Ask around, offer to help at the CSA, with anyone with a large garden - be a little leery of the old-timers' advice - some of it is spot on for local conditions, some is just plain wrong, and some has been disproven in recent years. Try helping at local nurseries - you will get plant and small business info at the same time - DON'T ask questions at the busiest times, but many owners/managers are happy to share their knowledge. Ask the local healthfood store where the local growers/suppliers are, ask if they ned any help - it CAN mean being out in the hot sun on a 95 degree day! Check out your community college for growers classes, organic or otherwise, take the classes and talk to people. Be careful of the ones that talk well, but don't do, and the ones who boast - they may just be happy and surprised at how well they are doing, and may be talking up a LOT more than they can produce. The ones who look the grungiest may be the most successful ones. Cultivate a healthy degree of scepticism, along with an open mind and willingness to try almost anything once. You don't need a degree, but you DO need some experience in small business practices - for the IRS if for no other reason. Take classes, talk to people about what they do - even if they are producing widgets - the practices, inputs, etc. will be the same at the bottom, even if the names or exact procedures are different. As said above, you probably won't get rich, but you may have a rich life!! Be willing to start small, work hard, maybe have a day job to support you while the "real" business grows, and above all - WORK HARD! You can begin on a small level, by producing veggies or flowers from your parent's back yard - with permission, it goes without saying. See if the managers at tlhe healthfood store will share what they NEED more of, and the pricing - then break it down and see if the return is worth it - some things are expensive to grow. Even if you only break even, if you don't have to go out and buy a lot of equipment - you are learning. Go to the local farmer's market, and see what is there, what is selling, and what is selling out early. You might be able to get a learner's job, no money to speak of, but lots of experience! It's a bit late for this year, but you could see what the requirements are, and try for next year. It is farming, just on a small scale. Again with permission, and if local zoning allows, try for raising eggs or meat chickens - the latter you will have to process to sell, so see what the market will bear, and what local health regs are. If you have access to enough land, maybe try for milking goats, and maybe, if there is an Hispanic or ethnic community nearby, raising kids to sell for meat. BEFORE YOU DO ANY OF THESE, READ!!! If you have little animal experience, read, and then get hand's on experience with someone to mentor you and look over your shoulder - they aren't as easy as a bicycle! You can do any and all of these, just start small..., and be careful.

Hi, where are you located in the country? Your garden center should soon be getting in hellebore plants soon. If you buy one that is maybe 2 gallon sized it may bloom for you this year. If you start seeds you will be waiting for 3-4 years for your blooms. I would start with the hybridus form. The label may say 'Orientalis'. I have found those to be very sturdy and easy to grow in good soil. You can plant those now. I have seen some for sale online from Parks Seeds and Wayside. From the size given though, 4" pots, I dought they would bloom for you this year. Mary

If your roof is well built you could easily make it a green roof. buy some firestone 45 mill EDPM and glue it to the Plywood or OSB (with most of our OSB going to Iraq its about the same price as plywood in most places, so if you are building build with plywood which outgasses less and requires less glue and is stronger and longer lasting and lighter and more water resistant) Also you could look into wood heating with Rocket stove, and solar hot water, and in warm areas planting Fast growing vines on the south side of your house, grapes are nice, so are hops. Also, if you have some land planting some black locust would be a good way to heat your house. Black locust grows quickly and is a dense wood that produces alot of heat.

I like what Annie was suggesting, but if you have the room, I would love a round table and chairs and maybe a wingback or other reading chair in the bay (possibly a couple of swivel chairs that can turn either way in the area between the two parts of the room). Or maybe a pair of chairs and table between them and an ottoman. I'd start with that part of the rom and move out -- feature it since it is wonderful and unique and then move out rather than backing onto it as a limited afterthought. Then look at sofa or sectional in the main or older part of the room and go from there. I would keep the bookcases -- would love to have them myself and agree with keeping them wood and cleaning them up as needed if they are nice, consider painting if they are not. i am reluctant to paint brick and don't think you need to. You might try washing a section and seeing if it changes color (it can trap dust). I was considering painting my fireplace brick, but we discovered that painting the walls had a huge impact on how the color of the brick looked. Painting brick is a difficult thing to undo, so I would wash it, get furniture in the room and even consider changing wall color before I painted the brick. I don't dislike the mantel so much as wonder about it being shorter -- closer to the width of the arch -- maybe just outside of the arch rather than all the way across.