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Remember someone with the wonderful and inexpensive gift of flowers from Arlene's Home Farm Flowers.  Fresh, fast and direct to the one you love.  Flowers are for every occasion. Sending flowers isn't unique, but sending them direct from the grower is!

Isn't it time you sent someone flowers just for no reason? Our flowers are the freshest, least expensive and fastest from our grower to your recipient.  Give us a try by clicking either the banner above or the link.

Ask Arlene is where you can ask your questions and perhaps we can give you the answer you are looking for or direct you to someone who can.

Q. Hello Arlene,

Do you feel it's possible to grow tulips in Tallahassee, Florida? If so what month should I plant? Thanks for your help!

A. Roses or other flowers in a box need to be opened immediately. If this can't be done, put the entire box in a cool, dark place until they can be prepared. However, we will address roses and you can figure out that you basically must do the same for pretty near every other flower.

Q. I am also interested in precious metal clay.  I am thinking of giving myself a workshop for my birthday.  The workshop would be on making a pendant.

A. For precious metal clay workshops here is a directory that should get you started. Also you might want to check out the local art guild or club in your area for local information.

http://jewelrymaking.about.com/od/metalclayclassgroups/Metal_Clay_Classes_and_Organizations.htm

http://dmoz.org/Arts/Crafts/Modeling_Compounds/Precious_Metal_Clay/

and here is a webring for them

http://c.webring.com/hub?ring=metalclaywebring

Good luck in your new hobby

Q. I was wondering if you know anyone that does long arm quilting?  My lady moved, and she is quite expensive, but a true artist!  I actually tried someone I found on eBay, she was fair.  Also tried another lady, nothing wonderful either.  I was surfing the web last night.  A lot of these long arm quilters are in  Nebraska What's up with that?  Either way, I am going to have to mail my quilts somewhere from now on.  I am currently working on a:"girly" quilt that I hope to donate to an auction for William's school.

Ginger

A. Dear Ginger

1. Here is some links for a long arm quilter. http://www.gullcottagequilting.com/
2. http://www.thequiltstudio.net/
3. If you go to this site, she no longer is accepting jobs but has a long arm quilters referral list you might find useful. http://www.zeffiesquilts.com/
4. Also this quilter’s newsletter link might help you. http://www.quiltingboard.com/newsletter.jsp

Hope this helps you out.  If anyone out in  Long Island  does this, please email me their info at askarlene@scrtc.com with long arm quilting in the subject line and I will pass it on to Ginger.

Q. My son-n-law had a wild pig butchered for us but the meat is very tough. Is there a away to tenderize this meat? It has good flavor but tough. thanks kathy

LOVE...KAT

A. Dear Kathy,

Nothing can ruin a dinner faster than a cut of meat that has to be chewed 50 times before swallowing. However even the most unforgiving meats can be tenderized given enough time and the right marinade.

Giving a marinade time to work is the key. The ingredients that break down the connective tissue in the meat must be able to penetrate all the way through the cut. Cooks should prepare the marinade the night before, put the meat in, and let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Any marinade you concoct must contain some type of acid to be an effective tenderizer. Acidic molecules in fruits, vegetables and vinegar break down and soften the connective tissue in meat over time. The alcohol in wine works in much the same way, but it is not as effective as stronger acids.

The basic idea behind marinating meat is to add flavor and to tenderize and every marinade must include three essential elements.

One element is flavor and using seasonings and spices, cooks can give a variety of meats unique flavors. The second element is acids or alcohol and these acids are found in tomato products, lemons, fruit juices and vinegar. Almost all marinades containing alcohol are made with wine. The third and last element is salt and the acid in a marinade may cause meat to lose its ability to retain water. Adding salt improves juiciness and allows the meat to retain the marinade's flavors.

Marinades aren't limited to less tender cuts of meat since all cuts of beef, pork and poultry can benefit from a marinade. It's also an easy way to add unique flavors to the dinner table.

I don’t particularly care for the commercial meat tenderizers simply because I have a sneaky feeling that whatever causes them to work so quickly on the meat might do the same thing to the lining of your stomach. So if you use a good marinade and if you give a marinade enough time to work, you'll end up with a flavorful and hopefully, a tender piece of meat.

A less tender cut of pork that has plenty of fat requires more acid and little or no oil. A tender, but low-flavor cut needs a marinade with plenty of flavor and some oil and a cut that is less tender and is also low in fat needs acid, flavoring agents, and oil. Most commercial vinaigrettes and salad dressings, as they are mixtures of oil and vinegar, can make excellent marinades. Do not use mayonnaise-based dressings.

Any marinade can be used to baste foods during cooking to add moisture and flavor. Do not use marinades for basting or as a sauce in which meat has been marinating (it can harbor unsafe bacteria) unless the marinade is brought to a boil and simmered for at least 10 minutes. If you want to use the same marinade to baste the meat while cooking, reserve a cup or so of marinade for that purpose.

Q. We have raised a goat from birth he is 9 mos. old and we are going to butcher hime. We do not know how to have the meat cut and wraped?

Like a lamb?

Linda L. Lewis

Any male animal that is to be used as food should have been castrated. If that wasn’t done, however, remove the head and testicles right away. That’s easy with a goat. This is done so the meat won’t be tainted.

Remove the head by cutting all the way around with your big knife. As always, avoid cutting into the hair. Instead keep your knife between the flesh and the skin and cut out. With a goat, twist the head until the bone snaps.

Make slits between the achilles tendon and the ankles and insert the gambrel. At this point, you could scald a pig but in these days of preserving meat by freezing, there’s really no point. In days past, the skin was left on the bacon and hams to protect them. It’s traditional, but there’s no other reason to leave it on since we don’t eat it anyway. And logistically it’s just much simpler to skin. Remove front feet at the joint. Using a pulley for a goat and hoist the animal into the air to a height convenient for working on the rear of the animal.

Slip your short pointed knife into the slit you made at the achilles tendon and cut around the foot, again cutting out, not in. Be very careful not to cut the tendon. With the knife between the flesh and the skin, slice a line through the skin down each leg to the centerline. Then cut down the body to the neck.

Now take your skinning knife and begin skinning at the junction where the leg cuts meet the centerline. Hold the skin with one hand or your hook and pull hard to create tension as you use your knife to separate the flesh from the skin. Work out from the center.

Now take your skinning knife and begin skinning at the junction where the leg cuts meet the centerline. Hold the skin with one hand or your hook and pull hard to create tension as you use your knife to separate the flesh from the skin. Work out from the center.

If you are not going to use the hide, you won’t have to worry about keeping it intact. Just be concerned about the meat in that case. You’ll have to be much more careful if you want to use the hide.

Keep pulling the skin away with your hand or the hook and continue to slice between the hide and the flesh until the belly is skinned. This will relieve the tension of the skin on the rump. Now work around the leg from front to back.

The next step is to start at the top of the "Y" and skin up and over the crotch. The skin is tightest here, so be especially careful if you’re saving the hide. Pull skin out and down to create tension on your work while you slice with your knife. A layer of fat makes the animal relatively easy to skin. Leave as much fat on the body as possible

Work over the anus to the tailbone. Give the tail a sharp jerk and it will separate from the vertebrae. From here on, the weight of the skin practically skins the animal for you. Work all around the body. If there is too much movement on the gambrel, lean against the animal.

Raise the beast when it becomes difficult to reach your work. Bring the work to you and stay comfortable. The forelegs are a bit difficult near the shoulders. Start on the outside of the leg. Work around to the front. Skin the neck and the inner forelegs and shed the skin.

Lower the animal so that you can comfortably work on the rear of it. At this point you want to separate the large intestine from the body. You will begin by cutting around the anus with your short pointed knife. Be careful not to make any holes in the intestine. When it is cut free, pull it slightly out and tie it off. It is helpful to have a partner here. This step (tying) is unnecessary if you are butchering a goat.

Cut down the belly with your pointed knife. Cut from inside out as before. With your other hand hold the guts away from the point of the knife. Cut through the belly fat all the way down to the sternum. Next, cut the meat between the legs.

If the animal is a male, cut out the penis. Place a large container underneath to catch the guts. By now they will be bulging out of the body. At some point if you are butchering a ruminant, there may be a flow of greenish liquid from the neck. This is just the cud and nothing to worry about.

Cut through the fat surrounding the guts, then sever any tissue connecting them to the rear wall of the body cavity. Pull the anus through to the inside and then out. Separating the intestines from the body is tedious, so take your time. You don’t want to spill the contents into the meat.

Be careful also not to rupture the bladder. Some people tie it and then cut it off, but I’ve found that method to be more likely to cause spillage.

Pull the intestines and bladder out of the body. Most of the stomach will also be free now. You will need to reach in and under to lift it all over the sternum. Some people cut through the sternum, but it’s easy enough just to lift the guts out. Most everything will now be hanging out of the body. Strip away as much of the surrounding belly fat as you can to feed to the chickens. Get out the bowl for the innards you want to keep. Remove the kidneys and fat. Cut out the liver and put it into the keeper bowl along with the kidneys. Sever the remaining flesh connecting the stomachs to the body, and it should all fall into the gut bucket.

Cut out the diaphragm and remove the lungs and heart by severing the connective tissue behind them. Separate the heart from the lungs and squeeze out the blood from the heart. The heart is a keeper, while the lungs aren’t.

From the neck end, cut out the windpipe. Be sure the opening is clear all the way through the body cavity. Clean all over with cold water.

A goat should age one week in 40° weather, longer in colder weather. If it’s too warm to age it, it’s a real shame to butcher at that time, because the meat won’t be as tender as it could be. A goat is hung whole.

To halve a larger carcass, face the belly while your partner helps hold the body and helps to guide the saw from the back when necessary. Use your fingertips on the blade to guide your cut. A cow should be quartered for ease of handling, of course, but also to allow the meat to cool as quickly as possible. Merely cut between the 2nd and 3rd ribs and be ready to hold the fore section. It should be hung for two weeks under the proper conditions.

When you’re finished working on the animal’s body, it’s time to salvage the tongue and brains from the head. The easiest way to get the tongue is to cut under the jaw in the soft space in the middle. When you have slit this open, reach in and cut the tongue loose from its mooring. Working through the mouth is much harder.

Chopping the skull with an axe works for getting out the brains, but sawing it in half with your meat saw gets the job done with a bit more finesse. If you plan to use the rest of the head, you will have to skin it now. Remove the ears, eyes, nose and anything that doesn’t look like meat or bone. Clean thoroughly. You may want to brush the teeth. You could make goat’s head soup or you could make headcheese.

Cut behind the shoulder blades to remove the front legs. Cut off leg at elbow. These lower legs can be soup bones, but they’re not much good for anything else. You can package the shoulder as it is or you can bone it, roll and tie for a rolled roast. You could also cut it up for stew meat. Take as much meat from the neck as you can. Use that for soup.

You could cut chops if you wanted. You would have to saw through the backbone between every rib to do that. You could bone out the chops to avoid all the sawing. Or you could just cut out the whole muscle bundle along the backbone. It’s called the backscrap and is the best meat on the animal.

Next take your meat saw and cut the ribs from the backbone. Then cut them in half with your knife for easy packaging. Underneath the backbone is the tenderloin. Cut that out.

Now for the rear third. Cut off the foot. Next cut off the leg at the knee. These are your shanks. Separate the legs at the pelvis. These are the only roasts one might keep from a goat. Use the front shoulders for stew or stir fry. You can package the leg as it is or bone it. Boning saves a lot of space and a rolled roast is a pleasure to cut when it’s cooked, too.

That’s it except for working over all the bones to retrieve any last bits of meat for your sausage bucket. You might want to save one goat just for sausage and one for jerky. You may want to do that, or you may have other favorite uses. Goat meat (or chevon as it’s called) is really wonderful when it’s properly handled.

Hope this helps you.

A. keep them out of drafts.

keep them watered once a week with a cup of water.

keep them in med. sunlight.

A. Yes, Ámi, flour explodes under certain conditions for two reasons. I researched this for you and came up with the following information: "The first is that flour is a starch. Starches, like other carbohydrates, burn very easily. Secondly, while flour is not explosive in an inert state, it is capable of spreading in the air and creating a potentially explosive dust cloud. Flour explosions most often appear in locations where flour is heavily handled, although a small scale explosion can be created at home as well.

Flour is made from chains of glucose molecules, meaning that it is a complex carbohydrate. Although flour is not sweet to the taste, it does retain the highly flammable properties of sugars. However, flour will not ignite if it is densely packed, as it often is in a home kitchen. Flour must have ample air to explode, as might be the case in a flour mill when a tossed sack of flour splits open, for example.

For flour to explode, it must form a highly dispersed dust. Approximately two ounces (56 grams) of flour suspended in a cubic yard (one cubic meter) of air will have explosive properties. If a flame is introduced to the flour dust, the individual flour particles will burn. If the dust cloud is large enough, a flash fire inside the dust cloud will result, which can create a serious explosion.

Flour explosions are a much larger risk in areas where large amounts of flour are handled. Although a small dust cloud of flour might ignite in a home kitchen, the damage would probably not be severe. In a grain elevator or flour mill, however, the potential for a very large cloud of flour or grain dust is much higher. For this reason, care is taken in these facilities to prevent dust clouds, and potential sources of open flame are usually protected.

Some science classes create a small flour explosion to illustrate the principle. A simple and relatively safe way to do this is to light a candle inside a can with a lid. Poke a straw through a small hole drilled at approximately candle level, and puff flour into the can through the straw. A small fire should result, blowing the lid of the can off. If only a small amount of flour accomplishes this, the results of a larger flour explosion can easily be imagined" I hope this gives you the answer you are looking for.

Personally, myself, if I did not want people not to like them, I would not give them out as gifts. However, you are the final decision maker as to the image you want to create.

Q. Would you know by any chance where pumpkin pie spice originated and in what year?

Thank you Dee Smith

A. I am pretty sure it originated in N. America, but I cannot locate a year. So I contacted Durkee spices for you and here is their response. "Thanks for contacting us regarding the Durkee Pumpkin Pie. Because many of our brands have changed ownership several times, history of the spices are not always a part of our files. We regret we can't locate the information you were seeking, but hope you will continue to use and enjoy our products.

Q. Dear Arlene,

My grandmother and I used to make Taffy together. I am 66 so it has been a while ago. I have always wanted to know how to do that so I can make with my grandchildren and until now, I haven't searched for the method.

We used to make vanilla, chocolate, banana and all sorts of flavors of taffy. Some of my fondest memories are of us pulling the tabby together.

Can you help me with a recipe and methods? I would certainly appreciate it.

Thanks for being there when I needed help

Robin Scott

A. Robin,

I think this may be your answer.

http://www.mtnlaurel.com/Recipes/taffy.htm

Let me know if it helps you.

Q. I have been looking for a good baisilcum sauce recipe do you happen to have one. The one I am looking for is a light creamy one? If you have one could you please send it to me. Thank you
LOL
Type to you again soon
Be healthy and happy...smile it is good for you
w/ love
Sandi

A. Yes Sandi, I do and here it is.

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup heated milk

salt

white pepper

freshly ground nutmeg (optional)

1 tblsp of fresh basil or 1/2 tsp dried basil

Q. What is insomnia?

A. Insomnia is a condition that occurs when a person experiences inadequate or poor-quality sleep because of difficulty falling asleep; waking up frequently during the night; or waking up too early in the morning. Due to sleepless nights, this condition may cause tiredness, a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, and irritability during the day. However, insomnia is not defined by the number of hours of sleep or how long it takes to fall asleep since sleep patterns vary from person to person.

If you feel you have a real sleeping problem go and see your doctor. But if you occasionally cannot get to sleep then try these hints. Just prior to going to bed write down all the things you want to do the next day and your mind will be cleared of them. If you wake up in the middle of the night then don't just lay there tossing and turning, get up and do something.

Q. What exactly is a shooting star?

A. A shooting star is not actually a star, nor does it shoot. A shooting star is officially called a meteor, a chunk of extraterrestrial rock pulled into the Earth's atmosphere by gravity. Most meteors are closer to dust or sand in size, not the large boulders frequently seen in science fiction movies. As these tiny fragments of rock fall through the Earth's outer layers of air, they experience a build-up of frictional heat. The individual particles glow brightly as they continue to fall and burn up. Observers on the ground may catch a fleeting glimpse of the shooting star.

Q. Can you help me? What is castor sugar and when would one use it?

A. Castor or caster sugar is the name of a very fine sugar in Britain, so named because the grains are small enough to fit though a sugar "caster" or sprinkler. It is sold as "superfine" sugar in the United States.

Because of its fineness, it dissolves more quickly than regular white sugar, and so is especially useful in meringues and cold liquids. It is not as fine as confectioner’s sugar, which has been crushed mechanically (and generally mixed with a little starch to keep it from clumping).

If you don’t have any castor sugar on hand, you can make your own by grinding granulated sugar for a couple of minutes in a food processor (this also produces sugar dust, so let it settle for a few moments before opening the food processor). You can also purchase castor sugar on line.

Q. Is there a safe way to cut pumpkins for Jack O Lanterns?

A. Yes and its smart to be safe when cutting Jack O Lanterns. There is no need to use sharp knives when carving pumpkins, especially around children. The simplest way is to use a small electric sabre saw and remember you do the sawing, not the kids. Its safer and it becomes a family project memory. Those little saws can cut compound curves, back up, reverse and can make any pattern you can imagine. If you don't have one of those in your toolbox then you should as they are very versatile tools. If not, then stop in at your favourite hardware store and pick up a hack saw or a small key hole saw.

Q. Can you give me some information on growing crepe myrtles>

A. When your crape myrtle starts to flower, the hot weather is setting in.

I do not know a lot about crape myrtle and I have two large bushes that I keep doing things to that probably defies all the laws of gardening, but they keep coming back.

I live in zone 6. Our daughter, Glynis, has just moved here from zone 7 and the street she lived on was loaded with crape myrtle in the form of sidewalk trees of all colors. It is a lovely street. So the note below about zone 7 may or may not be correct. Perhaps all those houses on that city street keep the air warm in the winter time for the crape myrtles.

Here is the research I have done on crape myrtles.

After the first flush of blooms fade, cut off the flowers and apply a light fertilizer for a repeat (but smaller) bloom. If crape myrtles fail to bloom for you, it could be due to too much shade, hard winter-type pruning performed too late in the season, or having too short of a growing season.

Depending on your personal tastes, consider these options:
- They are normally multi-trunked and respond well to pollarding, an old European way of hard pruning that produces a beautiful umbrella-like effect. However, once started, you must continue this method for the remainder of the life of the tree.

They can be grown as standards with a rounded top, and will reach from 10 to 20 feet high. They are effective in groups, or as specimens.

You can get all kinds of information and ideas on caring for crepe myrtles by going to landscaping ideas

Propagation via seed is easy, and seedlings often bloom the first year. You'll need a month of cold stratification (a Ziploc baggy kept in the fridge will do it) for easy success.

Cuttings are easily rooted, and will be true to parent varieties; but may not bloom until their second year.

Crape myrtles are being planted in pecan orchards for their properties of attracting and sustaining beneficial insects, and can serve the same purpose in the home landscape.

Contrary to many resources that claim these plants to be disease and pest-free, if you're in a humid climate expect powdery mildew and aphids. However, don't jump the gun on insecticides; the crape myrtle aphid is host-specific to only crape myrtles, but is the preferred diet of 30 or so of our best beneficial insect predators. To destroy the crape myrtle aphid is to deprive your garden of a host of natural predators.

Touted by entomologists as probably the most important landscape plant in the southeastern U.S., crape myrtles are being planted in pecan orchards for their properties of attracting and sustaining beneficial insects, and can serve the same purpose in the home landscape.

Flowering occurs on new growth, so winter pruning is necessary for best results. Vigorous root systems wreak havoc on anything but the most persistent perennial under plantings and groundcovers. Liriope 'Big Blue' makes a lovely ground cover underneath, blossoming simultaneously.

If you're lucky enough to grow crape myrtle, look forward not only to weeks of hot weather and colorful bloom, but a safety net of predator insects.

Q. could you please let me know where i may obtain the bulb forcing jars or vases?

A. You can find these at florist shops, garden centers or hobby stores or gardening centers. Try hobby lobby if there is one in your town. These look like hour glasses with the tops cut off.  I even found 3 bulb forcing vases on eBay. So you can always try an eBay search typing in bulb forcing vases or jars and see what comes up or you can use a regular vase that you fill with those decorative glass marbles. The bulb rests on the marbles so it's out of the water.

Baby food jars work well as you fill them up with the small marbles or pebbles and sit your bulb base on the mouth with the water just touching the bottrom of your bulb. Hope this helps.

Q. I would like to learn how to make wire sculpture jewelry and have a home business and also go to craft shows with it in order to make some money.  Do you have any suggestions?

A. Yes, you will need to have a dedication to any money making hobby you decide to take up and you will need good instructions, supplies, tools and equipment to say the least. I suggest you click on this Link to learn more.

Q. Nita says, "I have searched the information sites and come up with no answer to my reader's question. I don't know where she lives but when she mentions that her husband thought the problem was caused by a lack of sun for the bottom of the tomatoes, it makes me think they are in a cooler climate than ours. She says: I have a question that my husband says, not to worry about it. This is the question: This year our crop of tomatoes have a lot of the tomato pulp green on 1 side and red on the other. The green is sickening looking. Bruce, my husband, said that that side didn't get the sun like the other side did. This has never happened before in our gardening and Bruce has been gardening over 50 years. It is bad when I peel a tomato and go to slice it and half will be pretty and red and the other half is this green pulp.

Can you suggest any cause and what to do to correct the problem."

A. The tomatoes were probably shaded by the leaves or other plants and not enough sun light exposure.

Please contact the local County Co-Operative Extension Service located in the phone book under the Department of Agriculture.

They are more familiar with the weather and the soil conditions in your area and for all the flowers and vegetable that will grow well in your location, with the correct soil requirement and growing temperatures. They can test your soil and assist you with the needed nutrients the soil may need. They are a wealth of information on any inquiries regarding these plants and what is best for additives to the soil and any home remedy that can be used. Also they can recommend some gardening books and literature to assist you with your garden. The public library is also a good source for excellent reading material on gardening..

Q. Hi Arlene i just saw your site was glad of the info given. I want to know what should i do if want to slow cook my venison in a Crock pot how would approach the prepping and cooking properly .

Fred

A. Dear Fred,

I would treat it just like any other meat recipe for crock pots using your favorite recipe. Remember crock pots are usually used for the toughest or less tender cuts of meat, so if your piece of venison fits that description then use the crock pot.  Early Americans and probably Europeans lived off of wild game.

Q. I had the most horrible bout of FM yesterday. I know it's going to be bad,when I start pulling on my arms and trying to stretch every muscle to it's nth degree. Then I feel the urge to pick up a knife and stab those muscles that surely driving me mad with their poisonous throbbing. I corral all the painkillers, determine which one I'm going to give a shot at this episode,knowing full well that this is bigger that both of us. Finally I take two ambien and it's lights out. This morning I still have that "Patch of Pain"
which this time has located itself on the right top of my head, heralding more agony to come. I'm running to my Chiropractor, since of all the avenues I've explored, he has been the one to provide relief. I'm writing to thank you for posting your FMS info out therte, because I still have a difficult time believing this, even though I've had it for 12 years. Everytime it goes away, I think that maybe I imagined it, but as soon as it rears the first tendril of it's symptoms I cringe "Oh yes, I remember this." So reading your description reminded me once again that I am not nuts.
Do you know of any clearing house website for information on the disease, such as where is the most FMS research being done, who are the foremost authorities on the subject?
I don't mind waiting for a cure as long as someone is working to find one. I have this fear that all the doctors have decided that it's all in our heads and therefor doesn't merrit their scientific attention.
Love,
Ruby

A. I know what kind of pain you are talking about.  No one who has not experienced it including doctors don't know how bad it is.

Here is what I take for my Fibromyalgia and within 3 days the horrible pain was gone except for a dull acre like a black and blue mark for a month.  That was over 3 years ago and I have never had a spasm or attack since then and prior to it I was willing to have my whole right leg amputated. I take this religiously every day whether I have a pain, spasm or not.  I am able to order it a www.vitaminshoppe.com and it is not covered by medicade or medicare, but who cares if the pain is gone.  I have  not had to take any kind of pain medication since then. You can scoot all over the web looking for information. I know of no cure coming up soon, but I don't need it since I seem to have cured myself with these herbs. Plus since taking these, the MSM had stopped my arthritic hip and knees from paining me to no end.

DL-Phenylalanine  500 mg

AAngamik  DMG 

MSM  500 mg

5-HTP 100 mg

Malic Acid   600 mg

Q. I bought several bags of peppermint pillows on sale; over the summer they melted to each other; any suggestions on how to unstick the devils to be eaten individually? thanks. Benny.

A. Well Benny,

I think you may have stumped me. My best guess is to take the plastic bag they are in (if not put them in a plastic bag) and whack them on the counter. That should break them apart.

Q. Could you tell me how plant starts from a catus what kind of pot and soil. thank you. Joy

A. Joy,

Q. Do you know where I candy buy candy flavors like apple or cherry or licorice? Thank-you Helen Joe & Helen Castoral Topgunn Guide Service & Lodging 870-867-4086 www.topgunnstriper.com

A. Dear Joe and Helen,

You can try these links. http://www.leeners.com/candymaking.html

these have apple flavoring and red licorice.

ebay has this on auction. but it may be over because the countdown was low. http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Flavor-Oil-Twin-Pack-Two-1-Dram-Bottles_W0QQitemZ270018901321QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.spicesetc.com/category/6 this one is good also.

http://www.thedecoretteshop.com/product2.cfm?CID=27&;SCID=11

Hope this helps you.

Q. from Nita. Where do I report Spam?

A. if the sender is a yahoo person.. go to abuse@yahoo.com

if they are earthlink sender. go to abuse@earthlink.net

here is the fed. govt. site for reporting spam http://www.ftc.gov/spam/

here is some more info http://www.freelabs.com/~whitis/spam_reporting.html

 http://banspam.javawoman.com/report3.html

 http://www.spamcop.net/

 hope this info helps.

Q. From Mae in Philadelphia, N.Y. I brought home a 4" cutting from my daughter's Crepe Myrtle in TN. I planted it and it is now 8" high and thriving. Do I keep repotting it or can I put in into the ground? We get 30 to 40 below zero here in our part of N.Y.

A. You did great so far. However, you can either keep putting it into bigger pots as it outgrows each one or move to a warmer climate because it will not survive the winter in your area should you put it into the ground. 

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime... may your day be filled with... Peace, Light and Love,

Arlene Wright-Correll

(Contact Arlene Wright-Correll email her at askarlene@scrtc.com  

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