gardenfaerie

A local small business, Garden Hoard in Livonia, sells seeds, as well as gives away seeds for free (and accepts donations of seeds). Other seed companies I enjoy (though not all have printed catalogs) are: Renee's Garden Seeds Botanical Interests D. Landreth Monticello (yes, they sell seeds!) Also, if you like trading seeds, there will be a Project Grow seed swap in February in Ann Arbor. I'll post details once I have them ~Monica

Yes, deffo cut in spring. If you have really huge grasses, I like tying a string about half way up around the grass and then cutting the grass with a hedgetrimmer around the base. The discarded top will now be in (more or less) one handy piece to remove.

I winter sow and even get regular old green fungus on peat pots in the very moist containers. I have not found that to harm the seedlings, either. As others have said, fungus on the outside is generally part of natural decomposition--however, I would also check the actual moisture level of the soil--if that gets and stays too wet, that could cause damping off. IF the soil is too wet, I cut slits in the bottom of the peat pots--I know they are porous already, but this does help the water drain through if moisture is a problem. Normally peat pots dry out fairly quickly in indoor sowing, though, so this would only really be a concern to outdoor/winter sowing.

I never even heard of inoculant until very recently and have grown peas fine without it--I will do a little experiment this year--inoculating some plants, but not others, and seeing if there is any difference. In the Ann Arbor area, I'm hoping Downtown Home & Garden or the Dexter Feed Mill will carry it.

livoniagardener, If you like 'Purple Cherokee,', also try ''Chocolate Cherokee,' Loved it! 'Green Zebra' is fun, but I prefer 'Black Zebra.' For a red beefsteak, I love 'Mrs. Benson.' For cherries, 'Snow White,' 'Brown Berry,' and 'Gajo de Melon.' A fun one to try is a fuzzy-skinned tomato, either 'Garden Peach' or 'Wapsipinicon Peach.' I'm trying to narrow down which tomatoes I'll winter sow this year--have limited sun and it's always a challenge finding a good balance between old favorites and new-to-me varieties. I only grow heirlooms, but there are hundreds!! Monica

I put the pine cone in the oven so it opened up, and it's either a Jack or Scotch pine. Amazing how different the cones look at the immature stage.

Red pine family, two needles per bunch, attached by stalk to branch, planted at entrance to a park, so could be landscape or native tree. It doesn't look like an Austrian, Scotch or Jack pine cone to me--could the cone be immature? Thanks! Monica