I have been watering them-but definitely not drowning them- I dug the holes pretty wide to allow for adequate root growth, I though the root balls were kinda small when I planted them-so hopefully that won't prove to be a future problem. there is some needle drop around the base of some of them-but not a huge amount- I will keep an eye on it. don't know much about the baker spruce but so far I love the color and shape. thanks again thetman

hi welcome to the world of conifers.. no conifer holds its needles forever.. 1 to 3 years.. interior browning is normal .. its the old needles .. increased by transplant.. and weather .... including drought ... pine needles are big business in many parts of the country.. use them at will ... i dont know what to tell you about fire.. try not to light it off .. lol .. mulch should not be more than 2 to 3 inches deep.. and if you water your garden properly .. they should be moist enough to avoid such ... gotta run.. dont know if i hit all your ????'s ken

Glad morz8 could help, I'm just not that experienced, have only PCd a few times. One thing Dave and others here have told people to do was to run a few test batches with colored water to check your stove's settings and see how to adjust to avoid siphoning. I did that, but still had some siphoning with the tomato sauce. I think the Presto person was wrong to tell you to turn heat up and down, Dave told me to just keep it steady or adjust in TINY increments. With the weight set you shouldn't have to worry about adjusting, just try to get it venting, put the weight on, and leave it alone - it's not like a dial gauge where you have to watch and make sure it doesn't go over so it's not overprocessed. If you're doing something like fish that takes a really long time the recipe says to start with more water so the canner doesn't run dry. Buy new lids and use those older ones for something like jam or jelly. "well, i've had my first messy case of PC siphoning with my 4th, and thickest, load of NCHFP's spaghetti sauce in my new presto . every qt. siphoned, but just one failed to seal. i've had 1 or more seal failures in the other 3 loads, too." I don't know, maybe siphoning is more a problem with thicker/denser foods? I think it is with starchier foods. Did you have siphoning with the thinner batches, or just an occasional seal failure (which could be the lids)? Or maybe you just adjusted the burner more on this batch after talking to the Presot rep? Store the jars without the rings someplace where you can see them (and some place easy to clean if one does start to ferment or something), I don't think you need to check daily, but occasionally (maybe daily at first). I really don't know when you can stop checking, but since you want to really eat it within a year for best quality, and mine kept a year even with siphoning, I'd say just check it often this winter, maybe again when spring/summer come around if your storage area might start to warm up. I'd wash the gasket if I had siphoning - I didn't after just running test batches of water. Sorry I can't be more help - I'm still learning myself. Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP siphoning troubleshooting

Those are fine pictures Laura, and I live in Southern Illinois. The bumper crop of squirrles here, though cute, have dug up my bulbs, the expensive tuberous begonias and even chewed up my lawn furniture cushions at my lake house. They used to stymie me from feeding the woodland birds before I discovered the solution: "Squirrel Season". I invited all my hunting friends to show up and fill their freezers, and so they did. Problem gone. As a boy I used to love squirrel hunting with my Dad, but now I seem to have no stomach for the hunting sport. I'm sort of liking that foil on my head idea, but since I tried it, the aluminum reacted to the steal plate in my head and the people who take care of me had to take my foil and my crayons away. At least the birds like me and my bulbs are safe. 'Tis a mystery, but I agree with others that you have a squirrelly problem. jim