I've lived on both sides of Pine Island, back in the 19s and 80s. We had an upland veggie farm just to the north and later built a house on the south side, over the hill towards Warwick. A finger of black dirt spilled over into that land there but I never did anything with it during the short time I was there. The many thousands of acres of fields were created by the hard work of mostly Polish, Germand and Dutch immigrants who drained the bogs by cutting many miles of drainage ditches. The Wallkill River floods occasionally, turning the fields back into the post-Ice Age lake from which the bog descended. I've canoed the Wallkill once when at flood stage and it was an eerie feeling to paddle over fences and farm implements. Farmers there grow primarily onions and sod, but other crops are grown on the soil. They usually douse the soil with an incredible amount of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. The soil is incredibly high in organic matter usually 30 to 50 percent and often more, and sometimes poses unusual problems. I've seen a fire started by a farmer burning a pile of tree stumps on a field in New Hampton that ignited the soil and burned deeply enough to spread to adjoing fields by travelling underground below drainage ditches full of water. The fire burned for weeks, turning the sky dark in the area. I've also seen dust-bowl conditions there when a drought and wind also caused the dry soil to make visibilty near zero when driving on nearby roads. The land is probably one of the last agricultural areas in the state not in danger of death by real estate developers. Wayne

If you want something a little different, do a search for Cumberland Island. It's off the GA coast and it takes a 45 minute boat ride to get there. The boat stops at two locations. One will take you to the beach (after about a 1/2 mile or more walk) and the other to see the ruins of a mansion once owned by (I think) the DuPont family. That may be the wrong name. The island is mostly uninhabited and you need to take lunch and plenty of water with you because there's no food/drink for sale unless you're staying at the one little B&B type place. I prefer the beach myself. Miles and miles of beautiful sand and hardly any people. There are wild horses that roam the island. Frankly, they scared me to death, but they don't bother you and you are warned NOT to bother them. They are really wild. It's just a a beautiful place to spend a day. I've been there 3 or 4 times and am blown away every time by the beauty of nature. Not sure how the weather would be the first part of April, though.

Our mosquito truck comes through every week here at least once a week. During the off season not so much, but in summer we hear him all the time. Everyone will always have their own personal preference. I like the way screens look, but for us the open look was what we were going for with this pool. After the hurricanes we had a few years ago, I didn't want to have to deal with the stress of the cage coming down. I admit, I also am an avid sun lover. I like to float in the pool and get some sun (with some sunscreen on of course...an 8 is perfect for my skin type :) and I've tried doing this in my parents pool with the cage and I may as well never have even went out that day. I grew up with pools without screens back in the day and like the open look. Yes, mosquitoes are bad here in Florida, I'm not going to deny that, however most people can get a mosquito control unit of some type for a fraction of what a cage costs. We have a handheld fogger (around $70) and we use it just before dusk and it does the job. We can sit out there in the evening, have some wine, swim and enjoy ourselves without getting eaten alive. So those of you who say you can't enjoy your pool in the evening without a cage are mistaken. The pesticide issue is null because no matter what, the mosquito control truck sprays anyway, so pesticides are all over. Plus, it's not like the fog lingers either and you are not out there greenhousing the mosquito repellent. It dissipates within seconds. The propane tanks work well too and you don't have to do anything but allow them to run by themselves. All this at a fraction of the cost of a screen. Again, I am not knocking screens. Some people have to have screens (like my parents in their current house) because of their property, trees, etc. I understand that. I like both looks, but the open look was what WE were going for personally. We even had footers poured JUST IN CASE we changed our minds because to do that later would've been $$$ and a PITA anyway. I just think it is unfair for people to jump to conclusions and say that a pool cannot be enjoyed in the evening if you don't have a screen. This is not a true statement and I'm sure many of you without screens would agree. There are methods out there to keep your pool area pest free in the evening that are as simple as flipping a switch or pushing a button.

it will need to be hardened off ..... moving from indoors.. to outdoors ... you can not take it straight into sunshine ... you could un pot ... separate.. repot in separate pots... and keep them in dark shade for a week ... light shade for a week ... then filtered light .. perhaps sun at dusk or dawn ... the time lengths also take into account the disturbance of the roots from potting .... and then into the sun ... and you could always keep one potted.. in case you kill the others... you will have a fail safe ... eric.. if you cool the grass around a house ... wind will bring the coolness into the house ... your roof and insulation ... are supposed to take care of what hits the roof ... and with the trees further away ... what will not hit the house.. is the leaves falling off and choking your gutters... seed pods ... roof rats who use trees to get up there.. etc .... ken