I enjoyed this. and Don, I remember that song. My DS never went off to camp, but we had a huge extra wooded lot which was the neighborhood hangout when young, a nearby creek to explore runniing thru undeveloped lots to build on when older. Bike trails and jumping ramps were favorites...never did regain my garden rakes and shovels and DH fussed about the plywood and tools hauled off and never returned...fun memories. josh

1. when did the various colors of tomatoes come into existence? (yellow, red, black, purple, white, green, pink) No one can say for certain. Early records indicate there were yellow, red and green tomatoes possibly being used by different Meso-American or South American peoples as you eluded to below. I would add it's still up for debate. 2. How did this happen. On purpose or accidentally? I assume you mean color changes. Most of the colors known likely occured as spontaneous mutations. There are a few color variations that occured through cross bredding with different species or induced mutations (irradiation). Sherry is one that was induced. 3. Which colors variations appeared first? Probably green, red and yellow based on the wild species. Some of the orange colors likely evloved later especially in the Galapogos species. Ask McCain or DrC, they were probably around back then ;) 4. Which colors have the most recessive traits? A true green fruit like Green Giant probably has the most recessive traits for color. That would be "gr" for green flesh + "r" for yellow trait + "y" for clear skin (gr/gr,r/r,y/y) Green fruit require 2 separate genes to be homozygous for that flesh trait, green flesh and yellow. The skin is either clear (which is recessive) or yellow (dominate). There have been similar recessives (yellow trait, apricot fruit, high pigment and maybe colorless skin) made but they do not exist in the trade. 5. Is there any relationship between color of the tomato and climate it prefers? Most no. However the trait like Aft (anthocynin or true purple fruit) are expressed more in bright light and cooler temperatures. Aft lines have not really hit the market yet. 6. Is there any relationship between color and vine length? Generally no. However there are certain exceptions. Short determinate vines are determined by a separate gene called "self-pruning" (what people refer to as "determinate"). This gene (sp) sits close on the same chromosome (6) as one of the genes for orange color called "Beta". When genes are close together they are often refered to as being "linked" as they most often show up together but are still independent of each other. "Beta" is an introduced gene to normal tomatoes. It was bred into regular tomatoes and can be found in the variety "caro-Rich". The linkage of "sp" and "B" was broken and Caro-Rich plants are indeterminate. But typically plants with the Beta gene are determinate. There is another exception however the gene doesn't form the fruit color rather it makes the fruit color (whether it be red or orange) more intense by increasing the amount of that coloration pigment. These are the "hp" genes (high pigment1 and 2) and the dark green "dg" gene. In the seedling stage these plants can be stunted compared to normal and seed germination is poor. However once the surviving plants start growing there is little size difference. They just tend to be...

The soffit is Hardi panel, and the trim and fascia are all Hardi (full 1 inch). The gable ends are Hardi panel with Miratec battens. The gable fascia boards are pressure treated 2X6's, as I wanted it to match the thickness of my faux rafter tails. The roof brackets are rough-cut cypress. The columns (above the real stone) are a mix of Hardi panel and Miratec. PVC trim is much easier to work with, but expensive. I got a deal on the Hardi products, as well as the siding, which is actually Nichiha. We're happy with the look, which is what really matters. Our house looks a lot like Craftsman-era homes out here in the country, right down to the tin roof and shed porch roof. The ones in the nearby city are much fancier. I don't know if the plainer country homes are actually Craftsman, or a poor man's copy, but they do date from the same period. We were on a desperately tight budget, and wanted the house to blend in with the woods and other area houses, rather than a 'look-at-me!' edifice. We spent our limited funds on quality construction (ICF and Marvin windows) and details that I could do. The entire house is DIY, with only site work, concrete, and drywall hired out.

“I want to do a mortar joint (wet) stone on my exterior. Had my mind set this way...However, my builder is trying to talk me into dry stack as he says that mortared stone looks nice in the beginning but in time will fade and or look old.” Me thinks your builder either doesn’t know how or just doesn’t want to be bothered with the extra attention to detail required to give you what what you want and is making up bs excuses to discourage you from pursuing it. I have fieldstone veneer around my foundation and even though parts of it are separating ( :-/ ) due to poor workmanship by my builder 25 years ago, it doesn’t look old and it hasn’t faded.