" My biggest problems are blossom end rot, sunscald, vines withering, and tomatoes rotting before they ripen. " **** It seems to me that you need to make some diagnoses first in order to understand what's going on. And having grown over 2000 different varieties, most of them by sprawling, I can't see that any of the above would be directly related to how you grow your tomatoes. I have quite a few friends in S Cal and they also grown theirs by sprawling as long as they don't have a Root Knot Nematode or Fusarium problem in their soil. Questions to ask are whether the wilted plants are wilting due to lack of water or due to systemic diseases such as RKN's or Fusarium, which are a problem for lots of folks in s Cal. Or are you dealing with the more common folaige diseases that can be found almost everywhere. The latter are not usually associated with wilting, though. Are the rottinmg fruits only those fruiits that make contact with the soil? Or are the plants so close together and humidity high from irrigation that the fungi and bacteria known to infect fruits under those conditions are the problem. Sunscald is usually due to lack of adequate foliage cover and/or exposure of fruits after harvest has started and rearrangement of the vines. BER is a complex physiological problem with many variables and right now there's lots of other issues to attack, but you might read the article on BER in the FAQ at the top of this first page. Finally, and I think the most important, is when you're growing your tomatoes. Almost all my S Cal friends grow two crops a year b'c trying to keep plants going thru the hot summer and get decent fruit set is not a good idea. So growing two crops a year I think you might consider. Hope that helps. Carolyn

Just last year my Step-father bought a $300 Harmony all in one remote for his entertainment toys. The battery died and he went to buy a new one at Future Shop and Best Buy and they don't sell that model or battery anymore!!! If you will Google Battery for xxxx (insert brand and model # in place of the xxxx) you may very well be able to find a replacement battery. On my cell phone I did that and found a battery supplier (Ebay) that sold the batteries for just $1. Another time I got one for a neighbor and it was just $5, probably still cheaper than buying the original equipment cell phone battery. Sue

Ok, first off, thank you all for the advice and your thoughts on the matter. I think I may need to explain myself a little bit better than I did in my original post. My brain was still in hyper drive as all of this had just happened when I first posted, which is why my original post was a little scattered at best. Firstly, this is MY mother, sister and brother in law that I am having issues with, not ex-in-laws, they surprisingly have no problems with the way in which I raise either of my children. Secondly, my fiancee DOES NOT discipline my children on his own. What he does is help me to enforce any discipline that I have given the boys. He really makes sure that if I tell the boys they are grounded that I stick to it, and sometimes he is the one who talks me into shortening the grounding or calling it off all together depending on the circumstances. Thirdly, in the past I have been financially dependant upon my family. They have paid utility bills, bought groceries, and basically supported myself and my children at various times through the years. I think the reason that I mentioned that my fiancee is the bread winner of our household now, was just to possibly make the point that financially I am not dependant upon them any longer. My fiancee and I share the financial responsibilities of our household, he just makes a little more money than I do. I am not "afraid of loosing my bread winner" as one comment pointed out, and I am in no way "swapping my children for the light bill". My boys are very accepting of my fiancee and respect him. He cares for them and makes sacrifices to make sure that WE can provide them with what is needed. He is not there only for the bills he can pay or rules he can help enforce. Believe me...I've been with someone before who could have cared less if the boys had a stitch of clothing on their backs as long as he had what he wanted. My fiancee is the absolute oppisite of that. He would give his last breath for the boys if that is what it took. He is committed to me and my children. And the last point I would like to clarify is these are not new punishments or new rules because of my fiancee. I have tried and tried in the past to put these rules into action with my children to no avail. Mostly because I knew if I were to try and put my foot down with my family it would cause a major uproar. But the difference between then and now is now I have the support in the home that I need to make sure things get done and not just someone who throws their hands up with a "it's your kids and your family you deal with it and leave me out of it" which is what my ex was like. My mother is of the opinion that it is absurd to ask a 12 year old to do the dinner dishes, clean his room and take out the trash or to ask an 8 year old to clean his room, vaccuum the living room carpet and dust the 3 tables in the living room. I was not raised having chores or consequences for not doing as I was told, I was however spanked for talking back or not minding. So as an adult when I moved out on my own, I had no clue how to properly care for a home. When I was younger mother may have told me to clean my room, but I rarely did because I knew if I didn't do it eventually she would and I could go about my business of playing. I do not want my children to grow up not knowing how to do simple household tasks. Yes they suck, no one likes to do dishes or vaccuum or dust but they are all things that have to be done for the home to look nice and run smoothly. The boys know both the rules and consequences well before hand. But they've in the past been able to whine and sulk their way out of punishments. I do try to follow through with things and not just threaten. Consistancy has always been a problem for me, mainly because even if I did ground the children and still let them go to their grandmothers or on a trip with Auntie and Uncle once out of my sight my family let them do as they please. And yes, my family is has threatened legal action. The words came out of my sisters mouth as "if things don't go back to like they were (they would get the boys whenever with little to no notice by telling me they were doing something with them instead of asking me if they could) We'll make sure that you don't have the boys anymore and we'll do it through the courts" My sister has money and believes that will get her whatever or whomever she wants. She loves to throw my past mistakes in my face, she refuses to see that I have changed drastically over the years because I will forever be the "baby" to everyone in my family. She has even told me that I have to respect her because SHE is an adult. Guess at 34 I'm still not an adult yet. lol

I am so sorry that you went through all that, and sorry that others did as well. It is a shame that you arenâÂÂt getting your money back, but that is why I am going to say what follows here. I donâÂÂt see any benefit in jail time for this. She will cost the state money while she is imprisoned, and will likely not get that much time if this is a first conviction over unordered furniture. YOu and I would see time in jail as a horrible situation. For her, it might be a small price to pay for a short time, until she is free to cheat people again. What I would rather see is that she would have a judgement against her for whatever amount she has stolen, and be in a probation position which required that a certain percentage of any income she would have, either her own or her share of joint income from her spouse, would be paid directly to the state for restitution to you and others. This would include any inheritance, lottery winnings, investment income she has. That probation status would also require that she be reporting and show where she is living,and working. The reason? Because I firmly believe that the character flaws that permitted her to pull this in the first place wonâÂÂt be changed by jail time, but her deception skills and anger will likely increase. There is NOTHING to keep her from pulling the same crap once she is out. Yes, probation costs the state money as well, but nothing compared to housing an inmate, imo. And if she and her DH donâÂÂt work to avoid paying the judgement? The judgement never goes away, and she lives with no income at all.