Ursula,
Never did I ever think I would have a garden. When I was a kid I hated to weed it, pick and snap beans, shuck sweet corn, etc. But look at me now, lol!
That is awesome! I always admire people who can make a garden or flower bed from so little space.

I'm late to the party, but just had to stop by and say how great it was to meet you all in person, @azgarden, @dave and @boopaints. It was cool t meet all the great people at DGA, as well. Wonderful group of people, all of you.

It was so interesting to answer questions from the people who sell so many great products. I enjoyed hearing what they wanted to know about our gardening habits and I hope we were helpful to them.

Now, would spring get here already! I have new toys from the bag of gardening goodies...too much fun going through it! I really appreciate such an unexpected surprise.

Becky, please do write that gardening book for kids. Someday I will have grandkids (I hope) and that would be tops on my list to read to them, for sure.

Thanks to you all for making this one of the best days ever!

@droughttolerant It was great meeting you too, Bonnie! Agreed... @boopaints should write that book. It was truly wonderful to meet you and Becky and @dave AND the wonderful & generous DGA members. I'm still in awe of that huge goody bag! Bonnie & Becky ... Can you believe we are going to be back in the 80's by Monday?!

@azgarden Hi Mary!

80s! I can't believe it. I wonder if we're going to have one of those it's hot, it's cold, it's hot, it's cold, it's cold, it's hot springs we have sometimes. Great for winter sowing, that's for sure! Of course, you have to have *actually* done some winter sowing. I'm behind on almost everything gardening and otherwise. Family and Friends decided it's time to visit in an almost constant stream since the middle of January. The weeds seem to know I'm busy. They are having a party out there! Little do they know, I have a cobra or two now!

@droughttolerant..I hear you Bonnie! Loving the cobra, too! Now I think my husband wants the long handled version. Hmmm..great Valentine gift for him! I'm still just enjoying thinking of the great afternoon we had with DGA. A truly nice bunch of people. REAL human people behind the companies we all love! Thanks again @dave for including us

CRAAZZZZY weather here in Phoenix this year, that's for sure. Mary! It was such a cold-for us winter. I actually used my heat more this year than I have in the last 4 years combined.

Becky. We have had to use our heat too. Sounds funny to people in other parts of the country. Today was wonderful...did not need to wear sweats!

Well -- of course you need heat when the temp gets to a certain point! I'm just really happy that our heating costs are much lower this year than normal

It's so strange to hear that you're having to use your heater more and here, in the midwest, we're all raving about how unseasonably warm this winter has been! I've had to use my heater LESS than any of the last four years. Lovin' it! Thanks for passing us the 'heat' for a year.

I just found this thread, but that's awesome that you guys got to meet Dave and Trish! That's exciting!

As for Oakes sponsoring the daylily section of the site...what exactly does 'sponsoring' entail? What will that mean for the site?

Not me, unfortunatly, just Dave
I stayed home to hold down the fort- virtual and physical!

As for what it meas to sponsor the site- ATP runs entirely off of ad revenue- we do not charge our members a fee. However, if ATP is to be around, we (Dave and I) have to have an income We generate revenue via advertising. Usually, we use Google Ad Sense, but we are moving toward company direct advertising. We have always loved hooking our favorite gardeners up with our favorite gardening companies- win/win for everyone

Trish said:Not me, unfortunatly, just Dave

Aw, bummer. Do you go to many conventions?

Trish said:
I stayed home to hold down the fort- virtual and physical!

You did a great job, ATP stayed put!
In all seriousness, though, I completely understand. With so much going on, it must be tough to just pick up and go somewhere for a day.

Trish said:
As for what it meas to sponsor the site- ATP runs entirely off of ad revenue- we do not charge our members a fee. However, if ATP is to be around, we (Dave and I) have to have an income We generate revenue via advertising. Usually, we use Google Ad Sense, but we are moving toward company direct advertising. We have always loved hooking our favorite gardeners up with our favorite gardening companies- win/win for everyone

Thank you for the explanation! I have always wondered how the site pays for itself and I have seen the ads and, of course, knew that must generate some amount of revenue to keep the site going, but I didn't know if that was the primary source. It appears Victory Seeds sponsors...tomatoes? Is that right? I'm not sure if I've run across other sponsors, though...not yet, anyway.

Wish we could have met Trish!

The next time -- Dave should stay home and let Trish go!

(Just don't leave us here on our own... who knows WHAT could happen )

This is one of the few sites where I have my AdBlocker disabled. And I do click on some of the ads occasionally. They aren't objectionable and sometimes they're even useful.

Dave and I have a pretty set-in-stone areas of responsibilities. I do my set every day, and he does his.
Thankfully, he doesn't ask me to go code ATP, and in return, I don't ask him to homeschool 5 children and take care of 2 toddlers.
We're both happy with that arrangement!

When he's not here, the older children and I split up with farm chores, and that works out great.

So, I'm happy to let him attend the conferences, although I do visit around Texas when it works out.

I use ad sense on my website too and we have ours G-rated. Some of the things are odd (toenail fungus etc) but no different from what you'd see in a real life magazine.

Would have loved to meet Trish too.

It would have been great to meet you too, Becky!
Who knows what the future will bring?

Hi Trish! It would have been great to meet you, but thank you for keeping the site going while Dave was here. You guys do such an awesome job with ATP. There is just no comparison to it anywhere online or off!

Bonnie
ATP!