I'm about to buy my first greenhouse; one I seen at the Pensacola Jr. College spring garden show in Milton Florida. It's certified to meet Florida wind codes (which was important to me since we've been hit by two hurricanes and two tropical storms in less than a year. It's metal frame construction, with UV protected double wall polycarbonate, a bench all the way around, thermostatic fan, wired for electricity with wiring inside metal conduit with receptacles and overhead light, overhead rails on both sides for hanging baskets, shade cloth on one side attached to curtain rings that can be pulled aside, all for $3300. There's a $180 fee for delivery, set up and tie down. You can put it on a gravel, brick or concrete floor or they will build you a pressure treated floor for $2.50/sf. The builder and his wife are both master gardeners and members of the local garden club. They've been working and improving the design for a couple of years now. I'm really impressed, don't know about you. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll give you their phone number and/or directions.

Wow, here goes. The hard part is separating the value of tangible benefits like veggies from intangible benefits like enjoyment, relaxation, therapy and aesthetics. I am 70 years young so I cannot spread the cost of recent purchases for a very long time but assume a young man/woman starting from scratch. If you buy good quality equipment it will last you a very long time, like the pitchfork I am still using that was my great grandfathers. If you buy quality tools, you should be able to distribute the cost over 20 Â 30 years. In addition, most gardening tools are duel purpose tools used for general landscaping. Some will say how about the value of your time; you cannot count the value of your time unless you plan to get a second job with that time. The cost of my conversion to RBGing including irrigation was about $650 for another $100 I could buy all new hand tools for gardening. Therefore, my annual cost for the hardscape and hardware would be $25 - $35 per year. I save some seeds from year to year and the seed packs I buy will last for at least two years. If that would bump my annual cost to $50 per year I am still ahead because last year I got 70# winter squads, 35# potatoes, about 100# tomatoes, about 100# of cucumbers and zucchini combined and about 40# of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage combined. Even when I give most of it away, I know I am $$$ ahead. John

The Pleasures of Cross Stitch, Stitchery and Crafts (Weaving, appliqueing, knitting, paper designs, mosaics, bazaar ideas) Please check for other items on Garden Exchange. Make me an offer - I'm not hard to please, GA

Weedyacres, thanks so much for this helpful tip; I may give it a try. It appears, however, that I may be searching for information that doesn't exist. Looking back through other issues that year, I couldn't find one instance where they listed the type of hardwood flooring in the Resources section. Appreciate your time and effort, though.