Yeah - you should see our eyes light up when someone walks up with a large bundle of empty plastic pots! We ain't proud. In fact I think it was Rootdigger and I that were arm wrestling over the large stack of black plastic gallons last fall - shameless I tell ya! We are all hungry for pots and totally understand if some things show up wrapped in whatever was handy at the time. As a side biz I sell rooted cuttings and seedlings at the local flea market. This market has a large immigrant following. Last year I had the other Datura - not Datura metel, the one that looks just like Jimsonweed. You should have seen the latino customers eyes glaze over. A few of them asked in broken English if I knew what that plant is used for. I replied in my broken Spanglish that I knew exactly what it was used for and that I consider the plant rather dangerous and that I hoped they had more sense than to home brew some hallucinagenics. I sold it as "Deadly Toxic Poison Plant" and sold plenty of them. (for those of you NOT in the know - both Datura and Brugmansia are used in various potions to induce a high or even as a knock-out drug.)

Hi Lisa! Waaaay out there in the East of Canada! lol If you need anything else that these wonderful folks haven't fixed you up with yet, let me know. I am in the middle of harvesting a lot of new seeds as a result of Winter Sowing! lol So I can tell you that you WILL be successful at it. Once I get all this stuff harvested I'll divide all the seeds into packets and then I'll update my trade list. Feel free to click on my list anyway... I am pretty sure it is up to date as to what seeds I have left, but I will have LOTS more! Marly

Welcome to New England. Another vote for taking inventory for a year before making major changes. Getting someone to ID plants, or taking photos and posting them on the Name that Plant forum will be a good start. (If you do post there, let us know so we can jump in!) Many plants can be ID'd in early spring as they sprout, and woody plants can often be ID'd from winter photos including close-ups of twigs and buds. Also, you can take photos now (before leaves) from your top floor windows or roof to get an overview of layout or measure and make sketches. What plants you have now may influence what choices you make in your ongoing yard and garden plans. For instance hemlocks and pines are both evergreen, but there's an insect, the wooly adelgid, that infests and may kill hemlocks, so which of those trees you have will strongly affect how you decide to manage that part of your yard. (Do you want to deal with pest control if hemlocks are what you have?) Another factor that is much bigger here in New England than in CA is the seasonal changes in light levels. Sun angle, day length, and tree leaves all strongly affect the light levels at different times of year, so what may seem shaded now may get sun in the summer when the sun is higher above the horizon, and places that seem bright now may be shadier once leaves emerge. Photos or sketches will help you keep track of this as well. As others have mentioned, container planting is a great way to get your feet wet. In addition to your zinc planters, you can keep an eye out for other containers - wicker laundry baskets, old buckets or containers from various inexpensive stores or sales, and have containers for sun and shade to move around the yard and dress things up for this year. You can do your veggies and herbs in large containers as well if you'd like until you know where your sunniest areas are. I add a bit of the "water crystals" to my containers and mulch the surface lightly with compost so they don't have to be watered as often. A few things you can do during this year in addition to container planting and taking inventory would include soil improvement of both lawn and garden areas, mulching if needed, getting soil tests done, and starting a compost pile for yard debris. A light mulch (2-3 inches) of organic material like shredded bark or compost on all existing garden beds will cut down on watering and begin improving soil. You may find that your town has a composting program for yard debris where you can pick up compost for free and then use it for mulch or spread lightly on your lawn. I think there was a discussion here in the last year about where to get soil tests done, but if you can't find it, I'm sure another MA resident can help you out. You may be able to take a class at the Arnold Arboretum or one of your local nurseries on pruning, but at the very least get a good book out of the library and a good pair of by-pass pruners and remove dead branches in your shrubs and any branches that are rubbing against another - nothing too severe for now. Start watching sales fliers for yard basics like a lawn mower, a spade, and a leaf rake if you don't have that type of equipment, since often there are preseason sales that will save you money. Both now and once things warm up, you can keep a camera in the car to take photos of yards you like. Since we have so much winter, planning your yard for winter interest is important. If you have photos of layouts or affects you like, it will help you when it comes time to tackle your own yard. Also, you can take photos of particular plants in neighbors' yards or visit some local nurseries or garden destinations to make a list of plants you like. (Arnold Arboretum, Garden in the Woods of the New Eng. Wildflower Society, and Mt. Auburn Cemetary are just a few places in your general neck of the woods that have great gardens.) Good luck! You don't have to tackle you whole yard at once. You can spend this year getting a plan, and then gradually work on putting it in place over the next several seasons. Keep us posted. Here is a link that might be useful: Name that Plant! forum

It's entirely possible. For anything that calls for soybeans you can easily substitute other beans (white beans are probably the blandest and would change the flavor of the recipe the least but there's no reason not to use whatever bean you like). You can substitute things like rice milk, water, fruit juices for soy milk, as long as the flavor difference will work with the recipe. You'll be skipping tofu and tempeh and I don't know of good subs for them, but just leave them out or be creative. There's always seitan but personally it just tastes like soggy bread to me. I have many vegetarian cookbooks that have tons of recipes without soy (unfortunately, all are in storage 2500 miles away right now). Take some time at a bookstore or used bookstore and peruse all the veggie cookbooks there -- you should find plenty that fit your bill. There are tons of veg*n websites, too. I'm sure you can find good recipes there and also support for your changes. If you're worried about protein, see the website below, or google something like "protein myth" or "protein needs." It seems to be one of the least understood nutritional components, partly thanks to the pseudo-science of things like the Adkins diet. Here's an additional link: http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/protein_2.htm I cook lots of things without soy -- in fact, we only eat it every few weeks at most and then only as tofu or tempeh -- there are so many great veggies, grains, beans, fruits, and a whole world of delicious eating without meat, and if you want, without soy! Have fun! Here is a link that might be useful: veggie protein