Brenda Culp

I'm in the high mountains of North Carolina, and I find that my wild arugula plant comes back big and spreading every year.  Zone 6 a/b.  I got the seeds through our local library, but they were donated to the seed library from High Mowing Seeds.  The leaves are thinner and you need to harvest a lot more of them to make the same quantity of usual garden arugula.  But you don' t need to replant it or be sure it reseeds every year.  I agree that souchan is a great green.  It grows wild here in the mountains, but it also loves my raised beds.  I am trying to grow Good King Henry this year for the first time, but from reading other posts, I'm not sure how much I'll like it.  Egyptian walking onions are great and reseed themselves.  Very easy.  Lovage is more of an herb than a vegetable entree, but it also comes back every year and I like the strong celery taste.  My lawn is unsprayed and not mowed much so I have a natural supply of dandelion, and plantains.  Always lovely.  Good luck with whatever you try!  

Can you make sourdough bread with gluten free flour?

I would not be a bit embarrassed to dig through my own trash for reusables or recyclables.  Who's to know but me (and anyone reading this) anyway.  But, I must admit, when cleaning up after a public event, I do the same thing because even if you put out a bin labeled "Recycle" people still throw good stuff in the trash.  I also go through all the trash cans on my once a week volunteer gig at our local arts council.  The amount of reusable office paper, paper clips, and whatnot is amazing.  I get tons of junk mail, mainly asking me for money and including a handy reply envelope.  So, I open them all, even if I know I am not going to contribute, I take out the reply envelopes and use them for all kinds of things-- seeds for next year's garden included.  So, if you need any envelopes, I'm your gal.

Broadleaf or lance (narrow) leaf plantain are both great for stings.  Chew a leaf or two-- the chemical reaction of your saliva and the plant's components seem to kickstart the magic.  After you've masticated it a bit, slap it onto the sting.  I put a band aid over that to hold the plantain on, or tie a cloth around it to do the same job.  It works.  Yay plantain!

I found that hiding my squash and beans amidst the taller weeds kept them from drying out and it hid them from the pesky deer.  There is not a fence that mt. NC deer cannot jump.  Marvelous athletes with marvelous appetites.  I am going to expand my weedy bank this year with other things and see what happens.

I am ordering this book to be sent to another person who happens to be in prison.  I was never asked where the book should be shipped and I cannot send it from me.  It must come from the buyer to him.  How do I fix this?

I get freebie Christmas cards in the mail from charities, some of which I actually like as far as the visuals... but I don't always like the message.  So this year, I made a personalized general message-- yeah, that statement sounds like an oxymoron, but let me give you an example.  I wanted something that might suit everyone, so here's what I am going to make and paste on top of the messages I don't want: "Blessings of the Season-- Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, however you celebrate the Winter Solstice Season.  I celebrate with you the light in the darkest time of the year-- the kind of light that remains in our hearts all year long."

I just looked up "Voice to text freeware" and lots of alternatives came up.  Have you tried that route?  You would still have to verify that it had the "right" where or wear, etc. in there, but perhaps some are intuitive enough to make that rare.  I have not personally tried them, but it is a thought.

I am posting for the first time.  I think.  And what I am posting about is the squash seed giveaway.  At least that is my intention. See, I am 69 (which is code for: my brain came of age before computers and has not yet caught up) and just moved from the rolling hills of NC to the mountains, so from zone 7b to 6 a/b (don't know which yet, or both, here in my little holler with its white pine woods, open meadow, and flood plain by the little creek.)  It is a dream come true.  So, new to this area.  In years past I have grow many pumpkins and squash-- but what will grow here?  I have the flood plain garden spot, and I have a steep bank right outside my back door where the land rises up the hill to the piney woods.  There is a fence put in by the former owner at the base of the hill, so I would love to try growing squashy guys there to let them climb, and I would also love to put them in the garden by the creek where they have plenty of rooooom to run all over.  It's adventure gardenin', my favorite kind.