The thing that worried me about pressure canning was the boom factor. Just knowing that thing was there and was building pressure and was sitting mere feet away from me while I watched that gage was unnerving the first time or two. Then I got used to it and it was fine. Eventually, I preferred using the pressure canner over using the BWB canner because you don't have to keep that boiling water level topped off. Quarts especially are terrible in a BWB because there is usually not much room to spare above them as it is. Granted, you can't just set it and forget it with a PC, but it is a lot easier to just watch and adjust the burner. The one thing that I do not like about PC is that it is more time consuming per batch than BWB. You have to start with relatively cold water, wait for the temp and pressure to ramp up, then time it, then wait for the temp and pressure to fall, then you're done. With BWB, you can fill the pot with new hot filled jars as soon as you are done with the first load and never miss a beat. Water maintains a boil before, during (mostly) and after. Double or triple batching (separately maintained batches) is a breeze with BWB since you can prep and fill jars close to the time the current load is going to be done. You can't make one big triple recipe and divide it, but you can make three separate recipes and process individually and then can each in succession. Nice for relishes or chutneys or anything that has to marinate overnight as long as you have refrigerator space to do it. I PC canned a lot of pints of green beans and they tasted just like the cans you get at the store. That's fine by me because I like that flavor. But if I do them any more, I'll do quarts instead of pints since I can down a pint by myself at one sitting. usually two. And I canned carrots in it as well. And it seems like plain blueberries. Been a while since I did those. Neither method is really that difficult. Just understand each and how to do them when you do them.

I have a degree in math. And I promise no algebra is needed. In fact, no numbers even! And yes, you could build a single bed larger than the two beds. Just imagine, if you could, pushing the two rectangular beds next to one another, so that they share one side. Since you haven't changed the beds at all, they will still have the same area. Now, you see that you have two walls which are inside the bed, which are not needed, If you removed this wood, couldn't you use them to enlarge the beds? (yes, I know this might be an "l" shaped bed, but that is not important right now. It happens that the largest bed that you can make for a given amount of wood is a square bed. However, since your wood is already of different lengths, and you have a certain space in your yard that you are working with, you probably will want to build a rectangle in the easiest way. Just build the "fattest" rectangle you can using the wood you have. But you already knew all of this, right? It just takes a certain way of looking at things. And it is this way of thinking that is the essence of math. Yes, math allows us to calculate areas and draw graphs, and do algebra. But it is the way we THINK about things that is the essence of math, not merely the equations. So don't let memories of algebra class scare you off. Besides, one of my university math professors often said that he tried to figure out how to build a door for his barn using calculus, and it didn't work! (Well, of course, the math wasn't wrong, but somewhere he made a mistake, by making it too complicated.) But if you really want to know how much bigger you can make your beds then you may find this helpful: The perimeter is the total amount of wood you will use and is equal to the length of all four sides added together (or sum the width and length, then double the sum.) The area is the width times the length. And remember that one square foot is (12 inches by 12 inches), or 144 square inches. So to avoid confusion, stick with either inches or feet in your calulations. And WHY might you want to do this? Because a pencil is a lot easier to push around than a raised bed! And if you want to post back here, I would be glad to check any calculations. Good luck!

Ok, soapy spray is the most likely culprit here. What was the mixture of the soapy water spray? Commercial or homemade? If homemade, which brand of soap and how much soap used in the mix? Sprayed in the heat of the day or bight sun? Sprayed only on the pest or did you drench the leaves of the plants? How often? Soapy water spray: should never be applied more than once every 7-10 days and the leaves rinsed before re-applying, it should be lightly misted only, aim for the bugs, do not drench the leaves, never in the bright sun or heat of the day, only in the early AM or evening, never more than 1 Tbls. (less is better) of a pure (not anti-bacterial) soap such as original Dawn or Joy, Murphy's Oil Soap, or similar) in 1 gallon of water. Next is "organic pest control spray". What brand name? Follow the directions to the letter? Should not be applied routinely, only as needed (you've doubled up here with 2 kinds of pest controls so double coated) and the same application rules apply. "blossom end rot" spray - waste of time and money ;) but no real problems with it unless you sprayed the whole plant for some reason rather than just the blooms. So there's good news and bad news. I don't think this is a a disease of any kind although there are some signs of some bacterial problems that have most likely developed because of the weakened plants. The main problem is over-chemically treated plants and the leaves have been coated and damaged to the point where transpiration and photosynthesis is very difficult for them. It appears to be spreading only because all the damage shows up slowly over time. These also appear to be determinate variety plants, correct? I can't tell for sure but the spacing on the nodes "seems" to be determinate. If so, they are likely finished. BUT if they are indeterminates I would suggest you put away all the chems, remove the leaves that show the most severe damage, provide some temporary shading for them, then once shaded lightly lightly wash them off with fresh water in the hopes of removing some of the coatings on them. Give them a 1/2 strength feeding and watch for new growth before moving them out of the shade. Is that possible? I can't guarantee they will come back but it is worth a try. Hope this helps and I wish you luck. Dave

Like Alisande, I only see one about once a year...just passing through. I put out a lot of bird seed. I put black oil sunflower seeds in the feeders in the yard and I get a free mix that is a lot of milo and some sunflower seeds donated to me by Walmart, and I put it out along the driveway for the doves. It is so dry here. Right now I have 5 bird baths in the lower part of my yard, which is only about 1/2 acre big, but ran the horse water troughs over yesterday, and couldn't believe all the doves down there bathing. I guess I'm fortunate. I see sparrows in town, but out here in the country, we don't have them. Bluebirds can be seen in this area...supposedly, but the only time I ever saw them, was a pair in the yard of the old man that I look after a couple of towns over, and he couldn't have cared less. That was a few years ago. Now he has a pair of hawks nesting in a tree right out his door, and I can't even get him to walk to the door to look out at them.