I have a set up similar to Zenmans (though MY basement is nowhere near so neat! impressive!). About six weeks before my last frost date, I start taking cuttings of salvias, tibouchina, durantas, and a few other plants that I want to overwinter. I do it as much because I cannot count on finding new plants every year as for the purpose of saving money. I start the cuttings outside under my deck benches and only bring them inside to the lights when the plants begin to show damage from cold. (It doesn't even have to frost for some things like durantas to be stressed.) I spent $10 a set for shop lights, not counting the bulbs, and bought inexpensive plastic shelving. The shelves and light units are each long enough to hold two flats. Be sure your shelves have slats or are open in some way because you want to hang the lights from chains. Using S hooks, you can then raise and lower the shoplights over your plants. (You'll want extra S hooks.) You'll notice from ZM's photo that he has his plants in trays. This prevents runoff onto the light units below. I bought cheap cookie sheets at WalMart and filled them with a layer of gravel. My basement floor has a drain in it, which is really handy. I just drag a hose into the basement once a week to water and/or feed. I learned fast that once a week water is plenty. And that regular fertilizer is very important. The cuttings are joined in late winter by seeds that I start for my beds. In my climate, if you want color in July and August, you need annuals. With advice from fellow GWers, I have gotten pretty good at the seed thing in just a couple years. Once you get your shelves set up, it's not especially time consuming to care for your babies and it's nice to have plants to work with through the winter.

Despite the original posters overly extensive post, with certain questionable content, the central point is still quite vaild. We as a nation spend more money on grass than on any other crop. That by itself should be reason enough. Read up on the history of lawns and you'll find that they were orginally created as a means of demonstrating wealth (aka, I have this big area and I can afford to do nothing with it except grow grass I can't eat) Regarding the comments of junegem13 and zachslc, you might want to read up on the legal history of this movement. As it turns out, most weed laws (ones based on hight, not on noxious weeds) are unconstitutional. Nonetheless, if you are in a city or subdivision and decide to do a wildflower meadow where there is not an reasonable ordinance, then you should notify your neighbors and the city about why you are doing and the legal preceedants. The EPA has all this information. Regarding property values, that was the original complaint neighbors made against one landowner when she converted her lawn into meadow. When they were unable to demonstrate an actual decrease in property values, the city ordinance was ruled unconstitutional. Afterwards, the neighbors decided if they couldn't beat her that they'd join her and replace their own yards with meadows. Property values in that one neighborhood are now some of the highest in the city (Specific names and places, are available if you want them). Time and time again, lawn alternatives done correctly have shown to raise values, not lower them. In Charlottesville, VA local government is working on an ammendment to exclude native meadows from our weed ordinance. Other cities are doing the same very quicky, especially since the weed ordinance as written by many localites constitutes a legal liability to local governments.

Food aversion early in pregnancy is not abnormal. The main problem you face is your milk supply decreasing. You might eat foods rich in B vitamins - as well as the usual green leafy veggies, nutritional yeast flakes are very good - if you can tolerate them. Sprinkled on buttered popcorn it will give you a high calorie nutritious snack. Nuts and seeds are also good things to snack on. Eat small amount often. Have fresh veggies prepared in the frig and snack on them. Try to eat small amounts of protein frequently. Make hardcooked eggs and keep in the frig. Cook extra chicken for meals and have leftovers available so there's always something in the frig to eat. Make fruit smoothies with yogurt or even ice cream. Drink a small cup of broth or soup. Taking nutritious liquids (other than Ensure) frequently in small amounts will add up. Are there any foods at all that appeal to you? Perhaps try some new items you seldom eat or add different herbs or condiments to foods for a new flavor. I hope you are not overwhelmed with the idea of this new pregnancy. Do you have an understanding person to discuss this pregnancy with? All the best to you and do enjoy this time with your 2 year old.

In the mid-20th century, most middle class people retired on a company pension plus soc sec and lived happily ever after without much of a worry about the stock market because the managers of their pension fund assumed all the risk. They just collected their pensions. Sure, they were on fixed income which loses purchasing power after a while, but the retirees typically died before inflation eroded their pensions to the point they could not live off them, or their families would step in to help. THEN, starting around the latter half of the 20th century, there was a gradual shift toward making the retiree assume more and more of the risk in the stock market. Defined benefit pension plans are being phased out in favor of 401K plans - so YOU have to manage the thing, and if you get it wrong, YOU suffer the consequences. These gradual but sweeping changes took place for several reasons -- (1) we're living longer, which is mostly good but can be bad; (2) the baby boomer generation -- a lot more retirees; (3) a shift in political-economic philosophy in the past 25-30 years toward the Right, which emphasizes low, low taxes and individual responsibility, and plays down the responsibility of employers for its employees. Witness Labor's loss of political clout in recent decades, the tremendous wave of Outsourcing, and related trends. Fewer and fewer people work for the same company all or most of their working lives. It is quite possible that the trends of the past few decades have reached their maximum and we may be on the cusp of a shift back to placing priority on the public interest first, instead of the public interest benefiting only from the corporate trickle down. We shall see.