This is from the SSE entry on Jacob's Cattle, Rockwell Alders Strain: 2013: 90-100, Beans are reddish brown with white speckles (quite unlike other Jacob's Cattle). Double in size when soaked and traditional for baked beans. A unique and locally adapted regional strain. Will enclose a copy of the story about this bean with each request. I suspect these may in fact be 'Kilimanjaro Speckled'. Would love some bean specialists to grow this out and let me know, These uniquely colored beans have been grown for over 8 decades by the Rockwell & Alders families of Lakeville, Nova Scotia from seed saved each year, Laurie Alders Family from Lakeville, Nova Scotia SSE Accession: BEAN/BUSH/DRY

Hi brindamour, Speckled Roman is a paste type tomato and pastes are more susceptible to BER (Blossom End Rot). Carolyn137 wrote an excellent response to a question about Blossom End Rot (BER) and I am quoting it here: With BER there is NO problem with absorption of Ca++ though the roots. The problem is maldistribution within the plant that can be induced by a number of stresses which include uneven delivery of water, too much N, growing in too rich soil, too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry you name it. As the plants mature they can better handle the streses that can induce BER so usually it goes away. The two exceptions are first, if the soil has NO Ca++ as confirmed with a soil test, and that's a rare condition, and second, if the soil is too acidic in which Case Ca++ is bound in the soil. Again, adding lime, egg shells and on and on can not and will not prevent BER b'c absorption of Ca++ thru the roots is OK. Paste tomatoes are especially susceptible to BER and I think someone in a post above mentioned that. If you go to the top of this first page and click on the FAQ link and scroll down you'll also find an article about BER in case some of you have never looked at the FAQ's And there';s some darn good articles there as well, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the variety list b'c it's way out of date. The old information about BER being caused solely by lack of soil Ca++ has been shown to be wrong with research that's been done in the last 20 years or so, but it's going to take another generation before the real story gets into books, websites, magazines, etc. Most of the better websites already have the correct information. BER affects not only tomatoes, but peppers, squash, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., and it's a huge multimillion dollar problem for the industry, which is WHY all that reasearch was done. For instance, when tissues were taken from a plant that has BER fruits and was assayed for Ca++, the normal level of Ca++ was found, it just wasn't getting to the blossom end of fruits. And there's also a condition called internal BER where the fruits look fine, no evidence of BER externally, but when you cut open the fruit the inside is black Hope that helps Betsy Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ page on Blossom End Rot

Funny meeting you here bigthicketgardens! :) I love butterflies the best, but I still enjoy all of nature. The snake wasn't real long, probably about 3' - 4 long - I've seen these before, some that were bigger, and some that were smaller and blue! speckled with white. I feel sure that this is a speckled king snake, but I'm not sure at all about the little turtle. I've never seen a box turtle with red on its back like this baby, and it doesn't really match any of the pictures in my field guide - maybe I need more than one field guide. I'm happy to post pictures, Mary Ann - there's nothing I like better than making pictures of the wildlife I love so! Sherry

I've finally been able to get back to the message boards. Gosh it is annoying when real life gets in the way of my computer time! LOL. Wow, I love all the stories of how you approached your granite selection. Happenstance has certainly played a roll in many of the final selections. I recognize many of the granite names of the light granites as ones I have been looking to check out. BTW pbrisjar: I happened to come across the Azul Macaubas and you are right it is beautiful. That is one stone that could definitely make me veer from the white, and as mentioned by gglks I think it could still fulfill my vison, however I won't even hazard a guess as to the price of it, so it is not an option. Costa Esmerelda is also a gorgeous stone. All the choices are beautiful, and I love hearing how you came to have them. I'll be heading out next Wednesday to hit the yards (locals don't have what I want)and hopefully will be able to tag my slabs in this single trip as I'm 2 1/2 hours away (not to mention I hate driving into the city). bluekitobsessed: only 23,542 yards huh? And here I am hoping to do it with 3! I have a list of possibilities which might speed up the process a bit. Has anyone come across Siberian White, Polar White, and Bianco Primavera or Alabama White. I realize that some may be names given by the local yard as the last 2 I've never come across except for 1 site, and that was in the US. Thank you Mairin I agree with your sage advice. I'll go with my gut and if I don't feel the tug to tag it right there and then it likely isn't yet "The One!". mom2reese: Your kitchen is fabulous. All aspects of it are exceptional and your crown molding is very similar to what I want. May I show your photo to my cabinet guy. The molding he showed me is too curvy for my tastes and not really what I wanted for my shaker style cabinets. I was going to just go with his recommendation but after seeing yours I realize that I need to speak up or I likely will regret it. I feel if he can see an example of what's in my head then he will be able to come up with one that will be in scale for my much smaller kitchen. Thanks everyone.