Mike, Don't feel bad at all. She's looking for unvarnished opinions, which is what anyone thinking of starting a small business/consultancy needs. And Leekle, I think you're right that more and more people are moving to natives. Hate to invoke my screen name (chosen years ago) here, but people are also interested in growing food crops. I grow some each winter down here in Miami. And honestly, I'd pay extra to someone who would sell me heirloom tomato plants that are tried and true in Miami. I usually try to start mine from seed, which is easy and has yielded great results in the past. It has also been a complete failure (all seedlings died this year when I had to go away for a weekend while they were little.) So my tomato garden this year was what I could buy at HD. If you had been in my area and had plants ready to put in the ground in early October, plants that were better suited to my conditions than anything HD had to offer, I would have bought them. I would be happy to pay more than HD charges for tomato plants if I could get organically raised Arkansas Traveler, Margo, Sungold or Green Zebra. They grow well here. But that whole seedling phase is difficult for me to do well because I work more than full time and I sometimes have to travel. I've wished there was a way for me to start a tiny business for folks who are physically disabled but have a sunny porch and are able to tend seedlings. The seeds are so cheap, the dirt doesn't cost much, the pots can be recycled things like cut-up soda or water bottles. And it doesn't require heavy lifting. It would require heavy lifting to upscale it, but, like any small business, you could start small. Then there might be opportunities to raise native seedlings in the off-season. I know there are folks here who would share cuttings and seeds with you. Heck, I'll send you tomato seeds from varieties that I tried but don't work well here. They might work better where you are. Good luck. Susannah

logic wrote: "dreamgarden, great article....brings a whole new meaning to "what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive".... And there you have it in a nutshell. However, I can see why it is more comforting for all too many to simply blame the lowly homebuyer....as one can then continue to remain in denial that of the fact that in essence, our entire finance system is one HUGE scam. Thanks. The more I read about the subprime mess, the more I realize what a "shell game" the bigger interests are playing with everyone's money. Even UK chancellor Alistair Darling has joined growing calls for a probe into the role that credit agencies have played in the world financial crisis. Darling censures rating agencies news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/6995699.stm Its too bad the U.S. didn't follow Canada's example for insuring mortgages. "All high-ratio mortgages in Canada Ñ those with less than 20 per cent down Ñ must be secured by mortgage insurance, through, for example, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. In addition, Canadian financial institutions do not finance more than 100 per cent of a home's purchase price, and that value must be verified with a separate appraisal." marys1000 wrote: "Is there going to be a run on banks? Are banks going to fail? All my mother's money is in one bank." If you have all of your money in ONE bank, that could be a problem. I don't know if there is going to be a run on banks in the U.S. or not, but DH and I are NOT waiting to find out. We have already moved some of our investments into T-bills and CD's. The last time we talked to our banker, he told us we didn't have any sub-prime investments and tried to convince us to keep everything in the market. When I asked him to tell us which part of our portfolio was FDIC insured (or if he would be willing to support us if the market drops), he was silent. Never suggested T-bills or CD's either. I guess he is only interested in our "welfare" as long as he (and his employer) stand to gain. Now I understand why the Russians stuffed money under their mattresses after their banks failed so many times. Time-The Last Sacrifice- Dec. 22, 1947 The Soviets had spiraled into economic trouble similar in some ways to capitalist inflationary difficulties. The ruble, officially valued at 20 U.S. cents, was worth no more than three in actual buying power. Illegal speculation by bureaucrats, collective-farm bosses, store and factory managers and others had become a lively menace to state planning. Peasants, and some city dwellers, had also accumulated hoards of rubles largely because too few of the things they needed, or wanted to buy, were available. Never knowing when deposits might be frozen, they distrusted banks, kept their hoarded money at home. Rationing controls could not be lifted until this money was destroyed, and its destruction was Zhdanov's principal aim.

preaching to the 'mom & dad CPA's & financial planners' choir here. no debt myself other than my tiny mortgage and i'm still up 200% on my house LOLOL. my DH has acquirred college loan debt but at only 3% interest after he's done. he just finished his honors BS in Mech Engineering, is 1/2 done w/ his MS and by Dec will be 2/3 done. college debt for the high earning degrees doesn't bother me but if it's not sciences or engineering i would not bother taking out $$ to do it and it's a waste of time of you are not in the top of your class academically. he has job offers pouring in nothing under $60K and they won't catch my attention until they hit $85K, some are coming close. ideally he would take a job where we live since my job currently pays for all we need. his job would then pay off the loans in a yr. but unfortunately the jobs coming close to $85K are in other states, thou all of them are significantly cheaper to live in. almost any state other than CA is going to be cheaper for us. my point in the above post was that these days most employers expect far more than they are willing to pay up for. hence my high demands for a great starting salary for DH other than he has earned it in spades w/ his special honors and i know the employer will get their works worth. back to the debt thing, back in 2000 i learned that lots of cash on hand is not as important to creditors as extensive credit history. i was starting to look for a house to buy and was buying an suv at the same time. it had been almost 7 yrs since i had used credit cards, they had nearly fallen off my credit record apparently. i was advised by banks to get some current credit history going so i could get a mortgage. even thou i had 6 figures in 401K and enough cash on hand to put 50% down if i had to on a house. i bought and paid cash for the SUV except for the extended warranty and that interest rate for $2k came in at 18% lol. i built up a bit of new credit, got my mortgage & house at what then was a good rate 7%. in 2006 i decided to pay off all credit cards and be done w/ credit. last yr i bought a new suv but instead of giving up my cash i put the amount for the car in it's own savings (pays 3% which balances out the 2% interest on the loan) and it auto pays ea month adding to my credit history which other than my house has become nill again. i will be wading back into credit cards now that all the new rules have gone into effect (been too leary), luckily i still have a high FICO and a perfect record althou not alot of different things and i do still get flooded w/ good credit offers. if i can get my DH to find a local job even part-time (i'd prefer that for another yr) and we stay in my house another yr we'll be set for life! ~ liz

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. J. R. R. Tolkien I like all the quotes, but my favorite is the quote above. My favorite times have been around a table, with family, friends and food. And a good time was held by all.