Hi Marleah! I'm glad you're enjoying your roses again. I'm sure your father would approve. There have been several nurseries lost the past few years but there are still many good ones out there. I'm not sure which ones you know of already so my apologies if I mention some of them here. I don't know which of these specialize in OGRs but here's a list of some I know of. Heirloom Northland Rosarium Roses Unlimited Palatine Angel Gardens Burlington Roses Regans Edmunds Pickering Antique Rose Emporium High Country Roses Rosmania I'm sure I've missed some so I hope others will chime in!

Carolyn, my Opalka seeds were sourced from Sandhill. I will admit, my first year growing Opalka BER became a problem for several varieties(but not all) of tomato that year. Lots of rain followed by drought, and then I think probably over watered to compensate. Last year I gave Opalka another shot. And while I didn't get any BER problems, the production, fruit size, and plant vigor just wasn't all that spectacular. As I said before, the taste, while not bad, was only a slight improvement over Roma(which I consider to be far more vigorous and productive). I know most here won't share my opinion, but I've found leaf problems are far less pronounced when growing hybrid tomatoes and varieties bred for resistance. I understand that all tomato varies are susceptible to one thing or another regardless of being OP or Hybrid, dictated by the grower, but more accurately, by the environment and soil- which is sometimes difficult if not impossible to control. Mulio, I am far from being an expert, but this "grower" has successfully grown and harvested many varieties of tomatoes over the last decade. I've made a few mistakes along the way, but it ain't my first rodeo. I mean, really, how hard is it to grow a tomato? Opalka just didn't pan out the way I hoped it would. Just because the majority likes it(and Carolyn recommends it) doesn't mean I have to. I know it's not a popular opinion and I'm ok with that. This year is a mostly hybrid centric crop, and the plants just look so much happier and healthier than before, and producing like mad. Pure luck? science? grower? There are a few heirlooms that I would probably grow again, but 1 or 2 varieties out of the few dozen I've tried is hardly worth it.

Annie, I am fairly familiar with the case. British law on such things is different than American law, and I won't enter into all that except to say that under the British system, the burden of truth regarding public accusations against another is on the accuser. Like it or not, that is their law. I also am not even going to try and defend the actions of a howmanybillion dollar company, or pretend to know the truth behind the allegations of both sides. However, it was enlightening to me to know that the defendants were members of a fringe environmentalist organization that didn't want to affiliate itself with Greenpeace because it was "too mainstream" (Jeepers!) Also, that the fliers they were distributing made the claims that: McDonald's: * is complicit in Third World starvation; * buys from greedy rulers and elites and practices economic imperialism; * wastes vast quantities of grain and water; * destroys rainforests with poisons and colonial invasions; * sells unhealthy, addictive junk food; * alters its food with artificial chemistry; * exploits children with its advertising; * is responsible for torture and murder of animals; * poisons customers with contaminated meat; * exploits its workers and bans unions; * destroys rainforests; * hides its malfeasance.* Now. Did McDonalds overreact? React too harshly? Was McDonalds mean? I don't know. But here we are, 20 years after the fact, hearing from people who were influenced against the company by the case to the point of boycotting their products. I've never owned or had any significant financial interest in a company as big as McDonalds. But if I found out that someone here in town was distributing fliers that accused me of committing horrendous and possibly criminal practices in the course of my daily business, I would fight it. That someone not particularly educated in either law or experienced in any field related to the case made a film, apparently portraying the defendants as puny, helpless victims bullied by an Evil Mega Corp does not impress me. Biased, slanted "documentaries" are produced every day. As for being partially correct in the allegations, I suppose I could be accused of some of those things with equal accuracy. I could well be accused of being, "complicit in Third World starvation" because I eat beef on a regular basis...if I ate lentils instead, I could feed any number of starving people by sending them the money I would save. I expect that I buy from what some would consider "greedy rulers and elites" as well. I would have no defense to the charge that I waste grain and water, depending on the accuser's perspective. I water my roses...frivolous things, and shower far more often than absolutely needed. I don't know how poisons, "colonial invasions" and rainforests could be attributed to me, but then, I don't know how they could be attributed to McDonald's either. Are my contributions to church bake sales selling "unhealthy, addictive junk food?" Okay, okay, I'll quit...but you get my point, right? Likely, I'm far too sensitive on these subjects. I get itchy over attacks on "Big Evil Corporate America" because so often, we jump on the band wagon before we look into it, and so very often, the attacks have less to do with actual facts and more to do with the agendas of the attackers. This is funny, really. Here I am, speaking up for a restaurant I don't even frequent! Once every couple of years or so I drive through to grab something because I'm in a huge rush, on a road trip, whatever...and I ALWAYS regret it! The first two bites taste good because I'm hungry and after that I'm increasingly grossed out. Inevitably, I end up throwing out half my food and wonder what the heck I was thinking!

I only heard about Speed Queen two days ago and I'm already an owner of a TL one. We've had a Frigidaire for about 7 years, we never had any repair issues with it but every now and then my wife and I would see little holes in our clothes. At first we never really questioned it, then we figured well maybe it's bugs, maybe zippers from other clothes, maybe the seatbelt in our car, etc.. etc... Then the problem seemed to go away only to re-appear, maybe there's a loose screw in the washing machine, nope. Again, we kind of forgot about the issue and/or holes were not occurring anymore. Fast forward to present time and we have a newborn in the picture, most of her outfits have holes in them after washing them. That was the last straw, my wife (and I wish we would have done this many years ago) started looking online for "holes in clothes" only to find out that these stupid FL machines have a knack the world over to putting holes into everyone's clothes when thin materials get into the holes of the tub. So we decided we're going TL, I went to the appliance store where we recently bought all our kitchen appliances from and who for the most part only carry European and American solid made appliances (lots of help also over in the appliance forum of GW) and told them we're looking for a TL washer. He showed me the Speed Queen and said you won't be disappointed, I said let me look into it. We looked at a ton of reviews two nights ago and were immediately sold, I purchased it yesterday and we'll have it on Monday. I can't wait for "no more holes". I wish we would have cut our losses years ago as my wife has probably thrown away a decent amount of her work clothes over the years. I'm looking forward to the Speed Queen and hoping that it comes as advertised by all these reviews on here and other sites. These FL washers are BS.