Hi everybody, I'm new to this mailing list. My name is Kelly. I'm an organic gardener in VT. I love having my hands in the dirt, but am somewhat of a neophyte...this is only my third year gardening as I am in my late 20s and just beginning to establish my home base. I'm gaining experience with many different veggies...but am still learning alot about others. My question for you is about radishes ...I have a story for you...(you should all get a chuckle from this...lol). ...last summer was my first summer gardening lettuce...I'd had experience with my herb gardens and perennial flowers...but never veggies... so I planted 3 kinds of lettuce...romaine, red oak, green leaf. Up until the 4th of July, they were doing magnificently...I was harvesting so much lettuce, I couldn't eat it fast enough. Then I went away on vacation for a week. The weather was scorching hot in the Northeast...and hence most of my garden was wilted when I returned. The only member of my gardening doing beautifully was my lettuce...I had these brilliant flowers that had sprouted that I had never known lettuce would create...I was so proud. (LOL) Well as you can guess, as I grow and learn, I came to discover that lettuce isn't suppose to flower...lol now I'm having the same trouble with my radishes. They are doing great...growing like weeds...but all of a sudden they have begun sprouting flowers. I keep pinching them off...but there seems to be no end in sight...and as I know that radishes are a root veggie and flowering could take away from the root growth, I'm worried they too are done for the season and I'm not going to be able to harvest them. I need your help!!!! I may have started them too early...seeds were planted mid-may...or may not be cutting them back as I should...I don't know...but you guys seem to be the experts and I thought maybe you could help. p.s. Eggplant makes a wonderful caponata(sp?)...Italian, cold or warm...similar to bruschetta...yummm!!! anyway, hope you can help me...I'm struggling...and I so wanted to have tons of radishes for my partner as he really loves them... well, thanks for all your insight...and I'm really enjoying reading the posts you send... also, Penny, I hope Jim is doing better as well...your short stories of his progress are filled with hope...it's inspiring. take care everyone, thanks again. Kelly from VT. _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail