For me, 30 degrees.

Glad you started this thread Oceanna! I'm going to do what Schoolhouse and CMK do and use twigs and branches. Thanks for the idea! I know it's not a new idea but it had slipped my mind - a lot of that going around right now! ;-D Better than the cut apart tomato cages or heavy twine and stakes I've been using. I will continue to use the jute twine/wire/tall stakes for scarlet runner beans if it ever gets warm enough to plant them. I'd love to get some of the peony supports at Lee Valley but can't justify the cost even if 'they last for generations'. None of my kids grow peonies! LOL Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley peony supports

I shop at multiple stores. Pay day is every other Friday so I that is when I go to Wal-Mart or Smith's (Kroger owned). Every 2 weeks we also get coffee beans at the little mom and pop shop. We go to Sprouts every 2 weeks as their ads overlap on Wednesdays. This is actually getting less frequent as they have not put the bulk things on sale that I want the most as frequently (steel cut oats and short grain brown rice). The bread outlet is a once a month trip. Other stores such as Keller's (for meat), Trader Joe's, the international markets, Vitamin Cottage (for other bulk items), I alternate months. Some things I get through Amazon's subscribe and save and that can vary in frequency. Eggs are mostly from my hens and many of our vegetables come from our garden. Some of the variety in shopping is about the money savings but it is more along the lines of trying to match the quality to a certain price point and meeting my needs of acquiring a diversity of ingredients. Arborio rice at TJ's, quality meat at Keller's, red lentils in bulk at Vitamin Cottage, etc. Part of it is me trying to maintain a well stocked pantry because my moods are fickle and if the pantry has a variety of things, I can cook according to my mood. Pre-planned menus never, ever work for me.

When we redid our kitchen a couple of years ago, we desperately needed food storage space. We initially had a 24" deep by 24" wide base cabinet, countertop, and a 12" deep by 24" wide wall cabinet. It was next to the refrigerator and had a wall on the other side. We replaced it with a 24" wide by 24" deep tall pantry. Two shorter doors on the top and two taller doors on the rest of it, total of 8' high. It fits really nicely in the space and is much more usable than the base & wall cabinet combo. We absolutely LOVE the pantry cabinet, even though sometimes things get lost in the back. However, we should have (and are in the new house) gotten roll-outs so things won't get misplaced. But damn if that pantry doesn't hold a ton of stuff, in one place, and gives us fantastic storage. I refused to do the new kitchen without one, even though we're going to have a walk-in pantry there. The thing is, there are some items we just want to have handy in the kitchen, and the tall pantry is perfect for it. We also happen to store my big KA mixer on the bottom shelf of the pantry, as well as a big pasta pot, neither of which fit elsewhere in my small-ish kitchen. We knew the pantry was expensive (even without roll-out trays) before we bought it, but it's totally been worth it.