You don't need 'ammunition' talk to the store manager about this issue. Just pick up the phone or speak to him/her when you are in the store and ask them to give you some information on their new product. Come right out and ask about the product's legitimacy since you think it's home-canned. Believe me, no store want's their customers worried about food safety, and they usually bend over backward to put a damper on any question about it. I am also from Ohio and many of our markets carry specialty products now from smaller, local producers. I like that trend, myself. They are as you said, often jarred to look home canned, on purpose because it implies it's as good as home canned. If you are not convinced after talking to the manager, do as the previous poster says and call your health department. In my state, there are products truely home canned, but it requires a license to do it and they're inspected like any other facility.

Hi Mike, Just a reminder, in the nursery industry plastic pots are classified as "hot" and clay pots as "cool". Foliage and plants in general coming from hot and humid climates seem to do very well in plastic. But in an already hot and humid climate, plants that originate in cool and/or Mediterranean climates prefer by far clay, since it allows for a much better breathing of the root system, prevents root rot and promotes blooming. If your hydrangeas have been doing relatively well in plastic, try clay and you'll see the difference. This is common practice among commercial growers who need to minimize health problems while promoting quick blooming for quick crop turnover. The longer they take to bloom, the least revenue they generate...Even in cool countries like France and Belgium clay pots is most often the choice for blooming potted plants(Hydrangeas, Azalea Indica, Bougainvilleas, etc...).

Last week at a local appliance store: While I was looking at an Electolux ICON and a Wolf, a sales person basically dismissed the ICON and told me that Wolf was the only way to go . . . no real information just a baseless opinion as he didn't ask me ONE SINGLE QUESTION regarding my needs or budget. I walk over to another area and another sales person is telling a customer that KA is the only way to go as there are discounts and Wolf is just a name and overpriced at that! So, note to self: "listen (just a little bit) and verify". I don't know about other people but I have noticed the lack of knowledgeable sales people in many retail settings: bike shops, book stores, beauty supply stores . . . well, just about any speciality store. It used to really frustrate me to go into a bike store for a component and I knew more about the part than anyone on the sales floor (including shop owners) and often bad or incomplete information was given instead of "I don't know but let me check for you". Now I operate with the assumption that the sales people do not know anything or what is being conveyed is incorrect. I do as much research as possible to be informed. Then if there is a local shop I will buy from them because any service issues can be resolved buy them. Kinda hard to have my bike repaired by the e-store in Minnesota! So, do your research. Talk to friends and neighbors. Ask questions. Use GW. Then arrive at your very own well-informed decision and buy it local (if you choose).

I don't have any ideas on the attic but thought the "ladder to "no where "was interesting. Long ago I was in a couple of "Underground railroad" houses. 1 had false wall upstairs. GF asked if I noticed anything strange about her closet. I sure did, you never put molding in all around the back wall, I slid my hand down the edge & the wall opened to show a passageway. Papers in basement told about how scared the family was as soldiers were hanging out at their home while black folks were in the passage. Gf wanted to know how I knew right off. My dad built all of our houses so he taught me as we went along. I often held flashlight or light on end of cord, until I was old enough to hammer! Other house is why I'm curious. It had a birdbath out in yard,nice perennials around the base & large yard. Lovely large old house with wrap around porch, I loved it. Then 1 day we were in basement & I looked at walls & wondered why they were such a mess. GF told me good reason,stone in 1 area, brick in another, old dark stone,didn't match up with rest of house. The pretty stone part had a little latch & you could open a door that was so silent & moved so easy I couldn't believe it. inside was where her mom used to store canned goods but no longer did as the sod & timber roof didn't seem that "safe" any more to her dad. As you looked down that tunnel it was an optical illusion as it seemed to be a straight tunnel it was not. It went off to the right & then if you were to go in there it came back to the left thereby hiding many people even though they had found the door & tunnel they could go out birdbath opening & try to run. I knew at 1 time how many people you could hid in there. It was about 4 ft wide or maybe wider. You have all seen coal mines. It was supported by these old timbers with some cross pieces. I tried to figure out how the illusion worked, my dad showed me but that was 50 yrs ago so have no idea but builder was smart. So sapphire, you could have a strange assortment of walls in your basement. The latch was very close to the bottom within a ft. of the floor & I think the workings were all brass. Also no one would talk about it in town & people that had these houses kept quiet. I told dad & he told me never to talk about it I while I lived there. The houses were couple of miles apart. Could have been lots of houses around then or maybe just those, would have to do lot of research & if owner found papers in basement & didn't like what he saw might have destroyed them. So some warm summer night you might want to do a close inspection of your basement. Or the ladder to no where could be ladder to go up with hooks off to side to hang bikes or something on to get them out of way!! Enjoyed this thread!!