Keith.... Interesting...." 17 years old"....Have you grown this plant from a smaller, seedling plant over the last 17 years, or did you just recently get this plant, that happens to be, 17 years old? I will assume that you have been growing this plant for the last 17 years. A few questions: Has the plant changed much in the 17 years, other than putting on bulk, and the bubble-roots. The main stem looks like it was radically chopped-back in the recent past. Did you give the plant the chop? Is this F-B a fast grower? Thanks for the picture. Frank

I left about 1/2" (maybe slightly more, but not below the bottom thread) for Annie's Salsa, and I forget what Ellie Topp's Tomato Basil sauce was but I followed the recipe on that. It's just a shock to take rings off jelly jars or pickles and find the liquid just above the bottom lip, or even lower, just barely hidden by the ring, when I know I filled them to somewhere in between that and the top thread (1/4" plus or minus 1/8")! Applesauce seems not to have increased (or that much) headspace, but the headspace isn't clear, you can see where it's boiled up. I'd have to really look at apple butter I have left - I don't remember off the top of my head how much headspace is left, but both apple products and tomato products boil up and leave residue in the headspace. Pickling spices get left up there too, and pickling liquid is reduced so headspace is almost doubled. Since even the jars I have measured dead-on have increased headspace (not quite double, for example I leave 1/4" for jelly and then later it ends up just at the bottom thread which is almost 1/2") after processing, and I'm careful about the rings and such, the only thing I can think of is that the pressure/temperature is varying? Is this a problem with glass-top ranges? I've only had 1 jar (apple butter) come unsealed (within a week) so it seems vacuum is OK, but I don't really like having pickles sticking up above the brine, residue in the headspace area on apple & tomato products, and just lots of empty space at the tops of jelly jars.

Wow, it's really moving along!!! So excited for you. I cannot wait to see the beadboard painted the jadeite color. :-)))) So regarding the sink skirt, it looks like you have a middle style (or whatever that is called) between the two doors. If you remove the doors, you could probably put tiny tension rods between the sides and that middle piece. Or you could put the velcro strip behind the top rail so it goes completely behind that middle piece of wood. Either way I think it should keep the curtain fabric contained somewhat, huh? Let me see if I can find a picture and I'll post it in your other thread.

Congrats on the new home! It is definitely looking better with your current work. Here are some random thoughts that occurred to me while looking at your various photos. I'm interested in seeing the photos Yardvaark requested, and also one that clearly shows the entrance from the sidewalk, when standing directly out from the door. I am another who wouldn't paint the brick since it involves increased maintenance, especially since you have chosen low-maintenance hardie board siding, but you are the one who will have to deal with it. However, I would wait to do this until you have worked out a planting scheme since it may turn out that the current brick color makes a better backdrop for the plants than the light color. Once you have a plan, then if you still feel it will look best, you can do the whitewash before actually doing the plantings. As others have said, I think one of your biggest challenges will be to find a way to make your almost hidden entrance easily seen by visitors. So you will need to keep that in mind with whatever you decide to do with landscaping. For instance, planting an evergreen at the left house corner may hinder the visibility of the entrance from some angles. IME, planting along the driveway edge won't prevent folks from driving off the edge, it will just mean that your plants get driven on. It also presents an issue with where folks walk when they get out of the car; if you have plantings lining the drive, and the cars fill the drive, there isn't anywhere to walk, so grass or a walkway from the street to the door might be your best choice for the driveway edge. Soaker hoses on a timer or with you turning them on as needed will help with keeping things watered. Since they go under the mulch, they won't be visible. Getting the timing right will need to be worked out based on what you plant and your soil, but here (with similar rainfall) I usually don't need to do much if any watering on established, mulched gardens. Rather than just getting plant ideas on line, go to the Chicago Botanic Garden, which is world class and grows research plots specifically to figure out what plants grow well and look good (disease free, etc.) in your area. Go often, like every 2 weeks so you can see what looks good at different times of year. Take photos of plants and their labels so you know what to look for when you have a plan. As for the mulch and paver edging dilemma, I might just add a light layer of a mulch color you like for now, with perhaps some annuals for color, either in the ground or in large pots. Your ultimate plan may have a bed that looks quite different, and once you have a plan of what the planting area will look like and what types of planting and hardscape changes you will plan to make, then you can remove mulch and edging. It just seems a bit of a waste of your time and energy to do much with this area for now. Early fall is a great time to plant, so if you don't get things planned and planted this spring, you can do prep this summer once the plan is in place and plant in September. The annuals will add interest for the summer so it doesn't look so stark.