On 23 Jun 2003 02:48:20 GMT, (Jack1000) wrote:

I'm hoping I haven't screwed them up beyond repair.

Try to remember that God designed most plants to basically grow without people
getting there hands on them at all. If the growing conditions are favorable and
nothing else eats them first all you have to worry about is how to tell when to
pick the melons off the vine, and whether to use a melon baller or just slice
and bite.

Amen. Unless we grew up with gardening parents and neighbors, we all
started as newbies. And are still learning. The most successful pea
crop I ever had was from tossing spent vines on the compost pile.
Plants sprouted in the fall, paused during the winter, and went
absolutely mad the next spring. No trellis or rows or anything -- they
just climbed (clomb?) on anything nearby. And every day for a month, I
harvested a cup of edible-pod peas. I can hardly suggest that as the
ideal method for growing sugar snaps, but it *does* point to the
opportunistic habits of plants.