Interesting discussion. Reading what others have said set me to thinking. It seems it would be best to consider growing foods that give high yield with not a lot of effort and they have to be foods that I like! I would definitely do sweet potatoes and some kind of bean. But what foods can you grow without the use of pesticides in Florida? I would use onions, garlic and herbs to help keep some of the bugs away. I've read also that some insects don't like marigolds. I'd have to research more on using plants to protect other plants from bugs. Of course, citrus fruits, mangoes and bananas. I read recently about a peach tree that has been developed to grow in Florida. Tomatoes, squash, peanuts. I like the idea of chickens for fresh eggs, but I couldn't slaughter them myself. (Yeah, I'm a wimp.) And a dairy cow would be useful too. But if things got really bad and you couldn't get butter or vegetable oils, I guess olives would be nice.I have no idea how many trees you'd need to be able to press enough oil to make it worth while and if you've got olives,capers would be nice too. I would really have to try growing coffee.

Glenda, After your tomato experience, I made it a point to look at the canned tomatoes in a local store yesterday, and the 28 oz. cans were $1.28 for the store brand, and $1.64 for a major brand. George, Maybe the beans were late because of our odd weather? Everything in my garden seemed to cycle in-and-out of production this year, instead of producing regularly. The only exception was tomatoes and peppers, which mostly produced nonstop (and still are). The okra, beans, black-eyed peas, cukes, melons, etc. all seemed to stall during the frequent cool and cloudy spells, and then would produce like mad during the hotter, drier periods. I'm thinking maybe the cornfield beans didn't get enough consistent sun/heat to produce earlier. Even now, my beans and cukes will slow down during a cooler and cloudier period. Then, we'll have a couple of days of warmer and sunnier weather and they'll speed up again. Scott, I am still picking tomatoes regularly, but the harvest has slowed down a whole lot and I am hoarding them and trying to make them last as long as possible. Our son is married to a real doll, and I have to admit that there were times I worried he'd fall in love with and marry whoever he was dating at the time, and that particular person wasn't one I would have chosen for him if I could do the choosing. So, yes, it's a great relief that his wife is wonderful in every way and we're thrilled the two of them found each other. I don't think your wife did too badly, by the way! LOL Since she decided to keep you, you must be a 'keeper' and I imagine she hopes the kids will one day find someone just like you. Dawn

Horribly windy day . . . I was just reading over this thread and thinking. Earlier, I was looking at some seedling pictures, too. ~ sob ~ Will spring ever come?? First of all, I'm really looking forward to seeing how the orach is doing! A mother plant is always left in some corner to go to seed. Last year, Mother was right beside the compost pile - I may be sorry for having picked that location! The spinach that will come later in the season just isn't all that much more tender and tasty than the orach. I'm real happy that it is there every spring! The dandelions and lawn violets will be along soon. Snapdragons will reseed but last year's plants can't survive our winters unless they are right up against the house . . . someone's house. Mine is too shady after the tree to the south leafs-out. I do look forward to growing spuds each year, now that I've gotten back into that! Every year, I have to hold my breath hoping the potato bugs don't find them. I think it may be because there are so few gardens around in that location. Little disturbed soil so there are few nightshade weeds, also. Out in the bigger garden with the cultivated farmland around it - the ease in which I've grown the potatoes the last few years would probably be lost. But you know tomatoes . . . ?! Those were in the pictures I was just looking at. I complain about tomatoes every year. Seed is sown 8 or 10 weeks before they are set out. So, I've got another 2 months of growing them than any of the other crops, except peppers (& snapdragons ;o). I've got to get them thru the leaf stage, flower stage, fruit stage, right up until they are really at the "seed stage!" After all, a sun-ripened tomato is really what is intended. The seeds inside are fully mature by then, or nearly so. (You can't image the level of frustration when I've taken care of a plant thru all the months and have 1 or ZERO ripe fruits at the end of the season!! Maybe you can.) However, I always have lots of tomatoes by September. Sometimes, I have the early cherries by the 1st week of August! Some varieties have never failed me . . . I am really looking forward to starting some seeds. Steve

"External moisture has nothing to do with the internal moisture of the meat. It is a matter of temperature. " In that, I expect you are talking about the final internal temperature. Well, not quite that simple. Higher oven temperature means faster cooking to the same internal temperature, and results in less moisture loss. Large cuts maybe cannot take advantage of that, as outsides would be too done. Higher humidity cooking results in higher heat transfer at a given temperature, and results in less weight loss (moslty moisture). From the link below: "For the same final product temperature, increasing the oven air temperature significantly reduced the moisture loss in the cooked chicken patties. This reduction was due to a shorter cooking time achieved at a higher oven air temperature. Increasing product temperatures significantly increased the moisture losses. At the same oven air temperature, the moisture loss in the cooked chicken patties increased three to five times with increasing the final product temperature from 50 to 80 C" ". During thermal processing, increasing air humidity increased the product yield ... at an internal temperature of 80 C, increasing the relative humidity from 50 to 95% increased the product yield more than 10%. The product yield is related to the moisture loss during cooking." Running counter to the hotter-oven-means-more-moist is the fact that higher oven temperature oven (cooking to the same internal temperature) results in less available soluble protein, so I guess not as good nutritionally. For the OP, if you already are getting a combi steam oven, I would not care about the other oven having any kind of moisture feature. I read the manual on the Capital Maestro, and their feature isn't anywhere in the same class as the true combi. Here is a link that might be useful: Heat Transfer Properties, Moisture Loss, Product Yield, and Soluble Proteins in Chicken Breast Patties During Air Convection Cooking