Smokefree

I have a case of WWll letters that are very interesting also but I don't know the authors (personally). I bought it at an auction locally. There were many other boxes of other historical items and I wish I had gotten more. So interesting. All were reponses to one woman over the course of the war. And from different men! But not at the same time. I havent read them all yet but the ones that I have read are touching and very interesting. Many of the men talked about missing family and friends and what they were going through. You could tell that the writers on both ends were trying to be positive though in the things that they mentioned.

I still make my own too and have some in the basement right now in gallon jugs. It is a great $ saver.

I could never figure out why you should say "excuse me" to get past someone blocking a doorway. I think the person blocking he doorway should ask to be excused.

Victoria, You might want to join the yahoo group frugal-folks-life. They are really interesting people and a lot of them menu plan too.

Banyet 1 bunch fresh Parsley 2 cans Anchovies including the oil in the can Garlic to taste (may use chopped or powder) A couple of drops of olive oil Bread of your choice Butter Chop the Parsley very fine. Chop the Anchovies very fine and add to the chopped Parsley. Add chopped or powdered garlic to suit your taste along with a few drops of olive oil to soften Parsley. Stir well. Put in a closed container in the refrigerator overnight to blend the flavors and allow the Parsley to soften further. When ready to serve slice the fresh bread of your choice. Spread it thinly with butter and then add a layer of the Banyet mixture. Cut into fourths and serve.

Ham Glaze 1 20 oz can crushed pineapple with juice 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 Tablespoon corn starch 2 Tablespoons prepared yellow mustard 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar Mix together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. boil 1 minute. Spoon over ham after ham has been in the oven about 1/2 hour at 350 degrees. Continue basting ham with the sauce every so often, making sure glaze does not burn. Cook ham as long as you normally would. Tasty. I came up with this recipe on my own, combining several ideas from the internet.

I didn't do anything special with mine when I planted them last year and they are fine (although small) and had berries this year. I have a pine tree and throw pine cones on top of the ground under them but I really wouldn't call that mulching. LOL

I found out today I can't go anyway. I have to work. Bummer!

Can someone post the information here for the gardening seminar in clearfield on Nov 12? I need to print it and this is the only way that I can do it today. Thanks.

Well, I just made another batch. The first one lasted a long time. It is such a money saver and I like the smell of the clothes. So fresh. We don't get a lot of mud, etc on our clothes and I think it gets them very clean. This last time I added a little more of the 20 mule team borax. So I used: 1 bar fells 1 cup A & H Washing Soda 1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax After I mixed it last night and let it set overnight I mixed it up real good again before I poured it into my jugs with a funnel. I learned the last time that if I don't it is too "jello-like" to pour out of the jugs easily. This batch is perfect. So glad someone posted the basic recipe here. And it makes so much for almost no cost.

Bluestone won't even send me my bulbs yet.

I believe you now! I never thought those big chubby guys could do it.

I covered my high deck with containers of tomato plants to finally get away from the massive groundhog and other critters that ate them all last year. Thought "problem solved" up until today. This morning I noticed several half-eaten tomatoes right on the plants and I thought what would have done that? Well I found out when I was walking one of my two little dogs this afternoon in the backyard. I suddenly heard an animal running down the stairs that go up to my deck and thought my other dog had gotten loose. As I stared at the bottom of the deck stairs waiting to grab my other dog before he made a dash for freedom, what do I see bound off into the yard? A huge groundhog!

I have never been dissapointed by www.bluestoneperennials.com. They have wonderful plants and if you go to the website and click on "specials" they have an everchanging list of plants and bulbs for half-price. Also, with every order they send a nice coupon booklet with really good discounts on your next order. If you go to the website and order a catalogue to be sent to you they always have a discount coupon or two right in the catalogue. If you go to the site sometimes it really pays to get a small order at first. Maybe one or two of the plants on sale and then order a bigger order after you get the catalogue or discount coupons. I highly recommend it and you can find a lot of perennials there that are new or you can't find anywhere else.

I just ordered several books about gardening in Pennsylvania by Liz Ball and I was wondering if anyone here had read anything by her and if they found the books useful. One is about gardening month-to-month in PA and the other is just a general gardening book about what grows well in PA. Are there any other books that you have found useful?

Now that most of us have spent the summer killing some or all of our tomato plants what is everyone concentrating on now? I am trying lasagna gardening in a part of my yard and weeding a lot so I don't have it all waiting in the spring. I have set up some logs to make a flower garden inside them and am putting good soil and compost, along with manure to start getting that soil ready for spring planting. Also cutting some brush and getting rid of a few volunteer maple trees that have been growing along my house for years. Eating tomatoes on my deck and looking forward to the end of trying to grow tomatoes this year. At least I have some but nothing like what I hoped for. I signed up for the Master Gardner class that starts in September so I will now more about what I am doing in the spring and hopefully be able to help others.

Threw some old potatoes in my composter and they were growing like crazy. I should have just left them there. LOL When I pulled them out there were little baby potatoes on them.

I had heard of these through my internet gardening groups but never thought I would have a chance this year to try them. Last saturday at the DuBois farmer's market Muth's had them and they are so tasty! They are about the size of a small grape and are encased in a papery light grey cover. They are a vegetable but are so sweet and it is impossible to describe it. I definetly want some more this next weekend.

I just remembered that I heard about a place in Punxy last year that sells tomatoes that you pick yourself. I was already done canning tomatoes last year when I heard about it. I think I have the phone number somewhere but it will take me days to find it. LOL I think he charged $.19 a pound. He said he started charging by the pound because some people would heap their bushel so full that it took 2 people to carry it while it was so heaped that tomatoes were rolling off. Then other's picked a much smaller bushel. So to make it fair for everyone he started charging by the pound. It sounded like a good deal. I might try that this year if I find the phone number or someone here knows where I am talking about and posts the number. If you have his number please let us know. LOL

You could try mixing water with a few Tbsp. hot sauce, a couple of raw whipped eggs, a squirt or two of Dawn dish soap, and garlic. After a few hours spray that on. It stinks but often works.

"Wendy's Farm" right on 28 between Brockway and Brookville usually has nice tomatoes for a fair price. I buy from her every year even though I have my own small garden. Sorry about your loss of tomatoes. I would have cried too. Mine have some bacterial speck but the tomatoes are fine, although less than there should be.

I just have tomato speck on my plants. I tried sprays and nothing helped. I was cutting off the dead leaves every day until last week. Then I slacked off. Today I trimmed off a full packed garbage bag of infected dead leaves and now the plants look better but are bare except for a few remaining leaves and lots of green tomatoes. The tomatoes are unharmed and the few ripe ones that I have had so far were tasty. But I definetly would have had lots more tomatoes if my plants wouldn't have gotten infected. I think now with less leaves the plants will get better air circulation and maybe that will help. Some are indeterminates so they might perk up more.

At the saturday farmers market only the Amish table had tomatoes. When I asked another person why, he said they were the only ones there who didn't lose tomatoes from the blight.

They said on the internet that milk-water promotes the growth of good bacteria. I just wondered if anyone here had tried it. I have been snipping off the affected branches

I haven't been able to find any product with copper in it in Dubois