My first question would be, do you have enough insulation between your house and root cellar? Maybe your house is keeping your root cellar too warm. As far as keeping long term, I don't. My market ends in October and doesn't start back until April/May. There are a few books I would recommend you read, maybe from the library, Stocking Up and RootCellaring are 2 that come to mind instantly. I use my Stocking Up (I have 3 editions) for alot of my questions. Good luck Marla

hey tommy, i have thought about planting that filibusta in the ground. it will grow back as long as the spear stays intact. i have had i oiutside through snow storms and ice storms and its survived so far. the way i defeated the moles was by putting down chicken wire underground in the hole before planting the plams or cacti. the moles seem to just go around it and they leave my plants alone. i have other plants like salmon cannas, red castor, silver medt. fan palm, pygmy date palm with actual dates, elephant yuccas (6 feet tall), several types of tiger lilly, crape myrtles (20 feet tall), hens and chicks cactus, and several prickly pear varieties. i also have many potted tropical plants too..i live in the white house area and these plants do great even being 1000ft above sea level. my area sees strange weather events so these plants are great for xeriscaping. let me know if you want me to post somemore pix of my plants.. :)

well Suzanne.... it's not near as simple as it used to be. LOL Years ago a Round Robin, specifically was a "swap" hosted by someone with enough seeds to make up a nice selection that was sent around to those who signed up. Each took want they liked and replaced with equal number of seed packs of approximately equal value. For example you could replace marigolds with zinnias or BE Susans. Hellebores would be ok to swap for Japanese Iris or something else sorta "Special". It was OK to add some extra seeds but not "STUFF", ie candles, notepads etc. The box was then mailed to the next person on the list until it had flown around the circle and back home to it's own nest. It was decided that this cluttered up the regular forums as there were too many replies and follow ups and eventually the "Round Robin Forum" was set up for Any group trades. The trades morphed, over time to be a wide variety of types of swaps that involve more than two traders. I miss the old seed round robins but the new swaps are fun too. There are some where you need to be a member of a specific group and others that are open to anyone.The hostess sets the ground rules and they are generally posted at the start of the thread. Common sense and courtesy go a long way in making for happy trades and happy traders. Stick to the guidelines, send what you would like to receive and have fun. Many are for plants, most have at least a few seeds and some are for "garden oriented goodies" or other fun stuff. Hope this helps to answer your question. Others may have different interpretations and hopefully they will add to what I have written. Welcome to the forum and have fun. BB

Accelerator - Ingredient added to increase hydration, shorten set and cure times. admix - Admixture. admixture - Generic term for non-bulk material added to 'tufa; also an abbreviation for acrylic bonding admixture, which increases strength while reducing moisture absorption in 'tufa. aggregate - Any dry bulk material added to 'tufa other than portland cement and sand. air entraining agent - ingredient added to 'tufa mix which captures miniature air bubbles during the mixing process, reducing the harmful effects of freeze-thaw cycles. alginate - One-time use mold-making material used primarily for body casting. armiture - "Skeleton" or support struture for a large 'tufa project. Bug holes - Small holes in castings caused by air bubbles. BRB - Be right back. BTW - By the way. Casting - End product of molding process. cement - See portland cement. chicken wire - A light galvanized wire fencing usually made with relatively large-sized hexagonal mesh. Can be layered around an armiture to hold 'tufa and strengthen structure. closed-cell foam - Hard, nonabsorbent foam. compressive strength - Ability of 'tufa to to withstand downward force or to sustain a heavy weight. concrete - A mix of portland cement, sand and water. The standard construction recipe calls for one part portland cement to three parts sand/rocks. concrete admix - See admixture. cure - Pprocess by which 'tufa hardens; dependent on sufficient hydration and temperature. DH - Dear Husband. DWT - Drywall tape. Efflorescence - Salts which leach out of 'tufa during the curing process. Faux bois - Imitation wood (French). form - Mold used for the setting an outside shape. Grot - Abbreviation for grotesque, which is a gargoyle which does not serve the purpose of a rainspout. Our grots serve as planters but have the same unusual attributes of a gargoyle. green - Uncured. GW - Garden Web. HWM - Hardware mesh, cloth. Used to reinforce larger 'tufa projects. hydration - Chemical reaction between water and portland cement. IMHO - In my honest opinion LOL - Laughing out loud. Model - Original piece (usually of artwork) used to make a mold. Mold - A rigid structure used to hold green 'tufa into a fixed position until it sets. See also postive mold, negative mold, mother mold. mortar - Variation of concrete used in masonry; does not contain rough aggregate. mother mold - Outer, often rough mold made of the back of a mold. Used to secure the mold during the casting process when it is made of fragile or flexible material. moulage - Reusable mold-making material used primarily for body casting. Negative mold - Casting of a model which is made to create a positive mold. Used when original model is fragile and requires the use of nondurable molding material. nylon fibers - Added to 'tufa add strength and cohesion. OMG - oh my gawd/garsh. Paper pulp - Shredded paper soaked in water and agitated; used in papercrete. papercrete - Variation of 'tufa consisting of paper pulp, portland cement and sand. perlite - Volcanic glass superheated to form a lightweight aggregate which can be used in 'tufa. Has a high moisture content. plasticizer - Ingredient added to 'tufa mix to increase workability. pop - Plaster of Paris. portland cement - Powdery substance produced by burning a mixture of clay and limestone at a high temperature. A primary ingredient in 'tufa. positive mold - A concave mold which prevents the escape of molding material during the molding process. 'puter - computer (Cajun). Rebar - Steel bars usually used in concrete to provide reinforcement. Can be used to make an armiture in 'tufa projects. 'rete - Concrete. ROTFLOL - Rolling on the floor, laughing out loud. Sand casting - Process of manipulating sand to create a mold, then filling the mold with 'tufa. silicon dioxide - Added to 'tufa mix increases density and water resistence via a chemical reaction. slurry - Paste made with portland cement and water. set - The initial hardening of 'tufa before it has fully cured. sn - Screen name. Spike - Gardenweb web master and ruler of the GW Universe. Tensile strength - Ability of 'tufa to resist stretching without breaking. 'tufa - Abbreviation for hypertufa. tufa - Naturally occurring soft or porus rock formed by water deposits. Tufa rock is artifically reproduced with hypertufa. Undercut - Portion of model which has sharp recesses which could prevent a mold to be separated from the model, or a casting to be separated from the mold. WIP - Work in progress.