ilikewinter: I'm not an expert on strawberries but since I empathize with you because of the care you've given your container plants, I'm going to hazard a GUESS. Strawberries do not like sun and heat. Both strawberries and spinach like coolish weather rather than blazing sun. These are the very same two plants of yours that suffered in the heat which tends to corroborate that sun and/or heat may be the problem. Spinach is known to bolt to seed when the weather heats up. It is considered to be a cool weather crop. The fact that the damage happened during high 80s temperatures also tends to corroborate heat as the problem. If your weather cools down and the strawberry plants come back, this would also tend to corroborate heat as the culprit. Also, your south facing balcony gets the hottest sun of all - the blazing afternoon shake and bake without the shake. I'm in the L.A. area in Southern California. About 50 miles north of here the coastal communities of Oxnard and Camarillo are prime strawberry growing areas. Miles of strawberry fields. The reason is that the weather never gets too much above 85 F because the Pacific Ocean moderates the climate. Most of the spring time temperatures, which is the time of year when strawberries are grown there, are in the 60s and 70s. Fog and overcasty type weather fosters the strawberries. Other coastal areas that get hotter don't have the large strawberry operations. Oxnard and Camarillo are unique in this respect. So some kind of simple shading device might help. 30% shade cloth simply fastened to and draped over your balcony railing would be simple and economic. You don't need much material. Old window screening (double layer) or muslin scraps might also work. You just want to tone down the direct sunlight. On overcast or rainy days, you could just flip the half of the, say, shade cloth that covers the pot over to the other side (the outside) of the railing. Also, from the wide shot picture, the direct sunlight hits the pots. This heats the pots and, in turn, the soil inside them which can burn the roots. There's a big difference between roots in the ground and roots in a container. Some of my black nursery pots got so hot in the summer that I could not touch them. Terra cotta color will heat up whether it is terra cotta clay or plastic. After I discovered this the hard way, I spray painted my pots white. I used a spray can paint formulated for plastic from Home Depot. Haven't lost a plant since. In lieu of painting the pots, you could just put skirts around the sides which receive direct sun rays in order to totally shade the pot itself. I mention again that the foregoing is a guess. Tony

Hi there- I am happy that those of you who have received your return envelopes have found some treasures enclosed! We who selected seeds for the traders in this swap- either before the envelopes were mailed in- or here in MN, did our best to ensure that! This swap was a group effort! Every one of us did a great job! We still have 11 participants who have not reported receiving their packages- remember- I do have confirmation slips if we run into trouble- you know how to contact me for that information if needed. 2 of those 11 (Tammy MN and Sandys Garden) are MN folks who I will be getting together with to go though my seeds boxes to fill up their seed packets sent in and then some! That is a great way for us to "garden" in MN this time of year! Not to mention- looking through and sharing each others seed boxes is just plain fun and highly recommended! Barb- tell you daughter to visit the MN Gardening Forum!!! There are so many great folks (and gardens) in MPLS and the surrounding areas. I think we have a great garden community there. Oh Lisa- I hear you loud and clear about the hubby factor! Mine is constantly exasporated- and yet, still continuously supportive- and extremly handy with building cold frames from recycled building supplies- lighted shelves in the basment- and a great addition of 2 plastic coated steel wire shelves the length of the garage, which a clear plastic "curtain" can be rolled down to protect seedlings from the elements! I secretly think he is pleased that it costs so little to keep me so fully entertained! Till later then- Holiday activities beckon...... Julie

Thanks arielitas_mom! yes,my plan is to make a nice, big, luxurious tiled shower along the same wall that the corner shower is now. Probably about 39" w x 6 feet long (unless that's TOO long...). I do feel like this is a compromise, since a 3BR/2BA (and lts face it, most people will use it as 2BR/2BA/office) feels like it's step down, as far as the target market, from the 3BR/3BA/office we'd planned when we bought it. But it's good to hear some positive feedback from you folks about the compromise, because it really would stretch us too far to do the addition. Thank you! So what do you all think about the fact that there's no proper dining room? The DR area is really more of a dining "nook" and there's no place to put a really big dining table. ?????

I just wanted to say thank you again for the sweet, sweet comments! We have two boys (2.5 and 6) and I never thought that we would make the jump from 2 to 4 children all at once, but we are looking forward to it! I hope that the picture thread continues! It's been so much fun to see what everyone shares! awm03: That is an amazing picture! jillinnj: I wish I was there too! I told DH that we need to go on vacation somewhere now, because we're probably never going on vacation again after the babies arrive! ;-)