I just started reading this group a few days ago, but it looks like a good
group with good advice. I probably should have been reading it years ago;
it's amazing the things one neglects to look for on usenet.

My Information: I live in North Dakota about 15 miles from Manitoba and 30
miles from Minnesota, zone 4. My husband is the planter, I'm the harvester
of most of our edible garden. This year, however, we were unable to get our
big garden in (we have a small raised bed, and a 1/2 acre expanse) because
the spring and early summer were just too wet. In the small raised bed we
crowded our tomato plants, a buttercup squash or two, a cucumber plant, and
a couple of pepper plants. We've been eating ripe tomatoes for about a
week, and have had a few cucumbers. The big bed is empty. Well, except for
the weeds that keep cropping up. We're hoping this season of "summer
fallow" will help for next year.

Our growing season this year went from Way Too Wet to No Rain At All.

DH got a blade attachment for the garden tractor, took down the fence around
the garden, and scooped soil from the outer reaches of the big plot into a
more centralized, smaller area. As we've had many gardens suffer water
damage over the years, we should have done this excavation years ago.

Our biggest weed problem is purslane. Does anyone have any really great
control suggestions?

Does this group lean toward organic gardening or chemical control? Some of
each?

Is top posting a hot button? Off-topic posts? Thread drift re-labeling?

Marilee