OK, I did a better job with my google search the second time around and found that a lot of people leave out the seeds because of the cyanide. So I'll throw out the cores. I think I'll use Carol's advice from another thread and let the juice sit overnight to separate & then put it through a coffee filter. Then I'll make jelly from it like that without dripping, since I don't care whether it's cloudy. Looks like half a batch of what's recommended on the Pomona's package, but that's fine, two jars will be plenty & I have to reprocess three unsealed jars of applesauce anyway. Not sure why those didn't seal, the headspace was fine & they didn't boil out. I did have them wedged into the canner, so maybe the rings were kind of holding up the jars. Melissa

Beans sprout slowly and poorly at 60F soil temputature. They do ok at 65F but I may not get that here until it is too late to plant my longer season beans. To be able to plant on my usual June 1 date, all but runner beans need to be started indoors. I do grow a lot of transplants but there is not enough room for all that I would need. It is also possible to pre-sprout beans and I do that with all the beans to be planted on June 1 except for those grown as transplants. After much experimentation, it appears that soaking overnight for 8 hours will result in a lot of damaged seeds. Most beans are happy with a four soak in a jar with cheese cloth over the opening followed by rinsing and draining several times a day. Many will be sprouting after 36 hours. Those that are not are given a second 4 hour soak and roots will start to appear even during that soak. This works very well for most beans. The white seed Clem and Sarah's Big Bean will not tolerate a 4 hour soak and is best started in soil free seed starting or potting mix. The white seed Brita's Footlong does fine with a four hour soak followed by a 3 hour soak the next day. Other than growing transplants, the most reliable way I have found is to start beans in a similar way to that except that many beans are grown in a single pot or tray. A pot or tray of a soil free mix of peatmoss, vermiculite and perlite can be used to pre-sprout many beans and they will continue to grow in outdoors temperatures in which they would not germinate. One method of sterilizing or at least greatly reducing pathogens on bean seeds is to soak them in 3% hydrogen peroxide for 15 minutes. I plan to try that with some seed this year. - Dick

I planted moon flower seed about three weeks ago and some of them came up grew to about two inches high and turned brown and died before i got a chance to plant them in the ground. the other seeds did not grow at all. what did i do wrong i soaked them and nicked them kept them in the house in the little greenhouse you get from walmart and took the cover off when the leaves touched the top. Should I check the seeds that didn't grow for rot or should I just leave them alone. I think i need to start over with new seeds if i do should i do anything different? I started morning glorys at the same time and they seem to be small and only half of those came up. I live in zone six in CT i don't know if that makes any difference.

Certainly not! You can take your time and space it out over the Winter season if you like. I sow seeds all throughout the Winter. I'll start Winter Sowing my seeds sometime around the very end of December or the beginning of January and I'll keep going right up until the very end of the Winter season. As long as it's still quite chilly at night you can Winter Sow. Trudi