Mitch, I was thinking that maybe someone in Oklahoma might have some books geared towards Oklahoma vegetable gardening that I had never heard of. Not many bookstores down here in southern OK, and most of them have books geared towards Texas or the South, which is fine, but I thought there might be some sort of Oklahoma-oriented books I'd never heard of. I do have a couple of books about ornamental gardening in Oklahoma. Jill, You are so welcome. Oh, I am so thrilled you found a copy of the hardback version! After my original one started falling apart, I looked for months and months to find one of the hardbacks, and found plenty if I wanted to spend $80 to $120 or more (the law of supply and demand). I finally found one for $20-something plus shipping and was thrilled. I don't think they'll ever reprint the hardback. Dr. Cotner himself has said that printing costs have risen so high that, if he were writing the book today, there's not a publisher in the world who would publish it because it would have to sell for a ridiculously high price. Isn't it a WONDERFUL book! I encounter very few veggie problems that I can't look up and find a solution for in this book. I'd like to think that if he was writing the book today, maybe he'd include organic rememdies too. Regardless, it is and probably always will be my favorite veggie book--I cannot imagine there ever being a better one written by anyone, anywhere. Not only does Dr. Cotner include so much useful information, but he does it in a casual and relaxed style. When I first bought it, knowing he was a horticultural professor, I was afraid it would be "too academic", but of course, it is not. Dawn

The best place for long-term storage of seeds is your freezer; but that requires containers that are completely air-tight, otherwise the seed will dessicate (as in be freeze-dried). Baby food jars might work, as would any other jar with a rubber seal. Ball jars are good for this, you can put a lot of envelopes into one. But I think that the best method for preserving seeds is the heat-sealed foil packs. Several seed companies carry them, including Seed Savers and Southern Exposure. You can also re-use foil-lined chip bags, if they are cleaned out. Remember that if seed is frozen, it must remain sealed in its container after removal from the freezer, until the seeds (and the container) reach room temperature. Failure to do this can cause condensation on the seeds, which will quickly destroy them.

You hear good and bad about all brands. There's many happy LG owners posting on this forum. There's people who have had bad luck with all brands. That's called reality. A heater isn't truly mandatory in my opionion but I think it's a good idea as long as it works on enough cycles to be functional, and raises the temperature of the water, not just maintains the temperature. The Epics have gotten a lot of good reviews, and they should, they're Whirlpools and a proven design. Samsung does not build machines for them anymore - that's old information. I understand your budget concerns and I think you're looking at good models. I do like the suggestion of the Miele though. Now $2000 for the washer is a lot, but considering the amount of laundry you do, you can justify it. However, with any of them, I would suggest you consider NOT getting a matching dryer. Save the money there and put it toward the washer. A large (7.4+) CF Whirlpool dryer can be bought for about $400-$500 or less and they're excellent dryers. I bought mine for $300 and would buy it again in an instant. If you're going HE, and especially with a heater, you need to be prepared for long cycle times. 2-3 hours worth. It takes time to heat the water and the tumbling action needs more time to clean the clothes over an agitator. You sound sold on a FL so I won't suggest looking at the HE TLs. And I haven't found anyone who can give rational reasons for steam either in the washer or dryer. I think the word is "gimmick". If you have a laundry tub next to your washer, you can run the water in the tub to get the hot water close to the washer to have it warmer going into the tub. Keep in mind the tub itself will cool the water down. That's why a good heater could be valuable. But it's not the end all be all either. Advantage sometimes? Yes. Essential? No. People have washed and sanitized clothes for years without them. And as you're looking, get figures on water temperatures in degrees, not ambiguous terms like "hot", "warm" or "cold". What's hot to you may well be cold to me.

OK, citric acid for sprouting... ascorbic for breads. Got it. Guess I was thinking they were same thing. Oh, and that's new information for me about sprouting the mung beans under pressure. That's really interesting. I have a vacuum sealer, but I haven't used it very much. I guess I should get it out and try it. I went over on You Tube and did a search for Foodsaver and found several things to watch, also found a few on Pump'n'Seal and maybe that's where my confusion comes from as I've seen a little about both kinds and may have mingled the way the two different systems work. The Foodsaver universal lid doesn't get very high marks on Amazon, I went there some time ago when it was mentioned before. I went to Foodsaver's website and I see that a jar sealer is $9.99. So do you buy one of those for each jar and leave it on the jar till you're ready to use the contents? Or do you have a Pump'n'Seal where you use a regular canning flat, punch a hole in it to vacuum out the air, and then seal up the hole with a little piece of tape? I can see where this method would be 'way cheaper than buying Foodsaver universal lids, if it works as well as they say. Have you used the Pump'n'Seal method and if so, what is your opinion? Foodsaver universal lids cost $24 for a two-pack. If they have to stay on the jar till you use it, it seems like $12 a jar is kind of a substantial outlay of cash unless a person could stumble upon some at a garage sale or something, where the seller didn't know what they had. Or does the FoodSaver have the capability of using canning flats in a way similar to Pump'n'Seal, so that you're only out a canning flat? And I suppose the canning flats could be resealed? It's kind of hard for me to believe that a little piece of what looks like duct tape is all that keeps the vacuum intact, but maybe it does because the vacuum holds it on.... Forgive me, I'm not trying to be critical or troublesome or stupid, I'm just trying to make sure I understand as I don't know anyone personally who uses these. Thanks for your patience and taking the time to provide this information. I do truly appreciate it.