It feels so good to be walking and working and getting fresh air! We both have doc appts this afternoon in Coweta with family doc. And then I think we'll have dinner at 1843 on Broadway. First, though, I need to get some more walking in.

Tomorrow is Mexican Thanksgiving at the marina. I still haven't 100% decided what to take. If they have decent avocados at Walmart, I'll for sure take guacamole--but what else? enchiladas? 7-layer dip?

Yes, Larry and Eileen and their fixer-upper! I decided this was far far more work than building one from the ground up! I'm so impressed. Eileen, I hope you're taking photos as you go! And I think we need to come up periodically and take our own pictures. I'm excited for you and Cliff, Jen!

I wish WE had a baby donkey nearby to feed. They are so CUTE.

Okay, am getting my plans together to build a seed starting grow cart--a stainless steel cart from Lowe's or Home Depot. . . fixtures to hang from the shelves. At any rate, this will be my big project for the school, along with the seeds to grow on it. It'll be a great and fun project for the kids, don't you think?

Wow, Larry--you could get into big time farming with vegetable orders like that!

I need to find a way to fix peppers so that they will be my very favorite veggie--they are SO prolific and beautiful!

Okay--tell me what to fix for our Mexican Thanksgiving! XOXO

Nancy, do you still have live peppers? My peppers are long gone, even my beets have frost burn.

Yes, the donkeys are cute, and they are training me pretty well. I have more greens than I can eat in the south garden, so, I have been picking some for the donkeys and a cow and calf that is still in the pasture.

I was out turning the compost pile, and neighbor came over to check things out, now I think he wants some of the turnips and other greens I growing in the south garden. The soil I have been working on for a few years produces better than the un-amended soil, I thing neighbor is after another 5 bushel of turnips.

I think building a grow cart would be fun. I have a home made seed starting rack, I enjoyed building it, and would like to build another one. My rack has only room for 8 flats, but with me working with neighbor, we probably need more shelf space. Neighbor has really taken a liken to some of the stuff George has sent. Neighbor said this evening that he would like about 80 hills of Old Timey Cornfield pumpkin, he had said a few weeks ago that he wanted about 60 roselle plants, and a bunch of Arabat, I dont know how many a bunch is, but it looks like we will be busy next year.

That bush is beautiful, Nancy! I do need one of those. I also need about another acre to plant all the trees I want to plant.

Also, thanks to you and Amy for the info on the Hawthorn.

I'm relaxing a bit after Pilates. Tomorrow will be a whirlwind in a good way.

My home made grow shelf, using three shelves left over from my shed shelf.

I raise the seedling high, at first, to the lights on top. Then added the REFLECTIX (bought at LOWES)

This year I will see about closing off the upper triangles

all plants get plenty light with just the light fixture on the top shelf. Grow light and the other two are on a timer.

I lost this post twice... and sorry, the text is not as well thought out now.

Moni, that shelf looks nice, but I am sorry to say that I would not be smart enough to operate it, but mine is only shop and LED lights on an ugly wood frame.

Larry the gist of my post is, wrap your shelf with something reflective.

I do the reflective thing too, Moni. Only mine isn't as tidy as yours. lol. It's also useful in keeping kitties (who want to play in the seedlings) from getting onto the light shelf.

Jennifer this was my first time with that setup. Worked sooo much better than "just a light" plus in front of the window.

I am thinking of setting it up for my basil.. and just go ahead and start some flower seeds. This year was also my first to ever start flower seeds indoors. I want to branch out more.

So Moni, what flowers did you start indoors? I just use my windowsills but then I have 2 normal south windows and 2 bay south windows, house is fortuitously placed.

I had a free package of dianthus... and of columbines. The dianthus is still alive outside. :)

Danny, I hope Jasper does well with the pills.

I am tired, been piling compost and gathering hay scraps ( on tractor)

I hope and pray y’all have an awesome thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. I'm sure we all have much to be thankful for , I know I do .

Happy Holidays everyone. I'm hoping to do a stay-in (going nowhere and avoiding that darn wind and the temps that are supposed to be plummeting today).

Well, the pills went down well (encased in cheese), but the cheese caused flatulence :) I had told the vet I had kennel cough, when she asked what the problem was (darn mold count).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I know we should all count our blessings, but I cant count that far.

Danny, I get Kennel cough also when I start messing with compost, hay scrap, and lawn clippings, or dust.

We plan on Thanksgiving with some of Madge's family at noon, then my daughter and family this evening, then more of Madge's family on Fri. and Sat.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends.

I have a new method of cooking the turkey. It will either be delicious or a disaster. I think it will be good, though. :D

Also, on my list of things to make is a sweet potato casserole and a green bean casserole (both from the garden). The green bean casserole is better than the normal kind. It doesn't use a "cream of" type of soup.

Went outside to feed everyone at 7am. Rick's truck was there. Huh? Maybe he's in the greenhouse getting some stuff to take to Okmulgee? So, I go about my business and go to the shop to feed Juno and there's Rick! His truck broke down. Something about a clutch, so he was able to coast back to our house. Tom took him to get his other truck and he's working on the broken one in our shop right now. Thankful for running vehicles and the knowledge to fix them when they're not running.

Anyway...Hope everyone has a nice day. Relaxing or exciting or whatever you need/want.

<3

I feel sorry for Rick, I hate broken down vehicles. I use to try to do all my own repairs, but cars have become harder to work on, and if cars had stayed the same, our old worn out bodies would still make the task hard to do.

Sitting here watching the parade & organizing seeds. Working on dinner during commercials, but since we don't eat until 7 I have all day. Just me, Cliff & his sister, don't even have guest pups this year (which sucks because usually thanksgiving pays for our Christmas). I'll be glad when this all is settled & we can open back up.

Happy thanksgiving!

Larry, he got the truck up and running. Yay!

As for my turkey--LOL! Um, think Kathrine's turkey in Christmas Vacation. Skip up to about 1:35 in the video to fully appreciate my situation.

Jen, I am so sorry about your business being put on hold because of the moving issues.

Just a day here. One more day to be thankful. We tend not to "do" holidays much. GDW because he never did (a lot of guys don't, leaving the holidays to their female partners). But I'm a female who hasn't don't holidays in 25-30 years, except when DIL Steph made me, after they had their two little ones (and truth be told, then I sort of enjoyed it). As the grandkids got older, it got to be a joke with them, too, that Grandma didn't do holidays--so they often pranked me about it all. Evyn (granddaughter) strung white Christmas lights all around my studio apt (where I lived in the lower part of their house for 5 yrs--in my darling mother's apt--she and Westie were 13 and 9 when that started) a couple years before I moved out. I actually loved them.

When I think of people who have so little or who are in bad situations, it just makes me really uncomfortable to "celebrate" how good I have it. I know many people face the same conundrum. I try to remember just to pay it forward in ways I can and let it go at that. . . just me--not a crusade by any means, I just try to downplay it a bit personally--not with my friends or social circle. We were invited to a "Mexican Thanksgiving" party last night, and attended and had fun. I AM fixing turkey cutlets, dressing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole for GDW--it's kind of a joke--we haven't done such a thing before for just the two of us. Having said all that, I also hope you had blessed Thanksgiving days.

HJ, when you talked about the green bean casserole--I quit buying "cream of. . ." soup several years ago, and in fact don't buy commercially canned soups at all (except tomato--one of my weaknesses). For some dishes that call for cream of. . . soup, I substitute Bechamel sauce--this is what I do with the green bean casserole. Canned green beans, Bechamel, frozen mushrooms, and those adorable little (commercialized--gasp) "french fried" onions. Kinda like yours?

I went on a long walk this morning. I was so thrilled to find these natives at one end of my walk: Missouri ironweed, Virginia mountain mint, white asters, a couple kinds of goldenrod! What a plethora of native riches! --and no Chinese privets or callery pears!!! I'm loving my walks, but really don't know how far I'm walking. I know how many "steps" I'm going. This particular path is just above 3000 steps.

I am surprised to have many plants still alive on November 25. I expect that will come to an end this night with a low of 26-27 being forecast. Maybe I'll put row covers over peppers and a couple other things.

I am SLEEPY so may take a tiny nap before I finish dinner. Best to you all!

I have an aster (gifted from someone so I don't know what it is) that's almost in full bloom (yes not quite), and some terribly dramatic foliage (this is the oakleaf hydrangea, everyone should have one). Natives are still going...believe it or not ;) Though yes, most are going into a state of rest.

Just under the long limb reaching to the brick house wall, there's an evergreen ginger (native to the SE, but not Arkansas). There's a number of evergreen natives, that's a very nicely behaved ground cover..even if creeping charlie (invasive) is there too :( Very keen eyes will spot another just in front of the hydrangea base (different species..but a wild ginger native to the US)

Hahaha, in my post above, I meant I actually loved the white lights--I always loved Evyn and Weston!

Nancy, my green bean casserole recipe is cream cheese with broth and flour--to make the creaminess. Fresh mushrooms and, Yes! the fried onions.

I feel a little differently about gratitude. I don't mind spending special time/a day being grateful. It's something I try to focus on every day. BUT, a special day to meet with family or friends or even alone to focus on gratitude is a good thing to me. It's not about gloating because I have it so good. It's about being grateful even when things are hard... and looking for the blessings in (even) the tough times.

I'll have to think more on if being grateful is unfeeling towards people who have it worse.

Something to think about for sure.

Your walks sound so nice, Nancy! Glad you're discovering good things.

Danny, my Oakleaf hydrangea looks like crap and did all summer. Lori Darling gave me some pointers for next spring.

Our meal with family was so good. I don't get to see my sister and her family often enough. The turkey turned out to be okay. Not great. And I tried so hard.

23* again this morning, my plants are shivering.

Just your plants? (I'm shivering at thought of walking the dog...I think I'll just wait a couple of hours).

I'm bah humbuggy about everything since the time change. I need light. Holidays always made me feel inadequate for not baking or decorating like everyone else. When the kids got older I thought about volunteering at one of those places that gives away Thanksgiving meals. But my kids rebelled, they wanted to keep things as they were. Couldn't go to Branson for Christmas, LOL. Now it's an excuse to have them all together. Watching the baby follow the 4 and 8 year old was fun yesterday. My 2 oldest played a game we called boo boo monster where the oldest would run from the younger and yell oh, no, the boo boo monster. I'm not sure where the name came from, the oldest probably made it up. They would do that for hours and both were entertained.

Now we have to figure out Christmas.

Sadly the old beagle stopped eating this week. I expect she will cross the rainbow bridge soon. I think we should call the vet, but Ron isn't ready yet. [Called the vet, 2:30].

Daughter had a crisis when one of the puppies was injured Wed. They think one of the big dogs stepped on him. He stopped breathing, but my youngest son managed to revive him. Daughter spent all day at the vet.

I do like those oak leaf hydrangeas!

Glad Rick got his truck fixed. Does he have family in Okmulgee?

Jen I hope you get the house settled soon.

LOL, H/J, a little dry? I'm sure it was fine. I'm really not crazy about Turkey. It's the stuffing I love. We make it in a casserole dish, though. I have never heard of frozen mushrooms! Are they good?

Well, it feels like Monday, but it's Friday, so have a ggood weekend.

Garden 11-26-21. We have now had 2 nights as low as 23 degrees. I have 4 types of greens here. The beets, onions, and garlic are closer to the top of the picture, the beets are showing damage from the cold, but so far the beets are the only fall crop showing damage. The greens here were planted about the middle of Sept., not a lot of my planting was timed properly this year, but that seems normal for me.

I'd say you have another month to harvest that stuff Larry, then it's gonna go poof (if long-range is accurate).

Danny, I hope I still have another month. I think I still have people wanting the produce. The Covid caused me to plant extra last year, and the same this year. I have a lot more in the wildlife garden, but I had rather till in the excess than to have friends or family wishing that they knew where to get a little extra food.

I had my first freeze last night, here in far south OKC. About a week ago, when most had a freeze, somehow I was in a warm area. But one look at the tomato plants and I knew we got a freeze last night.

I picked my last tomatoes yesterday. I had one Beefmaster plant that was loaded, IDK how many will ripen but I got a 2 gallon bucket full from it. It was crazy, I had four Beefmaster and that one plant just kept producing. This is my first year growing that variety , but its gonna be a regular in my garden. They produced a lot of tomatoes. They made a few 3# tomatoes. And the coup de grace was this one plant still producing in November. The only drawbacks I found, is they cat faced a lot and they had a lot of " core " .

I'm so sorry about the beagle, Amy--another thing we were just talking about. I forget her name--you usually called her the beagle! What was her name? Why am I thinking Lucy? That is a long time, I'm sure you'll miss her something awful!

I loved the Boo boo monster game--that was a great laugh.

Frozen mushrooms? LOL. I buy a bunch of mushrooms at the grocery store and then sautee them up, put into baggies and throw them in the freezer so they'll be ready to go.

Our oakleaf hydrangea is 4 feet tall, I'd say, at the end of its 2nd year. I think that's pretty good! I'm excited.

Here are some pictures. . . I wanted to show Larry the peppers--it got down to 27 last night and the peppers are still good! As are the alyssum, asparagus ferns, many many other things. That's excellent--but I haven't mowed any more! RATS. I have to get going on that.

The two middle pictures are the area where all the natives are (goldenrod, mountain mint, native asters) and a few loblollies! I had no idea what these looked like, Danny--or how big they are! They're kind of awesome!

Wow, Lynn! Your tomatoes did so well!

We got our first real freeze last night. We've had lighter ones, but this one took out the flowers and things that survived the lighter ones. You live near my workplace.

Nice pictures, Nancy! I wish my Oakleaf hydrangea would perk up. I'm hopeful for next year. It was planted in the spring of 2020.

Amy, I'm sorry about your pup.

And I'm sorry the holidays make you feel inadequate. If it's because you prefer to do other things besides baking and decorating---well, you do you! If it's because you're unable but want to--that would be hard, but I can tell what an amazing mom and grandma you are and that is really so much more important.

Rick was back this morning, but he can tell his story if he wants.

He did water under the hoops and I watered a little here and there too this afternoon. Pulled the dead flowers, threw the pumpkins to the chickens.

Speaking of chickens, all the babies went to the main coop 3 nights again. Tom had a clever way of adding roost bars. However, I cannot get more chickens next year. CanNOT. Somehow I've gotta break those broody hens next summer. Thirty chickens are enough for me. I had never planned on having more than 20 and 20 seemed farfetched at one time.

I have a couple of the older ladies who are having horrible molts. I'm pretty sure they feel awful right now. Rosslyn Kaye is staying alone in the storage side of coop so I can keep an eye on her and how much she's eating. She had some turkey this morning because I believe she needs the extra protein. She looks rough and I'm pretty sure it hurts her to be too close to the other birds. Maizey is almost in the same boat.

But, back to the babies. This is a beautiful group of pullets. They are truly angelic. I wish I could get some good pics of them, but most of them are scared. I'm trying to hold them when I have time. Black Betty and Fae are just lovely. They're Green Queens which is just a mutt that has been developed to lay green eggs. They both have fluffy faces and feathered legs. Duchess is a Speckled Sussex. Honey is a honey-colored Easter Egger with fluffy checks. She has just a bit of gray too. Then, there's the red production chick I purchased when Stormy's baby died. She is very friendly. I've been calling her Ruby Jane even though that is not her original name. I'm pretty sure production reds are the friendliest chickens.

Speaking of....My rooster, Jean Luc Picard, hatched out of a production red egg and he is the best rooster AND so far, his son (the only chick that hatched in our coop this year) is very friendly too. He is white, but has bits of red on him. His name is James T Kirk. I sure hope he stays nice so I can keep him. His hormones will kick in in the spring so we'll see.

And that is the chicken report.

My tree is up but undecorated.

We went to breakfast and made our usual Black Friday stops. We didn't get home until 2, but it was a lot of fun.

Leftover and tree trimming time now. Or maybe I'll sit and decorate tomorrow....

Larry ( or whoever else mechanically inclined) .Clutch slave cylinder blew out Thurs morning on the way out east. Have to hobble back to Jennifer's house grinding gears shifting and trying to start it in gear. Put in a new slave cylinder , had a hard time getting the air bled out but got it to work some. Started out again Fri morning , same thing happened , back to HJ's house. Turns out the clutch master cylinder went too. So had to replace that and get all the air bled out again but now the clutch pedal is rock solid , can shift with ease. No more running stop signs on the back roads getting back to HJ's house.

Stupid truck screwed my Thanksgiving weekend. Now I'll be into Dec (...Xmas ?) getting the okmulgee garden finished off for the winter.

Rick

Anyone ever done business with Totally Tomatoes

I went searching for Beefmaster tomato seed as my usual sources did not carry it, and I found it at this place. I put seed order together on Nov 19. Got a confirmation but that's the last I heard from them. They charged my card.

I'm thinking they may not ship till after first of year, but if so, they did not say so. I expected some kind of shipping notice , by now.

They appear prominently in my search results using Bing, so I don't think they're a fly-by-night internet seller. I've contacted their customer service this morning, will see how long or if I get a reply.

Jennifer would you share your green bean casserole recipe?

Like Nancy I don't buy canned soups... that is, except the tomato one here too... but I buy the tomato basil in the package... you know, shaped like a brick... ;)

My HUGE pineapple sage died/froze night before last. I had continually pulled the red flowers off, cause I love them in my salads. Thus, I can have some in at least two more salads.

I had my swiss chard covered... and will harvest the last re-grown parts before the next possible frost. This has been a very good crop, and I will plant that again.

Danny, where did you get your ginger from? I had some ginger from the grocery... but it rotted for me. :( I would love to grow some however.

Amy I usually get really crabby if I don't get some outside time... but the light thing, I do get it. Thankfully I have plenty windows... and can have the blinds open all day long to manage the winter darkness. Have you thought of getting yourself a daylight light fixture to give you some "artificial" sunlight?

Lynn I have a cycling friend that grew beefmaster this year too, and she is saying the same about hers. She never grew from seed, and hopes to find the same variety the coming year.

My Thanksgiving was a really different day this year. I did NOTHING but read. :) Very enjoyable after I had worked so hard the previous day to dig out the roots from my scalped bushes... and I have so many more to do.

Thanksgiving at my daughters in ABQ was yesterday/Friday, and I planned on sitting down the same time and "eat with them". But, I ran late, since my friend Uschi and my bonus granddaughter came to visit, and we toured the Express Clydesdales place went out to lunch and drove around and walked around by Lake Overholser looking for pelicans. None to be found.

As soon as they drove back to Tulsa I put my turkey breast in the oven, and I had turkey, roasted sweet potatoes and swiss chard for my TG dinner.

I was so glad, my daughters in-laws including the sister from Doug and her 3 kids were there... since both Lori and Doug love not doing TG without family.

I am wishing I had a friend that could go with me to see Lori Darling at her sale place today... but hopefully Therese will go with me sometime next week... and we visit at Lori's place instead.

It's almost next week... who will start the thread this time?

Moni

Moni, I bought Beefmaster plants at Marcum Nursery last spring, cuz I lost all my Big Beef I had started from seed, to that late freeze on April 21. Sometimes, bad fortune can turn into a good thing. I've not grown anything but Big Beef for a lot of years, IDK, maybe 5 to 10 years. I was forced to try something new.

Lynn TT is very popular. I did not have a good experience with them. My last year market gardening I purchased several seeds from them and one out of five grew true. The others mislabeled or not grown and seed saved properly. It was very disappointing since I was dependent on those specific types.

I know we've mentioned this before, but you probably REALLY should check out companies before you order. Garden Watchdog for the win.

https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/49/

My research indicates you probably should kiss your money goodbye. When so many of the most recent reviews are completely negative....

thanks for that link Danny

Danny--I enjoyed your company when you were here, and going on our walk with Jasper. Well, of course, I enjoyed everyone's company. You'll recall where we walked. . . up the road, down to the next street, down to the loblollies and then back. Well now that walk is much too short! Today I walked 2 blocks further, then down as far as that road went. . . then back. Then down the road that you and I went down where the loblollies were, then back. Then back down to our road, and then all the way down to the clearing where all the natives were and around and then back up. This seemed to be a nice long walk. But I'm quick running out of places to walk. What is becoming clear to me is that I am getting tremendous amounts of satisfaction taking these walks!

We did NOT do any shopping today. We happily stayed home (except for my nice walk). I kind of looked through Black Friday things off and on today but simply wasn't interested.

As I said, we don't do holidays much --or decorations--. I DO have a large snow globe I leave up year round. I have a good-sized nativity scene I put up above the TV for Christmas, and 3 years ago, I began stringing lights across the front porch--it's easy enough to do without any kind of step stool or ladder (but then didn't do it last year because of the hip pain). Holidays make you feel inadequate for decorating or baking, Amy? They make me feel LAZY for decorating or baking, though I DID go on baking binges some years past. And it was fun. Maybe I can do that this year.

Oh--this was yesterday. Daughter Ginger and crew are coming up today--Her kids are a hoot--but they're getting old. Too old! 16, 15, 13 and 13. It will be good to see them all.

And so I better go do a couple of things before they get here.

I grew at least one Beefmaster this year and was happy with it. I had planned on buying seed, and think I did. I will have to check on seed supply soon, I have so many, and cant remember what I do have.

Moni, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving also. At least two times a year we meet at my daughters ( Thanksgiving and Christmas ). My Ex and her husband are always there, and we have a wonderful visit. It is not like she is my Ex., she and Hubby are just like old friends.

We have our last Thanksgiving diner for the year in a couple of hours. Madge just wears herself out every year, but she enjoys it. Our family is just too large to meet at anyone's house at one time.

The beagle's name was Holly. She came to us when Travis had a beagle named Buddy. So Ron could call out Buddy Holly on their walks. We also had a dog named Biscuit at the time. I wanted to name Buddy Bagel, but i was out voted. Biscuit looked like a lab as puppy. She grew up to look like a lab, with a broad chest, long body, but short little legs. Buddy go a disease that required prednesone. Beagles are eating machines, but a beagle on prednesone? Poor thing. He would sit on my lap and warm my hips (pre hip replacement) my own little heating pad. I think he enjoyed the heat too.

My keyboard is messing up, be back.

Our broccoli and collards look great. They stand up to freezes well. Last year I planted spigarello lisca broccoli. It doesn't make heads like broccoli, but it made wonderful greens that didn't mind our summer and laughed at bugs. I need to remember to plant it next year.

Nancy, I've frozen mushrooms like that, but I thought you bought them frozen, LOL.

Funny Rick I know the terms slave cylinder and master cylinder from a truck that sat in our front yard for a long time. Ron kept replacing parts on the clutch. He finally sold the truck.

If I remember correctly Totally Tomatoes was a good company that was sold. Not so good since then. Seeds n Such has beefmaster. I think the owner used to own totally tomatoes. (I think this was a Đawn story.) I have purchased from Seeds n such. They're ok, and I think when someone had problems with germination they were quick to resolve the issue.

We do buy canned soup, makes a quick lunch. I prefer Progresso brand. They have great tomato Basil soup. And every now and then I like old fashioned Campbell's tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. That brings back memories. (I am very nostalgic today).

Moni, native Ginger and what comes from the store are different. I tried to grow grocery store Ginger without success. I did grow it with a start from Companion Plants .https://www.companionplants.com/catalog/

Also turmeric. Turmeric is a beautiful plant. I even had it bloom.

I don't know where Danny got his, which I believe he said was native wild ginger.

Re: holidays...I've never been much of a Baker. Occasional cookies. But I realized when Travis was 2 he didn't understand the book with cookies coming out of the oven because he'd never seen it. I always felt overwhelmed taking care of kids and house, so Christmas added to my stress. I don't have those stresses now, but memories make me less then than enthusiastic. Of course Christmas morning is good, just not the lead up.

Ok, this was done in "colornote" and the keyboard behaved. In Houzz I would type something and it would jump over to before the last letter of the previous word and type the next word there. Sometimes it skipped letters, usually vowels. It did the same when I changed keyboard apps. I changed to Firefox because chrome gave me trouble with Houzz. I suspect it is houzz, but I don't know where to go now. I don't have room for another app. Also, today FB won't let me paste. Instead of the paste option it says auto complete. If I press that, it asks for a password. In a comment. WTF?

Enjoy your weekend.

I did check out Totally Tomatoes, and with covid's impact on customer service, the recent complaints become obfuscated. IDK what business has not had service problems. And there's always some people who don't cut them any slack, no matter.

Besides, its not a large investment, the shipping was almost more than the order. I just want the seeds.

I've been shopping on line for 20 years and never had a problem.

You have a point there...things have been crazy for the last two years gardening wise. I have had major complaints with shipping times (due to their problems with getting their stock).

I've been shopping online for about 40 years and I have had a problem (lol)..but not often. But then there's companies that are owned by a certain group (like Gurneys) that my grandparents used to order from...but I would never ever ever recommend anyone touch these days. Also any nursery based in Tennessee (as a general caution) beware. There's a firm that goes by many names (gardening wise) based in McMinville, TN that is as likely to ship you rotted sticks as plants. Even for gardeners, things are getting worse and not better.

Ginger, yes, I'm talking about our native (which is NOT the same plant as commercial zingiber/ginger), but can apparently be used like them (it doesn't spread fast enough to make that viable). And yes, you can just plant store bought ginger root (that hasn't been de-eyed..I've seen that sometimes) in a pot and it will grow and multiply over a couple of years. Same with turmeric (it's cousin).

Lynn, I've purchased from Totally Tomatoes and did not have issues with them at all.

(are they the ones who send extra "trial" seed?)

Moni,

Saute 8 oz of mushrooms in olive oil along with 2 cloves of garlic (and a little salt and pepper) for 5 or 6 minutes.

Add 3 Tbsp of butter and 3 Tbsp flour and continue to saute for 2 or 3 minutes.

Whisk in about a cup of veggie broth (or chicken). Whisk for a few minutes as it simmers and the sauce thickens a bit.

Then whisk in a cup of whole milk. Let it simmer a bit and add chunks of cream cheese (about 4 oz) until it melts. Add more salt and pepper if you want.

Add in 16 oz of fresh or frozen green beans.

Put in a casserole dish and top with french fried onions.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or so at 350.

Did you loan me a pair of zebra striped gloves? I found some in a pocket this week.

I did a lot of stuff today but nothing interesting enough to talk about.

Tomorrow starts a new week and then it's back to normal. I wish I had another week off.

Thanks for the recipe!!! I will have to try it, next time I have people here. Recipe filed. :)

YES, those are mine!!! I had been wondering where I left them. :) Just drop them in my mailbox sometime when you have to come up here anyway please. :) That way, we don't have to try and meet up... which sometimes is tough.

Moni

Well, I'd not heard from Totally Tomato, their communication was not good, but the seed was in the mail today. So far, so good with them.

I have ordered from TT a few times, with good results, but I normally try to pick up my seeds at Farmers Co-op, but the varieties are limited there. I am trying to save more of my own seeds now, but it sure is a lot of work.

I did not get much done today. This is the time of the year to sharpen and repair tools, get oil, grease and blades, and any other item that may be be swept up in the spring buying.