Check out my blog....I have researched what herbs/flowers would be good companions or insect repellers for various vegetables. www.howmygardengrows.wordpress.com There is a blog there on compantion planting. Let me know what you think...if you have found any other good matches.

Kirkhall-- you say you won't believe pics, and I agree-- no one's going to show pics of their failures. The thing is, the same can be said of referrals. You want a good indictor? Ask him if he'll give you a referral of someone where he had difficulties, not expecting him to do it, but to see what his reaction is. If he tells you he's never had a problem. be afraid. Be VERY afraid. I was even just talking about this with a bunch of other contractors on Facebook-- any contractor in ANY trade who says he's never had a problem or failure on a jobsite, has either not been in the trade very long, or is a blatant liar. Either way, not someone you want to hire. the difference between a quality contractor and a fly by night is how they handle it. If they try and put it off on everyone else, and refuse to fix the problem, that's a fly by night. If, however, they do their best to find the root cause, and fix the problem, that's you're quality contractor. As for me-- mine was actually very public several years ago, and even in both this forum and John Bridge's site. We even had TCNA board members in on it trying to figure out what happened. One way or the other, I ended up redoing the problem on my own dime, and changing up on a couple of things-- one thing that I'd done, and one that the homeowner had done, and the problem didn't present itself again. Help Solve Mystery? Marble Tile Floor Always Wet in Some Areas (26 pages of it!)

Thank you Rita. Before my son started working there we had read those stories and had also heard from people who worked in the warehouse he currently works in how awful it was. They would tell us how they worked them to the bone, made them work mandatory over time all of that. My son decided because Amazon was a big company with lots of different ways to advance and branches to try he would at least give it a try because he felt that Amazon could possibly be a career company. He decided to see if it was as bad as people say. We are glad he gave it a try because he really does like it there. What I will tell you about Amazon and why I think it gets a bad rap is because it is very very productivity based. You have to work there and work fast. There is no sitting around goofing off. When you are there they expect you to work and work at a certain productivity level. They have boards they post every day to show your productivity and who is on top. My son is very competitive and likes to work and he told me the first week he was there his goal was to make it to the top of the board every night and he did. He got compliments from the managers telling him he worked as fast or faster than people who had been there for years. His work got noticed and he has been trained for now 3 different positions. They typically don't do that until you have been there for 90 days but he has made such and impression on them they keep sending him to training for different things. His 90 days is up next week and he will be able to choose which one of those things he wants to do and will be able to switch to a full time shift. He was even made certified stretch instructor within his first 2 weeks. We laugh about that, he has his own special lanyard and badge to show it. They make the employees stretch and loosen up before they go on the floor. Some of the bad rap I think Amazon gets is from the people who go in there and want to work at their own pace and not put in anymore effort than they absolutely have too. They go in knowing they might have mandatory overtime and when they get it they complain because they don't want to work the extra hours. They get paid for their productivity too. They get an 8% pay bonus a month if their productivity is good. It isn't huge but better than nothing. As I said earlier Amazon is super efficient and one negative about that is if there is no work they will send you home. My son works nights and they will offer voluntary time off to workers. They will announce how many VTO slots they have and if people don't take them they will pick people and send them home. They also have Mandatory time off which is the same as VTO but the whole shift will be sent home and I have seen them send them home after 3 hours of working. I believe this manly happens on the night shift and this is why they will be switching my son to a different shift in the next few weeks so he will get a full 40 hours +. When he was hired he was hired as a flex shift at the time we didn't understand what that meant now we do. He is lucky that he doesn't have to depend on his paycheck to survive every week. He mainly works there for the benefits but I feel bad for people trying to take care of a family while on the Flex shift. I hope they are able to change shifts like my son. I mainly think they put new people on that shift while they are on their probation period and once they prove themselves they are put on a regular shift depending on how many hours they want to work or what is available. Those that don't do well either stay on the flex shift or quit usually.

Look into the sonnen batterie system. Their bullet points directly correlate with your needs. It is a smart solar home utility. Not only does it save power for when you need it, but unlike others it purposely powers your home when your electric bill runs the hottest. It is an energy utilities nemesis, and allows the "community" of sonnen members to share power with each other and assist each others power needs. So many people are fearful of the prospect of full on investment in solar because of lack of education and in many cases, the homeowner coz I guess they have not taken the power back no pun intended. but this system fully put the control back in your hands, i believe, takes the guesswork out and has the added bonus of making you part of a community so help is always around the corner and not just from the company itself. I believe the precedence that this type of system is setting is a real evolution, weaning off of relying on utilities...and no i dont workbfir them :), but i do work on leed certified buildings,cradle to cradle materials, and have a lifelong passion for the art of building green. I would like ti be alive to see the transition, and more so feel indebted to help spur it on. There are also many other ways to give incremental bonuses to your existjng solar array. Solatube lightjng is one, solar hot water heating, solar vents-built into the side of a house, helps cool in summer, warm the air in winter. Actually i vehemently disagree that a few panels on the roof is where anyone should stop. Added cost-ive read as a concern, but isnt it always. If you have gone through the expense and effort of a grid tie or otherwise system, your math might be a bit off if you think stopping there and calculating your years til full repayment is job well done. Extreme example, but what if you had poor to no insulation on half or more of your outside walls? Your wonderful solar energy is going right out the window, and whatever you are saving, it could be double. One person on houzz mentioned changing all their bulbs to led, as the only change, and saw huge savings on their elex bill. Alot of these smaller ideas,not the sonnen, are relatively inexpensive and when combined achieve a sum greater than its total. I.e. if a roof adorned with solar panels saves you money, why not take multiple steps that each do the same, and achieve your ultimate goal, which is in every solar co's ads, independence, and real freedom isnt cheap, but its worth every penny. Especially in ways which are priceless, peace of mind, knowing you did truly all you could and not relive the guilt of stopping half way.