I live in the North-East Bronx, just South of Westchester, NY, and I find that most of the local nurseries, garden centers, and Home Depots/Lowes etc. suck, if you're trying to find anything that approaches an "exotic" ingredient for making Al's growing medium. None stock Turface-MVP, and they never heard of it. I've been to them all, and haven't found anything that could be called "pine-bark fines"...just shredded mulches....that will mat down, and clog the mix. After you factor in the cost of gas, your personal time, phone bills, cost of the products, time used to screen out unwanted materials -which doubles the cost, if 50% is wasted- the mix becomes very expensive. I can't be bothered hunting down all the ingredients anymore. I cut my losses. I just buy premium grade Repti-Bark at the local Pet-Co/Pet-Smart, a 20 lb. bag of aquarium grit, and a bag of Turface-MVP, and make the mix. NAPA Auto has oil-dry compound that can sub for the Turface. Some of the bark nuggets are too large, but, what the hay. Most of it is usable out of the bag. Hit the big pieces with a hammer. Yes, there are cheaper alternatives for the ingredients that I have mentioned, especially the Repti-Bark, but I'm not driving all over the state just to collect the ingredients that I need. Re-read the 2nd paragraph. Just my two-cents worth. The mix is great,...if you could find what you need, EASILY. My Clivia love the stuff, and you can not over-water plants! No PWT either! Frank PS....When the bark breaks down, just wash out the residue, and re-cycle the Turface-MVP, and the grit. Use new bark chunks, and you're good to go. Just the bark-fines break down.

Thanks for getting the joke, gardengal. It was a pleasure to demonstrate that I can troll my own response better than anyone else can. Of course Sequoiadendron is much hardier. But the problem is it is also much more suspectible to disease caused by our muggy summer conditions. If you were to blend the Mason-Dixon line with the new USDA zn 6/zn 7 line, you would get an approximation of the east coast boundary between areas where Sequoia (coastal redwood) and Sequoiadendron could be grown on the east coast. Sequoia south of it, obviously, and Sequoiadendron north of it. Even north of the Mason-Dixon line, the several Sequoiadendron at zn 7 Planting Fields arboretum looked pretty bad. OTOH I'm pretty sure I saw one at a garden in Carlisle, PA, zn 6, that looked reasonably well. Nights there are probably a wee bit cooler, and I suspect you could grow them all the way down to Georgia on the highest mountain tops that stay in the 50s at night. Go too far north though, even zn 7 is still going to be too cold for Sequoias. One supposes that the Polly Hill arboretum, for example, has tried them and they aren't on the plant list for a reason. (still meaning to email them about strange tales of a monkey puzzle that dies back in some years yet persists)

Sounds like a great trip - we are likely do the same trip this year. My concern is keeping DH entertained. Two of our boys live there. DS3 has lived on Mulberry St going on 1.5 yrs - it is a wonderful neighborhood no matter what time of year. He was on 58th for 2 yrs, next door to One Columbus and a block down from the Hudson (fun to look at, have a drink, not my taste to stay there). DS1 moved there 1.5 yrs ago - first year .3 mi east from brother on 58th (midtown and near shopping) and now in Hells Kitchen (Lots and lots of restaurants). That is the west of the Times Sq area. I encourage you to find maps on line or Barnes and Noble and look at the neighborhoods. It might influence where you stay. I sometimes stay with the boys, sometimes in hotels very near where they live. (found on line) I would also plan some alternative activities....the weather may impact what you do. Also google places and print them out - it will help you get organized and recognize it. An fyi - Top of the Rock and Empire St Bldg viewing areas are COLD and windy, no matter what time of year, I did Empire in Feb, ....we were almost the only ones there and could only be in the outdoors for a minute or two without warming up inside. Worth doing, but do dress for it. Top of the Rock was freezing in August. Street food is fun in midtown around Rock Ctr - DS1 works in 50 Rock and knows which are the best carts, I can never remember but skip the ones that don't have a big line. Funny though, DS3 won't touch street food....his loss. A few things that haven't been brought up: The Campbell Apt in Grand Central Station. Go for a drink...look it up on line - very historic, most tourists would not find it. Grand Central Station is interesting even if you don�t find the Apt. Eataly on 5th, amazingly fun - google it. La Crepe at 51 Spring in Nolita (DS3 in between Prince and Spring on Mulberry) - OMG good. Last summer I happened upon NY Cake at 56 w 22nd, the most amazing store for baking supplies - it is overwhelming....very fun store. And it was chance I found it, I was trying to get to Home Depot that is a block up, Yes there is a HD in Manhattan ... they just dont cut wood - they cant handle the dust). Go through the Time Warner Center shopping and check out the huge Whole Foods downstairs, fun for lunch just for the experience. (Columbus Circle - 59th st) From there walk up to Lincoln Center - host to so many events - including Fashion Week shows. There is a cute place called Rice to Riches down in the Mulberry - Nolita area - a block from La Crepe that is only Rice Pudding....about 20 flavors, all delicious, fun containers....I was in there once and had just ordered when a tour guide actually brought a huge group in there to see it. In Flatiron, try L.A. Burdick, the most amazing Hot Chocolate ever.. you could hit art galleries in Chelsea then have dessert.it is at 5 E 20th. Great on a cold day. Fun store for house wares: Gracious Home up in the Lincoln Center area. Also not to be missed: ABC Carpet and Home at 888 and 881 Broadway at E 19th - a wonderful old building and 10 floors of wonderful / interesting things to look at....it has been in business since 1897. I have seen it mentioned on this site from time to time. The Apple store on 5th (near the opposite side of the park - maybe 60th and 5th) might be hit with your kids - it is a big clear cube and you go down to shop. Thinking of engineering and architecture, one interesting thing about NYC is that it is so old and yet they adapt through the times and generations - stores that have small store fronts easily has three huge floors all underground. I live in SoCal and don't go anywhere with my car here....in NYC I ONLY take cabs....if I am with the DSs I will do the trains but give me a cab anytime. DS3 is a cab taker too..faster, easier, you see the lay of the land. I can and do the subway to get anywhere (except going to /from the airport) in London but I find the NY subways dark with not great signage and harder to figure out. I also walk and walk and walk and walk. Keep your eyes open when you are there, you never know who you will see! Yellow cabs are a good thing, pass on the Black Cars - not subject to the same regulations. Just get out there and wave one down - the lights on the top of the cab will indicate if they are on duty (or not). You will feel like a native! Sorry to be so wordy, and easily with nothing you are interested in ..... seems I am in a NY state of mind.......

KLI_6B: Also brandywine plants were huge and I want a smaller productive type if possible. The average tomato plant is very large. It's quite normal for tomato plants to get to be 8-10 feet tall. Don't believe the puny "tomato cages" you see online and in big box stores--most experienced tomato growers use those for eggplants or peppers. Unless you are specifically growing compact varieties, you should be prepared to offer at least 6 feet of support structure for a tomato (when the plant gets taller than that, you can let it drape over back down toward the ground). Compact varieties exist, but many are determinate (this means all of your fruit will form and ripen all at once, and then your plant is done--no more tomatoes after that) or not as productive. And even plants that are supposed to be compact can surprise you over a long growing season. IMO it's better to just prepare adequate support. There are also "dwarf" varieties (2 feet to 4 or 5 feet tall) that are indeterminate (keep producing fruit gradually all season), but they will not be nearly as productive. I think you can fit 3 plants in that bed without ending up with overcrowding issues that lead to disease and general frustration. If you select some good hybrids, you should have plenty of tomatoes for fresh eating. You probably can't go wrong with Big Beef F1 - large, beefsteak-style slicers with very decent taste, good for sandwiches Juliet F1 - saladette (larger than a cherry tomato) size plum shaped tomatoes, meaty but still tasty for fresh eating, good taste, good for salads, snacking, cooking Mountain Magic F1 - saladette globes, excellent taste for a hybrid, good for salads, cooking, snacking, etc. Sungold F1 - orange cherry tomato, very sweet and fruity, excellent for salads and snacks (F1 = hybrid. Some people sell "open pollinated" versions of these, but they are usually inferior in taste and production) In your situation, I would personally plant a Big Beef, a Sungold, and choose between the MM and Juliet depending on which shape I prefer. The nice thing about these varieties is that you can usually find plants for them at big box garden stores, so if you're not really sure about starting plants from seed, you can purchase transplants. They also have some disease resistance bred in. It sounds like you're growing tomatoes year after year in the same bed, which means you need to select varieties with soil disease resistance. Sungold is the least disease resistant of these, but if you like cherry tomatoes, they are among the best tasting and routinely show up on lists of people's favorite tomatoes. KLI_6B: 1st have decent crop (at least for me). I was happy I harvested home grown tomato. But this year, there were blossoms, but only few tomatoes actually formed. May be it was weather and may be it was something else. 1) Did you grow from seed or transplants? 2) How often did you fertilize and what kind of fertilizer did you use? 3) What is your watering routine? 4) What is the date you planting out (planting transplants out in your bed)?