hey, thanks for the tips! I haven't posted much but have been reading the forum off and on for a long time. I've been gardening my patch of ROCKY (thus the rock farmer comment lol) southern Maine coast for 20+ years and have probably one of everything that's very common in my mixed borders of perennials/shrubs/conifers. I garden with a pickax, if that tells you anything. But I really wanted to up the ante on my small evergreen patches and get some nice minis or dwarves that are not quite as common. good point on the arboretums, and I love those. it seems like unless I go to a Japanese garden specifically, the specimens are all so big! I wanted to focus on smaller plants. Still love looking at those beautiful big majestic giants, though! right now, specifically, I wanted to see (then hopefully buy) something small (~2-3 ft), yellow, and upright - either pyramid, globe, or columnar for a spot between a bobo hydrangea (small, white blooming) and my blue forest juniper. bright part shade. yes, zone 5 covers so much doesn't it! I have long cold winters, but being close to the ocean, I have a bit of that coastal microclimate - warmer in winter, cooler in summer. plenty of rain, generally, but also great drainage (thanks to the ROCKS again). thanks again for the local source (and arboretum) tips!

Some people call "snap beans" by an older name - "string beans". This is because at one time, most green beans had to have the strings removed before cooking. This is still the case with many varieties, including some favorites for flavor as green beans. Some varieties of common beans also develop fibrous pods when quite young. On the other hand, some beans which are great as green beans are less tasty than other varieties when used as "shelly" or dry beans. I don't know how Great Northern rates for quality as a green bean, but it is renowned as a dry bean and is probably also good as a shelly. If you're new to growing beans, it's best to try a variety noted for quality in the stage you want to eat it. Or grow one which is noted for quality at all stages. "Black Valentine" is one of these. Some people love Pinto beans as green beans even though the string must be removed. They are also good as shellies or dry beans. You can also choose whether you want to grow "common beans" as pole or bush beans and choose varieties which do well in your climate. For example, "Contender" bush bean does well in the South in spring, but develops fibrous pods if grown in cool fall weather (though still valuable as a shelly or dried bean). "Provider" and "Bountiful" do not do well in dry, hot weather, but are old favorites in New England for snap beans. Lima beans are a different species and are used only as shellies or as dried beans - the pods are not eaten. Many cowpeas (still another species) can be used as snaps, shellies or dried. But usually, "snap beans" refers to common beans.

"It seems, at least to the uninitiated, that the bush varieties of asparagus yardlongs and Southern peas are quite similar." Ppod, yardlongs (bush & pole) & Southern peas are not only similar, they are all cowpeas, Vigna unguiculata. Yardlongs are just a subspecies (sesquipedalis). As with common beans, there are varieties of cowpeas grown for their seeds, and others grown for their edible pods. Rodger mentioned on another thread that some peas are long & kidney-shaped... the edible-podded peas usually fall in that category. The lines can get blurry sometimes; just as you can eat the seeds of any snap bean, you can eat the mature seeds of yardlongs & edible-podded peas. They may - or may not - be as tasty as those grown for seed (such as crowders & eyed peas). Furthermore, some yardlongs are very difficult to shell, due to clinging membranes. I've eaten the mature beans of several yardlongs, both as shellies, and as dry beans. Those of the black-seeded "asparagus bean" were somewhat sweet & fairly good, but I had to deal with the membranes. I shook the dry seeds vigorously in a closed container to remove the membranes, then winnowed to get clean seed. The red seeds of "Chinese Red Noodle" were nothing to write home about, with a taste similar to blackeyes. The "bush yardlong" in the last photo proved to be multi-purpose; it had both edible pods, and seeds that were tasty when dry.

Should I have to ask the contractor to take the capacitor & start kit back or is this something he should suggest himself? I guess I have a bit of a trust issue as he has never suggested replacing the worn out compressor; just jumped in suggesting a new system. I don't even know what a new compressor should cost. We have another contractor coming out this afternoon to give us an estimate but as my husband works out of town during the week & I'll have to deal with this, I am trying to learn what I can so I can know what questions to ask & whether or not what I'm being told is legit. Any help is greatly appreciated!