Winter Seed Swap

Sally, thanks for that pdf! MD extension has some great information, but their website is pretty terribly designed. I've been on it many times but never came across that particular pdf.

I agree it seems hard to search for some things on their site.

I didn't save a lot of seed this year, but am digging around to see. I do have fresh crop of moonflower vine- Ipomoea- seed, and a fish pepper, and even a small fish pepper plant I brought in this fall, two new peppers forming.

Have we decided for 1/31 or another date?

I think 1/31 worked well.

Ok cool. Do we have specifics yet or will those be dmailed out?

Jill presumably start a thread on this forum in the near future, as she is the traditional "point person" on this annual event.

Seq, for planning purposes, assume gathering at Chef Lin restaurant in Frederick for several hours in the afternoon. Buffet style face stuffing and general plant talk, we either get a party room or use several tables in the back. Buffet cost including tax and tip is about 12-15$ per person, Sometimes we adjourn to Dutch Plant Farm also in Frederick around 4 pm to browse the greenhouse, pots, and garden supplies.

Jeff--
Dutch Plant Farm is a place you can stock up on the 20lb. bags of all the "Tones"
fertilizers. At 15% off--it is a deal. Not many places you can find the big bags.

Also--a great selection of garden fertilizers and chemicals. pots and
garden accessories. 15% off.

I generally, find their plants not well tended.,at least by my standards.
They do have a couple clearance tables where you can pick up this and that
and nurse them back to health.

You gotta see the big parrot! G.

Cool, sounds like a nice place to go. I will need some Holly Tone for the spring and I always like looking around in new greenhouses :) Do you have to pay the fee to the buffet if you're not eating? I'm not sure if I can eat anything there (gluten free here). I snooped around on they're website but it didn't say anything about gluten free. I don't really care though, I can eat before I come, no biggie.

I don't know, Jeff. Ask critter (Jill).
Maybe she can contact the restaurant and ask what they have Gluten free .

There are a lot of fruits and veggies there also--as well as a sushi bar
and raw meat dishes (tartar).
Lots of yummy deserts, soup, shrimp, etc. No one goes hungry.

I need to hit the sack--sat up too long watching "Criminal Minds"....

Talk to you later.
zzzzz zz z z z z zzzz Gita

I cannot imagine they will charge you. They count the flatware and drinks and that is how they determine how many to charge for, when they seat us.

Jeff, they do a Mongolian Stir Fry where you pick the contents from a fresh offering as well as sushi. Their rice should be gluten free, from what I've read.

Note:Plain rice — regardless of whether it's whole-grain brown rice, polished white rice, long-grained basmati rice or even exotic black rice — is always considered gluten-free.
http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreefoodshoppin1/f/Gluten-Free-Rice.htm

Yeah most of the ingredients are gluten free but it's the soy or teriyaki sauce that's the deal breaker most times.

The Mongolian grill should work for you, Jeff... you don't have to add soy sauce... I think they have the usual minced garlic, chilis in oil, etc. to add for flavor. You put your ingredients in a bowl, and that's what they put on the grill. If you have a gluten-free sauce you'd like to use, you could bring it along just to be sure. If you eat sushi (maybe half of theirs has raw fish, the rest uses just veggies, cooked shrimp, or fake crab stix). There's a salad bar and plenty of fresh fruit.

That said, we've had other people who came but didn't eat, and that was never a problem. It's funny -- the waitress almost always has a wrong count, maybe she counts forks or something, but Donna (the owner/manager) has no problem taking the number that Sally & I give her, so no worries. We've been regular customers for a very long time, and we've done this seed swap there for several years now. :-)

And yes -- thread will be up some time this weekend! Our company has all left, and I'm catching up. I'll put up a thread for have/want lists, too.

Sequoia - it may be a Chinese restaurant, but it has probably close to 100 items to choose from, including many non-Chinese items, including steak, chicken, ice cream, French fries..... What ever one's dietary restrictions one can easily overeat there.

So true! I'm amazed that they can offer so much and so many kinds of food for that price.

I just printed out the MD extension list. I thought it was interesting that they didn't list Contender bush beans. They do really great here. I grow them every year I love the flavor and they are really productive. Just thought it was interesting.

Gluten Free!!!

If anyone has celiac's I wouldn't recommend they eat in any restaurant except one that is totally gluten free. The problem is cross contamination. This can occur very easily without even being noticed. Even though most restaurants segregate food items it can become a problem. Just my two cents.

Yehudith

Yehudith, I'd have to agree.

Celiac patients can't handle even a little bit of cross contamination. Imo, it's not worth getting sick from it, and there's so much cross contamination at a Chinese restaurant, with every utensil and wok being exposed to soy sauce.

Gluten Free Recipes discussion on recipe forum
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1368828/

There seem to be many new alternatives on the market.

Oh yea there are. The Japanese have a home bread machine that makes yummy bread using rice flour.

I make these killer scones that are gluten free. Oh and OMG I do these sticky buns that are to die for. I used to make them for my daughter's carpool. One day I had to bring home these extra kids. The sweet rolls got passed around and from the back comes "OMG! Do you get this stuff everyday!? I'm going to ask my mom if I can change carpools!" They are that good. Gooey, sticky and soft and buttery. They are so so good. I can taste them now.

Yehudith

Well, nuts! We have a SCHEDULE PROBLEM

I got into the beekeeping course -- hooray!

I thought it started/ended a week earlier than it does -- boo!

My last class is 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday, Jan 31.

And since I've been organizing this shindig for years, I want to be there.

So...

Assuming availability at Chef Lin (the calendar weekends looked bare when we were there last week), we could...

1) Shift to Saturday, Feb. 7, at our usual noon to 4 pm time. That might be the easiest, as I think we've already penciled that in as a snow date. New snow date would be Feb. 21, since I have family plans the weekend of the 14th. This is the cheapest time, $3 less than Sat. dinner or all day Sunday.

2) Go for Sunday, Feb. 1,officially known as Groundhog's Day Eve. We could start a little later (1 pm?) so church goers don't need to skip. I think Sunday is the same price all day (with extra goodies on the buffet), so we can pretty much choose our time window.

3) Stick with Saturday Jan 31 but have dinner rather than lunch at Chef Lin -- as we had to do for last year's snow date. I need time to travel, shift gears, and set up. We're probably looking at a 4:30 start time, 4 if I go straight there. This isn't my favorite option, not only because of my schedule that day but also because the restaurant gets so crowded on Saturday night that Donna needs us to be in the back room by 6. It worked last year (we started at 4), but I'm not sure it was ideal.

I'll wait for feedback and post the official thread tomorrow morning. My apologies for the scheduling error!

Any of the dates will suit us but we would prefer not to come later on the 31st. Depending on weather the later the time the more chance of dark slippery roads to drive home on.

Agreed... I think that was one of the drawbacks of having it on a Saturday evening last year. So we'll cross off my least favorite option, number 3. :-)

Either of the February options is fine for me, but just to throw in a 4th option: What about the weekend of 24-25 January?

Hi Good DG'ers. Sorry, I don't think I will be able to make this one. On January 6, I will be getting surgery to implant a vena cava filter in my jugular vein in my neck so I will not get a blood clot while I'm getting major surgery on Jan 14 to replace my left knee. Yeah, here we go again. So please keep me in your prayers for two successful surgeries with no side effects. I feel bad about not going as Chef Lins has included many more items to choose from and the last time we were there in October, it was great. I'll see how things go after the surgery. I don't plan on driving for a couple months but this surgery was originally scheduled for April 27 and they had a cancellation, so I grabbed it knowing I would be able to spend more time doing outdoor activities in the spring. Thanks again. Buttoneer & Bobbin.

Sundays are out for me...as I work. Switching is hard, as you have to find someone
who wants to work on Sundays...My next best would be Feb. 7th.

As I usually ride with Sallyg--it is really up to her whether later on Saturday
is acceptable.
Some people, from further away, may have a hard time getting back home that late.

Jill--how disastrous would it be if you skipped that last class for the benefit
of many, who by now have already planned on Jan 31st?

G.

I would hate to make Jill skip six hours of the class, sounds like that would be a major chunk of it.

A 6 hour class??????? Mamma Mia!!! That is different...

I was thinking most classes go 1-2 hours.

Jill, I'm glad you crossed off #3. Our DD just called and wanted a yes for our attendance for that afternoon. :-}

I like Muddy's option of 1/24 but the 7th would also work.

To all who wrote about celiacs and gluten earlier; I haven't had many issues with cross contamination. I do have celiacs disease and sometimes I can be sensitive. Any diner is pretty much a no fly zone as they are all pretty haphazard with stuff and I've never eaten at a Chinese place since I started the diet. I will say though, the Mongolian grille sounds interesting and should be fine if they use a clean wok and I could bring my own soy.

Buttoneer, I hope your surgeries go well and that you'll be fully recovered by spring.

I must have missed Buttoneer's post.

Good luck with the knee surgery, I hope it goes well for you. My Dad has had both knees operated on. The important thing is to stick to the therapy schedule afterward. I'll be thinking of you.

Praying for complete success for both surgeries, Buttoneer and a quick recovery. Thankful for that cancellation.

Buttoneer,

Just be sure to stay well, well hydrated. It should look like diluted lemonade when you pee.

D-mail me if they are going to put you on a blood thinner. I have a list I give to all my patients of the foods you can eat and what you have to avoid and the amounts. Its really a good resource.

Please be compliant with all the assistive devices they tell you to use. I know they're a pain but G-d forbid you should twist the thing or have a fall after all the work and pain.

Speaking of pain, take your pain meds! You won't become addicted and you will heal much much faster.

Can you tell I give these instructions atleast once a week.?

After all that, have a healthy and quick recovery

Yehudith

What great advice!
Adding my well wishes here. I know it's no walk in the park (groan) but between those times you'll be cracking up the staff with your usual humor and spark!

Buttoneer:
Adding my prayers and well wishes for you and Bobbin. Love your Santa picture. Think of you fondly every time my DGS and I talk fossils.

Buttoneer, hope you recover quickly from both surgeries and are more comfortable walking. I know you are on the move quite a lot.

In terms of the swap, the 7th for lunch sounds best. The 24th would also be fine, but I suspect that the class is in session that day as well.

Option (1), Feb. 7 works for us.

Buttoneer--

From one who has already walked on Titanium knees for years--
It is worth all the exercises you will have to do--even if you hate it.
Just do it--and do it--and do it! It is worth it in the end.
By 3-4 months--you will be as good as new. Even better...

I made the roll you will need to do your knee lifts by wrapping a
pillow (or a thick terry towel) around a 2L. soda bottle. Tie it qith string
so it stays put. This was just right in size--and soft enough to be comfortable.

The pain of your bad knee before is 10 X worse than the few weeks of
discomfort afterwards. Which leg are they doing? R. or L?...

I ask because this determines how soon you can drive.
I was allowed to drive in 2 weeks when my left knee was done (2004)
as I have an auto transmission. Left leg just sits there....

With my right knee--(2007) I had to wait 4 weeks--but I cheated...drove in 2 weeks anyway.

The thing I hate thee most is that I cannot kneel. Makes gardening difficult.

You are a tough cookie--you will do just fine! Takes one to know one---:o)
Best wishes--Gita

Judy, praying for a result for your ops. Listen to yehudith, take your pain meds, you will need them after PT. Above all do the exercises so it works well. As Gita said you can't kneel but you could get one of these. If it has a handle you could have Bobbin move you to the next job. LOL