Water uptake and therefore nutrient uptake is energy driven, i.e. it takes energy to absorb water and nutrients, and the roots need oxygen to turn the carbs the plant makes (its food) into energy - just like you do. When your plants wilt while the soil is still damp and the problem persists more than a day or 2, you can be almost 100% certain it's a root problem - probably related to excess water retention and the dearth of oxygen that comes along with it. Roots are opportunists - they don't/can't "go looking" for water, air, and nutrients, they simply grow where conditions are favorable ...... and don't grow where they aren't. In your case, the roots are probably growing deeper into the pot when the water supply is at its lowest, then dying back again when you water. The cycle of death and regeneration of roots not only impairs root function, it's very expensive in terms of energy outlay as well. What it takes to regenerate roots killed by a lack of air might have been spent on things more productive - like an increase in plant mass, blooms, fruit ...... Your soil choice has a very significant impact on how easy/difficult success is going to be, and on how wide the margin for grower error is. My take on what constitutes a good soil, at a minimum, is one you can water to beyond the point of saturation, i.e. until at least 15-20% of the total volume of water applied exits the drain, carrying accumulating salts with it, this, without the grower having to worry about root rot or impaired root function. In most cases, the inability to water correctly also prevents you from being able to institute a nutritional supplementation plan that works well because nutrient ratios quickly become skewed if you can't hit the 'reset button' by flushing the soil regularly. Dennis is right about tight little root balls, too. If I get sets that have congested roots, I rip the bottom half of the roots off the plant and use as nylon pick to tease the remaining roots apart before the set gets planted. I also remove the lower leaves of the sets and plant very deep if in a pot, and deep and at about a 30* angle if they get planted in the ground. Often, roots allowed to remain in a tight little wad end up staying in a tight little wad with the plant suffering for it, and that's something you want to avoid. Roughing up the roots actually sends chemical messengers to the rest of the plant, telling it it needs to direct energy to the root mass. Plus, the closer roots are trimmed to the stem, the more juvenile and vigorous they are (look up 'ontogenetic age'), so make sure the roots are going to be able to easily colonize your soil mass by correcting congestion before planting and using an appropriate soil. Al

This link will tell you how to dry them for eating, planting, and for the birds. http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/hortihints/0108c.html

dreedree, this is the first chance I've had to respond to your thread, but I've read each post and would like to add my perspective, because something not too different happened to us once. By the way, our kids share a common heritage of being half Irish, half Chinese. But mine thankfully never received any comments about fitting into the demographics! Anyway, I think that as our kids are growing up, inevitably, some things will happen occasionally that are unfair. I believe we have to decide which battles to fight, and which to just let go of and chalk up to "lif'e not always fair." I myself made one decision that I regret, because it just seemed at the time like a futile effort. But I believe I should have persisted until I got the matter settled. When my DD was graduating grade 8, all the students who made the Honour Roll were asked to come up to the stage to receive their award when their name was called. My daughter made the Honour Roll, but her name was never called. For a second we thought perhaps they were giving her a special award, since she had earned the highest marks of her graduating class. But that wasn't the case. I obviously didn't want to make a scene right on the spot, so I waited until afterwards and went to the principal to ask why she wasn't called up for her award. He told me I could speak with him the next day at the school. When I went to talk with him, he told me that since my daughter was the Valedictorian, and had received a certificate for that, he hadn't felt it necessary to give her an Honour Roll award as well! My daughter was very happy to receive the certificate for Valedictorian. But it was not reflective at all of her scholastic achievement. She ended up giving the Valedictorian address because when the teachers asked the students who would like to throw their hat into the ring, no one volunteered. But since DD had represented her school in Public speaking for the past 5 years, she was comfortable speaking in front of large crowds, and agreed to do it. The Valedictorian certificate has her name and the date printed on it. But DD had nothing that says she earned a place on the Honour Roll. The Honour Roll award was a gold medal with the date, the student's name and "Honour Roll Recipient" engraved on it. It came in a nice box and had a blue velvet ribbon that it could be hung from. Her Valedictorian certificate was not only in a cheap plastic frame, but more importantly, it is not reflective of her academic achievement at all. When I pointed out to the principal that she should have received something commemorating her hard work to earn such good marks, he acted like I was being trite, because she had received something. It was especially important to her because the school had been giving out Honour Roll medals since grade four, and DD had earned one every year. So now, the other students who had also accomplished this(like her DB) would have 5 medals to put in their collection of school awards, but DD would be missing her medal for grade eight. We almost felt like she shouldn't have agreed to give the Valedictorian address, since that's why she ended up not getting an Honours medal! But when I tried to impress upon the principal that she shouldn't be excluded from the Honour Roll medal just because she happened to get a certificate for Valedictorian, he just said that he wouldn't be able to get a another medal now, it was the 2nd last day of school, etc. etc. I tried to offer to get it myself if he would put in the order, but he insisted the place makes medals and trophies in bulk and wouldn't make up just one medal. That sounds so much like what happened to your daughter! There were only 2 days left of school and the principal was obviously too busy to care. I debated about going over his head to someone higher in the School Board, but ended up deciding they would probably just consider me a whiny mother and not want to bother with something so 'trivial' when they were closing things up for the summer. My DD was upset about not having the medal, but she was also caught up in the excitement of graduation dinner and party, and didn't dwell on it too much, so I kind of let it go. DD is now a happy, well adjusted 20 year old who won a scholarship to university. But even today, whenever anyone is complimenting her on her academic achievement, she mentions that the one thing that disappoints her so much is having that empty space in her grade 8 album where her Honour Roll medal should have been displayed! So even though it wasn't a Pulitzer Prize, that medal meant a lot to her, and I shouldn't have capitulated so easily. Of course we always think of things too late, but I should have informed the principal that I would be calling back the following June when the school was ordering the Honour Roll medals for next year's recipients. Even if he wanted me to pay for it, at least the school could get one made up for her along with the bulk order. Unfortunately that thought didn't pop into my mind until DD was entering university, and it was too far in the past. So I thought I'd just mention that if the company just isn't able to make up a single badge at this point, don't hestitate to let DD's troop leader know that you will be requesting they order one for her in next year's batch, even though it will be a year late in coming. They would have absolutely no reason to not be agreeable to that!

From what I can see in your pictures, I would keep what you currently have as a backsplash and paint the strip over the top of your cabinets to blend in. Your kitchen looks fine if you are going to sell. Just keep it all clean a simple. SAVE YOUR MONEY FOR YOURSELF :-) I had just renovated my kitchen in my previous home...new white glass-front cabinets, beautiful gray tiles on the counter and backsplash, new gray retro vinyl floor tiles. My kitchen was a diner style with a great old Wedgewood stove and new white appliances. I ended up selling which wasn't the plan. I had renovated the bathrooms, new roof, new closet doors...all required to sell and my home sold in one weekend. When I went back to visit my old next door neighbor, he said the first thing the new residents did was rip out the kitchen and they threw those new cabinets in the trash....PEOPLE ARE ODD!!! Moral of the story, don't spend to sell, keep it clean, do just the basics and save your money. Your kitchen is really nice looking and the new appliances are certainly a strong selling point.