Connie - The advice I see from blueberry growers is to use a raised bed for clay soils. You do not need to build any sort of fancy structure. Lots & lots of commercial blueberry operations in Oregon & Washington have mounds of various growing mixtures on top of the native soil. Since blueberries have shallow root systems, you can easily build a big enough mound such that the roots are contained in the mound which is your raised bed. The growing mix allows you to control the pH and water dynamics which are very important. While there is slight variation from blueberry expert to expert, the consensus is pH 4.5 to 5.0 as the ideal range. There are plenty of pictures & descriptions in the book "Blueberries: For Growers, Gardeners and Promoters." I think it is the best $60 dollars you will spend to grow blueberries. Below are a whole series of links to different blueberry resources. While the 5-1-1 mix should work, you may decide on a different mix after a bit more reading. Here is a list of links to a number of free publications that I have found very helpful. I have been growing blueberries in pots very successfully for several years thanks to what I have learned in these & other publications. http://www.extension.org/blueberries http://www.extension.org/pages/30658/blueberry-online-resources-social-media-newsletters-websites-etc http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/em/em8918.pdf http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/pdf/1422.pdf http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8207.html http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/12202/ec1304.pdf;jsessionid=34C1D8724B28E1018BFDFB7C8DC84200?sequence=1 http://nysipm.cornell.edu/organic_guide/blueberry.pdf http://berrygrape.org/blueberry/ http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/smfr003/smfr003.htm You are fortunate that there is an excellent blueberry group at Washington State University. I believe you should be able to contact a blueberry person for advice through information found on this link. http://smallfarms.wsu.edu/crops/berries/blueberries.html or your WSU Extension office. http://extension.wsu.edu/locations/Pages/default.aspx For your mole and vole problems, you should find some very useful advice here: http://www.gopherslimited.com/ Good luck with those blueberries! Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberries: For Growers, Gardeners and Promoters

I have a MS Word document with a table format. I have a column for the name of the seed, how many seeds sown, date sown, date of first germination, and how many germinated. I keep everything in alphabetical order, with veggies and herbs separate from flowers. I enter the first three columns every time I WS some containers. When spring comes, I enter some of the "date germinated" info on the computer, but I usually end up printing the form out, and entering the info on the hard copy. I bring it outside with me every time I check on the containers, and I can keep track of how many seedlings germinated day by day on the hard copy. It's easier to have my entire list in my hand than try to remember what and how many germinated and run in the house to enter it on the computer. When it is all finished, I go back to the computer and enter in all the info. This is then what I use to contribute to the database. Which makes me wonder.... I don't think I ever sent in my info from 2006-2007...? :) Dee

Thanks all, I wasn't too sure about linking here since this remodel doesn't have anything to do with Holidays, but this forum is like a second home to me, you all have been so kind and supportive of my decorating and tablesetting experiments! jeannespines, thank you, well I am hoping it is going to be nice, it is just going to take me alot longer to fix probably than most peoples remodeling. I'm fairly patient though, this is pretty much a gift for myself, so I'm on my own timeline. gagesgranny, thank you too! I originally thought I would do the build to save money, but after I found the 2nd fellow to build at a fantastic price, well I couldn't miss that opportunity, but he's too busy now (thankfully for him and his family the construction business in his area has picked up enough to keep him busy, so I don't have his abilities anymore for my house). The last wall I want up between the kitchen and the DR will have electricity running through it, and cabs from the kitchen will go on that wall, I am just afraid that I won't build it well enough to support all of that. Anyhoo, until I find someone I can trust and is more affordable, it will have to wait. As for colors, well, I had thought white, but the on the walls that I just painted is way too grey for me! So that will have to be changed...an expensive mistake for me this time. But, I have considered a blue of some sort, probably a grey blue, I think it would look ok with the couch color, but that is a way off too I am worn out from all the painting I just finished LOL phonegirl/punk Thanks, actually having cancer helped me to eventually decide to do something that I wanted, I don't like the way it came about, but at least something good for me came of it. My house has been a total mess, it only recently has been "straightned" up a bit. I really did/do try to keep up on the dust though, that drove me nuts, most of the time everything was covered in painters plastic to protect my things. I still haven't really decorated though, and that actually bugs me alot, I really want to get on with that part of it. I hope to take some photos of the tree this weekend, then I will post them, it takes some getting used to having a white tree after years of a green one, but it is growing on me. Luckily not much money went into the tree, I got it on clearence last year for 9 bucks, so not too big of an investment. Luvs, thank you too. Well, not fast enough progress that I would like LOL, but I am getting there, and having the vision for what I want is very satisifying, so that will have to carry me thru this long remodel. I guess it is all in the journey. Of course my neighbors and my DD think I am nuts LOL My DD is supportive (with an eyeroll thrown in, she is very practical, and isn't crazy about the bedroom size down, but she knows it will make me happy, so she is really OK with it.

Shirting is just wonderful to work with. It's so soft and smooth. I wish, like woven plaids, there were more of them in the stores these days. But this quilt is inspirational and fits right in with the theme of Bonnie Hunter's new book about gleaning fabric from recycled shirts. I hope this isn't a bit of a threadjack but, after all, I'm sure those Civil War era wives and sweethearts were saving and reusing every scrap they could. Here is a link that might be useful: Scraps and Shirttails