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I just keep laughing when I see this thread title. I can't even *see* most of the garden, it's over-run with grass and weeds. Thankfully I instituted a No Tomatoes Without Cages rule this year, (after the giant mess I had last year staking them and not keeping up with tying them up) so I can...

How wide are the rows? (That is, how long is that piece of metal attached to the posts, that the wire is running through?) I have blackberries trellised on a cattle panel, but that means I end up with espaliered vines, when they could be allowed to grow thicker between the two supporting...

We've had good luck with Whirlpool Gold appliances. I did NOT like the Bosch dishwasher we bought... very hard to load efficiently, nothing wanted to fit, and it was loud. Oh, and don't let your DH talk you into a fridge with a bottom drawer freezer. No one I've talked to likes theirs, and...

Ugh, I just spent hours today in the heat and humidity putting up a deer barricade around my blackberries. Last year I watched them bloom and begin to ripen and did not get them protected in time... stupid deer ate *all* the unripe berries and a good portion of the new growth. This year, I...

Random thoughts: All wire *hanging* cages. Don't rest the floor on any supports, or it will collect poop and urine (which will ruin whatever the supports are.) I have metal conduit running through the top front and back of the cages, and then chain looped around that to suspend from the...

I still have plenty of dried beans left over from last year. I planted 32' and germination was excellent. If anyone wants to plant Violet's Multicolored Butterbean this year, PM me your address and I will send some to you! -Wendy

Cattle panels are fairly smooth galvanized metal -- at least compared to something like the concrete reinforcing wire I use for tomato cages. You'd probably want to go over it with an exam glove or a cloth that will catch on rough spots, and tape them, before putting on the plastic. -Wendy

If you read all the instructions and warnings on both items... apparently you're not supposed to use a pressure canner on an outdoor propane stove. I can't find a documented reason why, though I can guess. That said, my old fashioned electric stove (with the spiral burners and drip pans) will...

Freedom Ranger Hatchery for my meat birds: http://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/ I fell for a special last fall and raised some Cornish cross meat birds from Meyer Hatchery: http://www.meyerhatchery.com/ I've also ordered from S&G Poultry in Alabama: http://www.sandgpoultry.com/ -Wendy

Read "Sweet Deception" and see if you ever want to use artificial sweeteners (or trust the FDA...) again. My favorite sourdough bread recipe is King Arthur's Rustic Sourdough -- http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe Be careful with KA recipes: they use a 4.25...

This is the one kitchen gadget that I was originally opposed to, and now can't live without. It quickly paid for itself by preserving all the cheese that I would normally have to throw out when it turns green. Now I can use part of a block of cheese and seal the rest so that it lasts until I...

The deer will also eat your blackberries! I was watching a bunch ripen on some new vines along our driveway last year thinking "Self, you need to put a net over those" every time I drove by them. I didn't get there fast enough and one morning, *all* of the berries were gone. This year, I have...

I have! Now, if I could remember which of the 500 catalogs I saw it in... Oh, here: http://parkseed.com/sugar-plant/p/05942-PK-P1/ What I am *not* sure of is if that's the same variety that the commercial processors are using, or if there are different ones with different tastes or...

Very nice if you have a proper greenhouse, but my seed starting shelves are *inside*. I don't even have a suitable sunny window. So, I need lights, true, not to get the seeds to germinate, (though the heat they put out does help,) but to grow the starts out until they are ready to move...

A couple of years ago I set up a seed starting area with 'daylight' florescent bulbs -- just whatever they had at Home Depot. I have two shelves each with two 'shop light' fixtures over them, so four tubes per shelf. They take 48" T8 florescent tubes. Towards the end of last season I noticed...

Crazy weather here... it's been in the high 70's! My poor plum tree is very confused: 130115_7257 by wsmoak, on Flickr Winter is set to return on Thursday, and all those blooms are going to freeze. :( -Wendy

Ha! That is what I was watching for, as this wasn't stacked nicely but just tossed in a jumble until we had time to split and stack it. I would have been peeved to find a snake that close to the house though -- that (and rodents) is why I'm feeding an army of cats! -Wendy

I think he's just a Plain Old Spotted Salamander. http://srelherp.uga.edu/salamanders/ambmac.htm -Wendy

He was quite large, 5-6" or so. I scooped him up and re-buried him under a log where he won't be disturbed this winter. -Wendy

Not exactly *in* the garden, but isn't this guy neat?? 121223_7219 by wsmoak, on Flickr Who knew we had polka-dotted salamanders here... -Wendy