I have really enjoyed this tread, have never laughed so much. Reminds me of that old acres of diamonds story where a landowner sells his farm to finance his global search for diamonds and ends up broke and homeless while the person who bought his farm discovers that it is awash with millions of dollars of crude oil or something of that effect. The moral of the story may be that many of us are sitting on acres of diamonds so to speak but are so motivated for a geographical change or the pursuit of some elusive but unattainable dream that we do not recognize the treasures that are beneath our very feet or underneath our very nose. reminds me also of the french movie Jean De Florrante, (ca'nt remember exactly how to spell it,) where a man inherits a farm in the countryside of France and kills himself trying to make a living off of it while being sabotaged by his father who is trying to steal the farm away from his son in order to give it to his mentally retarded nephew, because neither father nor son know who each other are until after the death of the son at which time the father discovers that he has killed his true son and has thus ruined his acres of diamonds so to speak. The poster sounds like that they could be a front man for a group of Amish people who quietly buy up thousands of acres of prime farmland that is poised to increase even further in value in the near future, but I doubt it, sounds more like someone from Japan or somewhere representing a bunch of businessmen or something, who knows, but very funny tread. thanks, Barry

My first year growing Brandy boys. I am more than willing to overlook the catfacing and cracking on these lovely beefsteaks. Most have been just under 1b. Tonight's dinner was just shy of the 2lb mark and really hit the spot in terms of flavor and texture. I like them sliced with unrefined sea salt. My daughter ate 1/4 slices like a pizza. This Whopper has been harvested shortly after summer solstice, which may help explain the size. Growing in Israel where climate is similar to zone 10. I like these way better than the famous and excellent sungold cherry tomatoes in the same row. Thin skin, refined flavor and beefy interior.

bevinga For your sake I hope your Whoppers do fine after a while, but mine didn't here in Georgia. Oddly enough, they did great when I lived in NJ, no BER at all. I've seen one open-pollinated variety listed as being "BER-tolerant", or resistant, Manalucie. (You can save the seeds and plant them next year, never have to buy them again!) I haven't tried it yet but will. I've also found Brandy Boy hybrid didn't produce any BER fruit after summer set in, though I had a few in the beginning. Some say you should look for tomatoes recommended by southern growers or developed for southern heat-resistance. In addition, I think it's probably true that the better your soil is mixed with compost and lots of nutrients and mulched, the less problem you might have with BER. The consistency of the water supply probably has a lot to do with it, since BER isn't really a disease but rather a calcium uptake failure in the plant. Consistent moisture seems to enhance or at least not hinder calcium uptake. Anyway, good luck. We all learn about what does best in our local area by trial and error a great deal of the time.

I bought a Lacanche stove via the internet back in 2005, I think, from England, self importing it and dealing with shipping as well. Total cost for the Cluny, Portuguese Blue, including shipping was under $4000. This is actually a very simple stove. It was installed in about 4 minutes, and I have not had any trouble in all these years. My point being, if you know what you want, and you can get significant (emphasis on the significant) savings, and you don't have a "touchy" product, of course you should use the internet. If you anticipate that the appliance will need frequent servicing, perhaps you should re-consider purchasing the product. I'm re-doing my mother's house in a very rural area and will buy a Verona on-line since there don't seem to be any dealers there. On the other hand, there is a somewhat "upscale" appliance dealer within 100 miles which has a service department so in a pinch they could come up to handle it.