I thought I would let you know about my recent experiences with rooting sweet potato. It worked great! Just like the above posts mentioned. My 4 or 5 starts really produced lots of rootlings. I planted 5 or 6 of them, as I happened to have some nice freshly screened compost and peat handy. They did well, and then I planted them outside in a spot that I had been preparing - lots of compost, chicken litter, etc., and it was a beauty of a spot - nice warm sunshine. I was so sure that I'd picked a winner spot. All went well until one morning, I noticed all of my "tops" had disappeared. A ravenous vole/mole had completely ravished my sweet potato field - all in one night. Soooo - back to the drawing board. I noticed this summer - someone had a blog about growing a large number of them in a big plastic (Home Depot-type) tub. It seems my best in-ground planting of edibles can only be grown that way. Has anyone had success with the "big box" (no pun intended) method? Bejay

Basil should be grown in a position that receives a good amount of sunlight - around 6-8 hours a day. Basil can be grown indoors on a sunny windowsill or outdoors in containers or soil. If growing outside try and position the Basil in a sheltered spot that avoids cold winds. It does like a fertile soil that has been welll dug to allow good soil air circulation. Introducing well rotted organic compost or manure into the soil a month or so before sowing will help this. If growing in pots then a general purpose compost is a suitable soil solution.

Tom, "John, are you using the white bags? I'd be concerned about the dyes and chemicals in the other colors.... " Good point. Heres what they (Greenbag Inc) say... "Is made from non-toxic, non-corrosive materials and safe color-fast dyes". I'm interested in these for several reasons, drainage, cooling and cost. I know they drain well, I don't think you could ever fill one with a garden hose. The upside down tomato bag I tried last spring stayed cool and it was black. The ones from Publix are a buck and I hear W mart's are cheaper. So I'll give it a try. john

I assume all the bedrooms with be for kids when I read your login name-- I really, really like the plan for the most part. I am not sure I understand why it is such a complicated roof with bumpouts in the front. If you greatly simplify the roof and straighten out the front you'll gain space inside as well as saving a lot of $$. It will cost far more to roof as it is. How about simplifying the roof and bumping out the whole front (the smallest bedroom is SO small-- have you thought about furniture placement in there? The size looks good until you look at the placement of the walls etc and start to think about that) and maybe adding a front porch which extends across the entire front? With three boys, you may want some more "escapes" for family members to have a little alone-time. You could actually SAVE money by simplifying while GAINING square footage. I would also seriously consider moving the powder room. My friend's house has a half bath with an extra door at the back. I assumed it was a closet until I found it was the door to her fabulous huge laundry room. I notice you might easily be able to do the same thing here, and it is not very expensive to do at this stage--- you would have a more private are to access the half bath than the current location off the foyer. That laundry would be a good location for one , and keeps guests out of your more private areas of the home. Another bonus would be that you could then make your own bedroom bigger or make the study bigger -- or simply almost double the size of your master closet. I'd be tempted to use the space to either change the shape of the closet but leave it roughly the same size and slide the bathroom toward the study, making your bedroom bigger and shortening that hallway t your bedroom. Is there a prurpose for that hallway? Could you remove that wall thereby adding some furniture placement wallspace and eliminating the narrow hallway? LOVE so many things about the plan-- great general layout. I just don;t quite understand the roof and bumpouts since they cost so much more AND seem to make the spaces inside awkward. Are they simply to help how the outside of the house looks?