn's book, her recommendation for the size of the container for the first-and-final pot up seems tiny - "I transplant into plastic four-packs that have 2 inch cells", she says. Even if she is only starting seed 6 weeks before plant out, it seems like the plants would be extremely root bound by that time. ***** And that's the way I do it and so did all the commercial farmers in my area. And yes, they are very rootbound when they get put out and that's also the way I want it. And the roots are not as fragile and break as easily when transplanted as with seedlings that were potted up, which I've also done. I prefer seedlings that are about 6-9 inches tall to put out and yours aren't far from that already. So it's up to you what you want to do but if it were me I think I'd put your plants in as cool a place as you can right now and hold back on water and nutrients b'c in the next four weeks you're going to have huge plants as I see it. IN your MA zone 6 I think your last average frost date should be about May 1st, since in my zone 5 next door to you it's about May 15th, and I never plant out until about two weeks after last average frost,weather permitting, so for you that would mean planting out May 15th or so, so you'd have another month of growth on those plants. Another thing you might consider is taking some lateral branch, aka sucker, cuttings right now and I bet you'd have decent size plants in roughly a month, after hardening off. So pot up if you wish to; your choice. ( smile) Carolyn

I know what you mean, Socks, about reading a line-up of books before tackling any others. However, don't ask me how many books that I have purchased and still not read! LOL! Now I try to borrow all my books from the library, including the one I reviewed here. I love used book stores; they are often really great places to poke around to see what kind of treasures can be uncovered. There is one very unique store in my city owned by a man who came into some money. The shop is just crammed with used books, double-shelved, in towering piles on the floor and in every nook and cranny. Not organized in a way to find specific books or topics, but great fun for exploring.