My first year of gardening was in my mid teens (I was given a fairly sheltered life and still prefer it). I had made two 2Âx4Â raised beds 12" high, filled them with topsoil harvested from an out of the way location (on the property) and a few bags of store-bought manure. My parentÂs place happened to be where a full grown bodybuilder would be lucky to get the tip of a shovel 3" into undisturbed ground , so the filling of the beds was an ordeal. I planted each of the beds with 3 rows of red bush beans (I donÂt know why anymore, I was just a kid). I watered and waited, watered again the next day, and again the next. Then at one strange moment the next day I looked upon my creation and just happened to notice the five 18" tall tomato plants growing in each of the beds! You might think that at this point I was very excited about having plants in the garden, or that one of my parents was being nice, making sure that their child had a successful first garden - I tell you now that this was NOT the case! First, I was 15ish - not 5ish! - I knew there were differences between plants and had a bit of a grasp on the concept of time. There is no second point, but what I tell you now is that I had awoken a sleeping gardener who had coveted my land and claimed it as her own (sure she is my Ma and technically maybe it could have possibly been her own, but anyway). I listened to her excuses and cleverly concealed my rage eventually salvaging a bit of a "crop" from my remaining shaded/stunted red beans. Long story short - The next year I grew a 98 lb. pumpkin(who knows why? I was just a kid) - I was aiming for a 100+ but oh well ( IÂm still waiting for the "Pacific Giant" pumpkin) Oh, and I also had probably about 10 Roma tomato plants... :) Many years have passed... I have a garden at my own place now but continue to garden with Ma in the same spot (that has expanded quite a bit). It has been rewarding beyond words (even though the scars from that first year have left me a bitter, bitter husk of a person.) Pep talk time: Get back out there and garden! The fall crops of many vegetables are said to be better than the spring crop - especially root crops. The link below seems to be a good one for your state - it is from an interesting college called Purdue (where it seems that they are famous for making train parts in addition to gardening calendars). Check out Table 2. Too bad that you donÂt have a piece of ground that you could garden regularly for a while - IMO the ground improves quite a bit during the first few years. Maybe you could make raised beds and take the soil with you ? - I read somewhere that this was a French tradition. Best of luck to you! Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/ho/HO_186.pdf

As far as diet goes, a lot of alt med sources try to give the impression that mainstream medicine ignores the role of diet in disease while on the other hand they pay proper attention to it (which usually means promoting unproven supplements and fad diets). The reality is that proper diet has long been emphasized by mainstream medicine as a key part of preventing and treating heart disease (and numerous other medical conditions). A recent review by the American Dietetic Association stressed the following keys to a heart-healthy diet: "The panel examined the state of current research on the effectiveness of foods, nutrients and food components in reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors while also meeting a person's nutrient needs, and identified areas where further research is needed. "Numerous dietary factors/nutrients have been identified that affect (cardiovascular disease) risk factors," the researchers write. "An individualized dietary pattern is recommended to optimize CVD risk factor reduction while meeting nutrient needs." The review identifies effective "dietary considerations" including a diet that: Is low is saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids and dietary cholesterol; Is "ample" in total dietary fiber with emphasis on soluble fiber; Includes fat-free/low-fat dairy foods and/or other calcium/vitamin D-rich sources; Is rich in vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants from multiple servings of fruits and vegetables and low in sodium; May include plant sterols and stanols in high-risk individuals; and Achieves a healthful body weight and calorie balance with the recommended dietary intervention by increasing physical activity and maintaining adequate calorie intake. " Here's another good article on the basics of a heart-healthy diet.

Our temps have been jumping around so much it was hard to tell what to do - so I planted the kale and spinach I had started, didn't bother with the broccoli that had been in starter cells too long. Never did get lettuce, etc. in earlier this week but going to do it today (was potting up tomatoes and started hardening off yesterday). Getting some rain this week but don't exactly know how much/when yet, figured it might be a good time to seed. Might do the beans this weekend too since the soil out back(pen sunny area) is warmer than the soil (shaded) near the house where I put the kale. SlmiyOkra - so sorry no spring crops for you. I just have to see what happens with mine. Temps here look like they're going to keep swinging from one extreme to the next, not even sure about putting out tomatoes next weekend, peppers definitely waiting til June. What are your lows (and lower highs) going to be? And have you moved yet?

mjconti I confess that I also like W2W carpet, I have fond memories growing up with it in the 70s (shag!!). Not necessarily in every room (growing up we had carpet in the bathroom and that was gross). In our place we have hardwood everywhere but carpet in the bedrooms. Not shag. Low pile, high quality wool. The master even has a fun pattern. The master is huge and I don't think we'd have been able to find an area rug to fit. We are a shoe-free house and we run the Roomba every other day. That said I'm going to defend gray: our place is decorated in sophisticated shades of warm and cool grays and beiges, with navy and chocolate brown and accent colors including soft yellow, green, orange, and white walls. We stained the yellow oak floors a medium grey that has blue/green undertones and is very pretty. For us the decision was easy: we'd lived with beiges/warm colors/golds for so many years in the 80s/90s. Then switched to a "riot of colors" -- bold rich jewel tones, red sofa, etc. That was fun for awhile, but we were tired of it!!! Maybe we were ahead of the trends? We were ready to go back to quiet neutrals, but not the beige/orange/gold/yellow oak again. What's more, the sunlight our new place gets just doesn't work with too many warm colors --- which is how it was decorated when we bought it--- the place ends up looking like it's literally on fire! Toning it down with a grey palette works, and does not look cold at all.