I'm not a salmon expert but we live in Seattle and eat fresh (summer/fall) and frozen salmon (winter/spring) weekly. We only eat wild caught salmon from the Pacific. I have always been disappointment in the flavor of Atlantic salmon I've eaten. From my experience the color varies across species. For example, sockeye has the richest darkest color. King is often lighter. The color does seem to affect flavor, but I think the most important factor to my palette is freshness. The fresher the wildcaught pacific salmon is when eaten or frozen the better it tastes. We buy frozen from a local vendor that fillets and freezes on the boat so the frozen when defrosted still tastes great. The other thing is not to overcook it. I find defrosted frozen salmon takes less time to cook. If you live somewhere that does not have good access to really fresh salmon then I'd buy frozen and try and source boat processed salmon. I haven't tried Costco salmon but they are a Seattle company and I do think they source, in general, pretty good quality products. If you like it then really that's all that matters. Also, largely you get what you pay for with salmon. The exception is that if it's the first of the season it's a rip off and if it's the height of the season it's a great deal. But wild will typically cost more than farmed and Pacific probably more than Atlantic and those price differences are worth it IMHO.

If you aren't planning to cut them all at once, prune lower branches off gradually (or if they're dead, all at once). Thin them out if they're crowded and let some of them get really big for harvesting later. It makes a nice look in the woods too, you can see and walk under them. I'm making a deck (under an overhanging roof) from cedar. It's lightweight but we can cut it any thickness we want on our own sawmill. :-] I run the small branches through the chipper for nice mulch and burn anything over an inch in diameter in the woodstove or firepit. It burns hot and fast and I would not recommend using it exclusively for firewood due to possible creosote buildup from the oils. But it's great for fire starting to get those heavy oak logs going.

I think the only negative review I read regarding Cedar Valley (CV) or Shakertown was from someone who didn't like the idea of plywood behind the cedar. CV has a fiberglass laminate built in, and the product seems pretty solid to me with added moisture protection. I think the price is almost $100 more per square than Ecoshel, though. My concern is when different materials are married at the factory. I feel the same for plumbing and windows. Different materials expand and contract differently, respond to water differently, etc. Thankfully CV is only mixing plywood with cedar, and a fiberglass laminate. The fiberglass must be their moisture barrier, but my concern is getting moisture out from between the two products. I'll look into how they weep moisture. Question: being that CV is thicker than traditional cedar shingles, did that cause any problems around window/door trim? In regards to cedar impressions: Don't be fooled by the photos, I drove by a lot and even knocked on some doors. I could tell from the car which houses were vinyl shingles. Customers said it was the best thing they did, no maintenance, 10 years old, still looks new, etc. But like you found out, after pricing, it ended up costing just as much as the real thing. I think you need to love the idea of less maintenance more than your love for the real thing. Or go with fiber cement and ignore any negative reviews. We have family in Nantucket and when I asked them what the life span of cedar was for them, they said at least 20 years. And that's with brutal salt air and no stains or paints (not allowed on the island). So with stain I could see maybe 30 years or more? I'm OK with that kind of ROI. I'm also in the home renovation business, so working on my house is a pleasure. I don't care so much for "maintenance free" (maybe I'll feel differently in 30 years), but I love the detail and warmth of real cedar, I'm familiar with it, it's forgiving, and natural, so won't sit in a land fill for 100 years. They say vinyl is recyclable, but I've never seen anyone recycle it. Let me know how your installation goes, it's cold up here, so siding will have to wait until spring. Blessings.

if you invest in cedar, get the post-on-pipe design, which will cost more but will majorly extend its life. design: not sure what specific design you're going for, but I'd recommend paying extra for bottom trim. I thought my fence would look fine w/o it and I regret that so hard. it looks kind of ragged and unfinished. I'm in the process of getting that fixed but I'm kicking myself so hard for not noticing while they were still here. due to the geography of our yard, our fence looked perfect from the inside, so that's why I didn't notice the problem right away. so, final advice: inspect all sides of the job every day while it's being built and don't be afraid to speak up if anything looks wrong!