Donna, I'm so sorry to hear about your tomatoes. I'm just to the point of putting mine outside again because of the rotten weather we've had. Some of mine seem to have suffered (stalled growth, purple leaves) from having been brought in. It's still not warm outside but night temps are above 40 degrees, so quite a few of them are back outside. Now I just have to hope I have them high enough off the ground so our wily groundhog doesn't get them.

I had similar troubles as Bonnie early on. If I remember right, Bonnie was having trouble with her cat getting into her seedlings. My dog was managing to get up on my seedling table and knocking things over. So I have things labeled like "Cockscomb or Zinnia" or "Evergreen or Jersey Devil tomato." So I'll have some mysteries this year.

Yep, that is correct, Becky. Melvin took a liking to pepper sprouts this year, so they had to be moved from the kitchen window to the guest room. As long as we don't have house guests from March - May, I guess that will work out, LOL.

The Rocky Mountain Gardening forum (here on GW) is having its annual Spring Swap next weekend, so I will be driving over the mountains. With the gas I'll spend, it's really not about the plants, but just a chance to visit with folks that I've come to know. This is my 3rd year to attend. I'm embarrassed at how tiny the peppers and tomatoes sprouts I'm bringing are, but besides the cat, we've had a very cool spring, so the wintersown tomatoes sprouted about 2 weeks later than usual, and are growing very slowly.

Bad Melvin! Bad! Some of my tomato & pepper seedlings are only a couple inches tall. Others are making good progress. The bigger ones I put outside. The others I'll keep in until the temps are a little warmer. The thing is, I started them are within a week or two of each other.

I just started lots of cucumbers, summer squashes & winter squashes. If they all grow, I'll be able to feed the entire town! Some of the seeds I started are a little older though (2007). So I'm hoping. They're suppose to last 4-5 years right? To my embarrassment though, I forget the melons. I'll have to start those a little later.

Anyway here's the list. The number after is how many of that variety I planted:
Cucumbers - County Fair (4), Early Russian (3), Suyo Long (3), Diva (3), Kiwano (2), Yok Kao (3), Boothby Blonde (3), Cool Breeze (3)

Summer Squashes - Summer crooknecks (3), Sunburst (3), Zephyr (3), Cousa (3), Genovese (3), Peter Pan (3) Raven (3), Tromboncino (3)

Winter Squashes (yeah, I know they're not a part of this swap, but I thought you might wanna see the list anyway) - Uncle David's Dakota Dessert (3), Fairy (3), Jumbo Pink (3),Cushaw (3, how do you spell that anyway?), PA Dutch Crookneck (4), Candy Roaster (4), Black Futsa (4)

I got to use up some odds and ends (varieties where I only had 2-4 seeds). I usually have a tough time with cucumber beetles. So having extra squashes & cukes is a good thing.

Sorry to be MIA...it's been a very busy planting season...indoor sowing and 1st transplant and now outdoor trasplants. I wanted to get a jump on this season 'cause last year I didn't get to plant in the ground until July...LONG PAINFUL STORY lol. But since we may be moving shortly...yeah that's been in progress since JANUARY...so the move date is still unknown. Anyway, I've been planting everything in buckets. I just love my white buckets all over the yard lol. DH picked up over 200 of them so far...and many are filled.

LOL I hear ya on the qty and being able to feed the whole town. I lost count on my tomato plants at somewhere between 200 and 300 varieties, with over 600 total plants. Of course I'm giving tomato plants away like post cards to friends and family lol.

Anyway, I'll be sure to get those cukes, summer squashes and melon seeds on their way before the due date =D

Hope everyone is enjoying digging in the dirt as much as I am!

Happy gardening everyone

Toni

Well I have decided to put the ones that look good into the garden tomorrow come hell or high water...they would have gone in tody, but first the wind kicked all the way up, then my sister called to tell me the ambulance was at my Moms and she was being brought back to the hospital for the second time in a week. I swear if it rains it pours....it really does.
But back to the maters. I see the weather being pretty warm for the daytime temps, and mostly in the 50's at night, at least until next weekend when they are showing a few nights in the low 40's, but I hope by then they will have toughened up some.I hope LOL!

Donna, Mom ok?

Toni, I'm sorry, I'm in the midst of setting up a laboratory at work. I did this work 10 years ago but am having trouble accessing my personal "hard drive" which is giving me a lot of stress. Add that to the usually work stresses and my memory goes out the window. I'm glad your DH is getting himself into classes to secure his employment. Totally OT, but one for him to consider is the Renovator / RRP Class, if he hasn't taken it already. Check out EPA's website, www.epa.gov/lead. Moving to boot. Wow! You've got your hands full. Oh, anyway, I can't remember if I returned your email! So forgive me if I didn't.

Now to get back on topic. 200 buckets!!! Wow! I just bought 4 more paint buckets at Lowes. I think that brings me up to 12! LOL! I'm going to drill holes in the bottom of them for drainage. I'm going to plant some maters, peppers & eggplants in them.

True confessions: I have a black thumb when it comes to melons!!! I did start my melons, Pike, Noir des Carmes and Royal Golden. I think they are suppose to be more "user friendly." Anyway, check out the link below for some helpful hints on how to grow melons.

Here is a link that might be useful: Idig: Melon Tips

I'm so sorry Donna I hope your mother is okay...it's just been crazy everywhere.

Yesterday, we went to a funeral...it was so sad. I couldn't even imagine the pain the family must feel. The funeral was for a 12 day old - 24 week + 2 day preemie baby boy. It was heart wrenching and I really don't do well at funerals.

Yes it's a crazy time of year and a move in the midst (that should have been done back when it was NOT planting time) to boot is needed, but timing is bad. It will take us some time to move, but luckily, we'll be able to take our time, cause they won't be renting out the home we are in for a while, if ever.

Becky, yes you emailed me back...I just haven't had a whole lotta time to respond much. Thank you so much for that info. I sent DH online to check into it. He passed his test so his position is pretty much safe. It was looking like a shady manipulation to try to keep someone of 6 years less seniority in his field. So it's been resolved. You know how politics work...nothing is ever as it seems.

GW found most of my missing trade page data so I was able to restore it to a previous date. They still haven't found all the missing rate and reviews from about August of '09 to about March of '10. Who knows if they will. But that's for everyone...not just me. I will say, at least all my research is not lost. I now keep my trade page info backed up on MY computer lol.

I hope you all are able to survive the storms going around. We've been pretty fortunate, I've been planting outside for about 3 or 4 weeks now and only suffered a wind storm that bruised a few tomato leaves. Nothing serious, but just south of us, they had a freak freeze about a week and a half ago. A bunch of folks lost what they'd planted out. And our supposed LDF is April 15th. So I take that with a grain of salt...a tbsp of sugar and a whole lotta eye rolling lol.

Thanks Guys.

Well so far she has gone from bad to worse. And it is frustrating because the doctors don't know what is causing her issues yet. Hopefully tomorrow they will get a better grip on things.

And back on topic LOL...I am hoping to get my package out to you by the end of the week.

Sending positive thoughts for your Mom, Donna.

Toni, so sorry to hear about the funeral. That's just terrible. Best regards to the family for them to pick up the pieces and move on.

Finally got my seeds packaged up today. Should go out in the mail tomorrow.

Bonnie

WhooHoo! I have the first sight of cucumber & summer squash seedlings!

I haven't received any seeds yet, but I keep looking at the mailbox.....hoping!

Here too, Becky! County Fair, Suhyo Long, and Satsuki Midori are starting to sprout. Still waiting on the rest ...

Yup, I planted my Summer and Winter Squash seeds along with beans , cukes , and edamame this weekend between hospital visits....today was a good day with my Mom,she is doing so much better(Thanks to your good thoughts )....so I got home this afternoon and the rain stopped and the sky was clearing and I went to try and get the eggplants in...I go to look at my seedy areas, and all I have to say is....THOSE FREAKING SQUIRRELS!!!!Have resown, and covered all bare soil with chicken wire. *Crosses Fingers for a few seeds to be left uneaten*.

Donna glad to hear your Mom is doing better. Sorry to hear she's still in the hospital though. Hope she gets out soon.

Donna, you're not alone when it comes to critter problems. I woke up early this morning to a rattle near our back door to the deck. A little while later I saw a raccoon hopping (I think it was injured)towards are garage. AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! I thought the ground hogs were bad. How do I get rid of a raccoon?? If there is one, are there 2? 3? 4?

Ooooooh...raccoonies.....we get those as well(and opossums, and monk parakeets, and yesterday an egret...no deer though lucky me LOL). Which is why I cant grow any corn. In my neck of the woods, we usually get a Mamma and her 3 to 4 babies. So she is mean and they are destructive...*sigh*....hoping this isn't the case for you.

Well, I thought we had gotten the groundhog, but he just popped up his furry head. "Nasty Varmint!" As Yosemite Sam would say.

As for corn, I tried to grow it my first year gardening. My stalks were no taller than 4 feet. I had ears of corn that were 3-4 inches in length. After that, I decided that there are enough farmers around here that grow corn well and I can dedicate the space to something else.

I just carefully repotted some of my cukes, zukes, summer squash, melons & winter squash into peat pots.

I received Bonnie's seeds today. I spy with my little eye....some seeds I'd like to try!!!

Oops! Bonnie, I forgot to thank you for the note pad! I am on a perpetual quest for post it notes & note pads. It seems my memory is one giant memo pad these days! LOL! If I don't write it down I don't remember it!

The seeds are just about to go into the mail. All I have to do now is talk my son or daughter into taking the dogs for a walk and stopping by the mailbox for me LOL!

Donna :)

No seeds today. :( I've been steadily potting up my cukes, squashes and melons. They outgrow peat pellet almost as soon as they germinate!

Got my Cantaloupes in the ground today...this year after I planted the seeds I put little soda bottle cloches over them. I am hoping that it will confuse the squirrels, and deter the cats from using the freshly dug soil as their personal powder room!

Seeds are on their way.

I'm still planting...I think it's never ending lol. But I'll have LOTS of seeds to share after harvest lol.

Toni

No seeds today.
:(
We have had some beautiful but HOT days. Unfortunately, I won't get a thing planted in the garden until this weekend. I still have to rototill it. I'm soooooooo behind!

No seeds today except for the order I placed. I quickly got home from work and hid the package so the DH couldn't see I ordered still more seeds! It's an addiction!

Mine went in the mail on Monday :-) Maybe you will get them today!

Melissa

Hurray! I received a few packages today. I did receive Donna's, Melissa's and Penny's seeds. Penny, thank you so much for the Australian Butter squash seeds! Awesome! I think right now everyone will be getting a couple of their wants.

Toni, I'll keep my eyes out for your seeds. Deb, are you out there? Please get your seeds in the mail if you haven't already.

I received Toni's seeds today. Yeah! Toni, in your package, you didn't include a wish list. I'm sorry if you emailed me earlier with a list but I can't seem to find it now if you did. My work has been crazy busy (still) so it's been hard to keep up with everything else. Anyway, please either email me with your wishes or post them here.

I still haven't heard anything from Deb. I just sent her an email.

So, I'm off to sort seeds!

SORRY ladies - my non-common seeds for this swap are missing!!

I waited WAY too long to prep my envie and then realized I didn't have anything worth sending you all. I'll order the oddest melons, cucumbers and summer squash from SSE members next spring and make up for this - PROMISE.

I must drop out (feel so stupid)-

Deb

Hi Becky,

Don't really have a wish list...but less melons and more squash and cukes is great. Melons don't fare well here..so that's basically my wishes ;)

Just glad the seeds arrived in time.

Toni

Hello Everyone! I'm close to getting the sorting done. Everyone gave White Scallop Squash! So everyone will be getting those seeds back! Also people gave far more melon seeds than anything else. I do have extra seeds. So if anyone would like any of these please post here:

Canoe Creek Melon (1)
Early Silverline Melon (1)
Jenny Lind Melon (2)
Moon & Stars - Orange Melon (1)
Sweet Dakota Rose Melon (1)
National Pickling Cucumber (1)

I know I said no melon...butttt....I would love the Early Silverline Melon and the Moon & Stars - Orange Melon.

Thank You :)
Donna

Becky, I'm not worried about what you send. I'm still trying to sift through all my seeds, so what ever you want to send is fine.

They're all yours Donna.

Well, I've finally made it into the garden this weekend. Saturday was rototilling. Yesterday I planted most of the tomatoes & peppers. Today, I'm going to try and get the pole beans, squashes, cukes & broccoli in the ground (Yes, I am way behind). We've had a beautiful run of weather here. Tonight & tomorrow it's suppose to rain which will work our well.

Yay....Thank You!!!

Becky,

If you haven't already mailed the envies, I would love some Jenny Lind Melon seeds. No big deal if the seeds are already in the mail. I'm glad you liked the Australian Butter squash seeds. I'm growing them for the first time this year. I hope we have a good growing season this summer, unlike last year which was awful. I had so much that didn't finish ripening last year because it was SO cold. :(

Thanks,
Penny

I'm hoping to mail out packages on Saturday everyone. I'd like to do it sooner, but I'm working on a big project right now and its taking longer than expected.

I still need to finish getting the garden in!!! Beans are NOT planted. Squashes are NOT planted. Melons NOT planted. Cucumbers are NOT planted. ~sigh~

"So much time so little to do. No, strike that. Reverse it." Willy Wonka from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory - one of my favorite quotes.

Oops! I forgot to say, the Jenny Lind Melon seeds are all yours Penny.

Seeds are on the way! They went out this morning.

The Weird, Odd & Unusual Edibles swap should be starting up soon. So please keep your eyes open for that one. We've had it the last two years. It's always been a lot of fun.

Yesterday, I got out there and did some more planting. We're having a rainy day today, so I don't know if I'll get any planting done. It's currently pouring outside.

Anyway, I was wondering what everyone is planting in the way on cucumbers, melons & summer squashes?

Yesterday I planted Ravin zucchini, Summer Crookneck squash, Genovese zucchini, Cousa,Peter Pan patty pan, Sunburst Patty Pan, & Zephyr. Yes, I know if they all survive (I started with seedlings) & produce, I'll be up to my ears in squash. I like squash!

I still have to plant (from seedlings): Pike melon, Noir Des Carmes Melon (both are suppose to be fairly easy to grow. I'm inept at growing melons. Haven't succeeded yet), Cool Breeze cukes, Early Russian, Diva & Boothby Blonde cukes. If all of those make it, I will be making pickles this year!

Hi Becky! We just got back from Disneyworld early this morning, and I am trying to get caught up. It's amazing how fast the weeds grew while we were gone!

Here is what I have direct sown. Not all of them are up, but most have germinated:

Canteloupe, Far North (no germ. yet)
Cucumber, Homemade Pickles
Cucumber, County Fair
Cucumber, Mexican Sour Gherkin (no germ., and I'm out of seeds, may have to sow something else for my trellis)
Cucumber, North Carolina Heirloom
Cucumber, Satsuki Midori
Cucumber, Suhyo Long
Melon, Noir De Crames
Melon, Tigger
Melon, Collective Farm Woman
Melon, Rocky Ford Green Flesh
Melon, Banana
Melon, Sleeping Beauty
Melon, Swan Lake
Melon, Sweet Passion
Zucchini, Cocozelle
Zucchini, Black Beauty
Watermelon, Golden Midget
Watermelon, Blacktail Mountain
Watermelon, Cream of Saskatchewan
Watermelon, Sweet Siberian (no germ. yet)

My son brought some Crimson Sweet watermelon seedlings home from kindergarten, but it looks like something dug them up while we were gone. I'll let him pick out some other kind of watermelon to replace them.

Can't wait to see what kind of cuke, melons and squash I get back!

Bonnie

I got my seeds today!! Wow...there were so many .And Thank You so much for the Aji Dulce and the 'Galeux D Eysines'.

I would post more, but I am still a bit disoriented form being sick. Will post more in a few days :)

Thank You for being so cool!!

Sorry your sick Donna. Hope the seeds brightened your day. I had bought the Aji Dulce & Galeux D Eysines when I thought you and I were going to be partnered in a swap some time ago. We had some late comers join the swap and we didn't get partnered.

I did get my squashes in over the weekend. I'm hoping to get out there today and do some planting. Melons & cucumbers have got to get into the ground (along with a few more beans.)

Bonnie that's quite an impressive list. None of my County Fair seeds germinated, but I got the seeds from a trade a few years ago. I did plant some Suyo Long Cukes (in peat pots) too. The plants are so pathetically small next to the others, I don't know if I'll plant them.

What do you do with all of those melons Bonnie?

Well, Becky, you're assuming I actually end up with some melons, LOL! In the past the only thing I had space for were tiny melons, like Minnesota Midget. This year, since I have a plot at the community garden, I thought I would try a bunch of different kinds, but with our short growing season, and cool nights, they may not get ripe before the first fall frost. If I do end up with a lot of melons, I'm sure they won't go to waste. All three of my kids love any kind of melon, and so do I.

Recieved my package today, and there were several I had to look up. Two of them, I couldn't find any info on, so whoever sent in the 'Keeper' and/or 'Pridenstrovsky', any information would be helpful - size, type of melon, flesh color, etc.

Thanks for hosting this swap! Great job!!!

Bonnie

I'm out of town, in VA, but can't wait to see my seeds when I get back, on 6/20. I left my garden in the care of a 3 and 5 yr old!!! (They were SUPER excited about being able to take care of it though!) Thanks for hosting :-)

Bonnie, I wasn't the one who sent in those seeds. I think Keeper is a hybrid cantaloupe melon, 2-4 pounds and is disease resistant.

I can't seem to find much on Pridenstrovsky melon. I think the name is spelled wrong for one thing. I think it's Pridnestrovie. This is a region of Southwestern Ukraine that gained it's independence after the fall of communism. Eastern Europe, along the Baltic & Caspian Seas, are known for growing great melons. Many of them are named after the regions they come from. However, with that being said, I'm no closer to telling you if its a honeydew, cantaloupe or watermelon.

I was hoping a few more of you would have received your seeds.
:(

I just finished frantically planting a few melons. I still have another row of miscellaneous leftovers to plant and then the "tuckers."

Becky, I received my seeds yesterday! Thank you so much for such a fantastic selection. There were a lot of varieties in my pack that wanted to try. Thanks for all of the work you put into this swap. We all appreciate it so much!

Also, I sent in the 'Pridenstrovsky' melon. I don't know much about it as it was sent to me in the Themes swap earlier this spring and I haven't had a chance to grow it out yet. That is how the name was spelled on the packet I received but it could be misspelled. I couldn't come up with much more info than what you found Becky. I'm just guessing that it would not be a very late melon considering the region of the world that we're thinking it originated from. I'm growing it this year so it will be a surprize!!!

Thanks again,

Penny

Glad you liked the seeds Penny. Please tell us how the mystery melon turns out.

Toni & Deb, did you receive your seeds? Toni, since you sent money & not stamps I did send yours back with a delivery confirmation. I can dig that up if need be. Sorry I haven't been more collected this round. Just when I think things are going to calm down to a "normal" pace at work, something else happens. It's been a soap opera.

Note to self: Keep an eye on the forums more looks like I missed a good swap.

Acres

Tracy, There's two more swaps you might be interested in right now. One is the Weird, Odd & Unusual Swap. The other is "Animal Planet." Please check them out. We'd love to have you participate