On 2/17/2016 10:03 AM, Derald wrote:

Still have time to start tomatoes if I'm going to grow them this
year. Most years, I don't. Eggplant, too. Man, I can't even _give_
eggplant away around here. Except for peppers, I don't, as a rule,
start transplants but just wait 'til we have a couple of weeks with
nights over about 45-50 and plant tomatoes, eggplant, and basil outside
where they're going to live. This year, those all will be in
containers. Late tomatoes need an early start because the "spring"
season is short, made more-so by the containers.
We're trying to eat up all the eggplant delights in the freezer. Had
burgers and eggplant fritters for dinner last night. Looking in the big
freezer it appears that my dear wife has put up about six bags of
fritters, five more containers of ratatouille, another six containers of
eggplant stew. I'm afraid to look for more. G

Victory Seeds! Yay! I got zipper cream seeds from them. They,
Southern Exposure, and Sustainable Seeds are my three main sources for
store-bought seeds. Unfortunately, unless one is quick to telephone and
request it do otherwise, S.E. penalizes online customers with an
(unrequested) end-of-year paper catalog. The pages are too small to be
of much use in starting the wood heater but they do compost.
My first order from Victory, won't be the last. I have a bookmark with
nothing but seed companies in it and am trying to get back to the tried
and true heirloom seeds. I generally send all the useless catalogs to
the recycling bin. Now that we've bought a worm bin and are about ready
to start setting it up I may just use the catalog pages for worm food
and bedding. We're going to use red wigglers as they are good
composters. Have not seen a regular earthworm on this property yet.

A fairly large number of commercial growers is just down the road
from me. They all grow hybrids that were engineered to produce large
berries in warm winter climates (with human intervention). The
shallow-rooted blueberry plants are above grade directly in/on shredded
pine bark, which is top-dressed with fresh stuff annually, immediately
after plants are pruned. At the same time, they're fed a commercial
slow-release azalea or citrus (acidifying) fertilizer plus a healthy
soaking with humic acid. I may be wrong, but AFAIK pine needles do
little to acidify soil.

Probably right there Derald but it does make a nice root cover and is
very cheap around here. Until they built the new subdivision behind us I
could go onto that property, covered with pine forest, and rake up all
the pine needles I needed.

Same here. My first winter experience came while I was in USN "A"
school in Maryland and the second in Boston (I was in USS Boston's last
crew). Man, I can't imagine the circumstance that would compel me to
return.

I taught at the Navy schools there in Maryland for about three months.
Teaching YN's the "new" Navy format for filing. The WAVE boot camp and
schools were there so it was interesting to say the least. Beat the heck
out of cruising the Arctic ice but, alas, had to go back to that, just
in time for a Caribbean cruise. G