At our house, the fact that we eat more fresh produce when we grow it is priceless. Definitely an excellent ROI, in wall street terms, and ROH (return on health.) The physical labor involved and the increased intake of "good for you" combined with the fact that we didn't and won't spray any kind of stuff on all of that food is an exponential benefit. Not all of the seeds we buy will end up yielding something to eat. But even when you add the cost of seeds you buy that produce nothing to eat, there has always been a financial gain in overall money saved at the grocery store. Critters of various types end up killing some plants or ruining some produce, but if I start sprayin stuff, there goes the money I was going to save. If I'm going to eat produce that's been sprayed, it's probably better if it's been done professionally and not by me, clueless about 'cides. So it makes more sense to me to save the trouble of all of the extra mosquito bites I would get doing it, the cost of the spray, and the need to become educated about using 'cides which I am growing produce to avoid. I think it's better to let the birds eat the bugs they can find, attract beneficials (that don't end up getting 'cided also) to handle the bad guys better next time. When the failed plants are put in the compost pile, they make a last contribution to the food chain. Growing food that you would have otherwise paid for is a no-brainer to me. One is already paying for the space, makes a lot more sense to get something of value from it than to have just more grass that costs more money to mow. Veggies don't have to be grown in ugly rows, or huge dedicated squares and rectangles. If you mix them in with flowers, it just looks like more leaves. It's also easier and so much more yummy to pick tomatoes, cukes, zukes, etc... off of a chain link fence than to weed-wack the fence all summer. Veggies just blend into the landscape, except corn. Monocultures are also more vulnerable to pests and diseases, so spreading your produce - tomatoes especially - throughout the yard instead of all in a row can make the difference of even getting something vs. nothing. This is also (insert number of spread-out plants) times more likely to attract beneficials who look for pests on certain plants. Like the clich� about putting all of your eggs in one basket. If you get one bell pepper from a bought plant, you're probably already ahead financially. Same with a pack of cantaloupe or watermelon seeds. And what kid wouldn't prefer to grow a pumpkin ($1 for seeds) over buying one (starting at $5.) Cha-ching. Lettuce and spinach was really great this year! We're not real into salad, but we ended up eating some lettuce almost every day since all I had to do was go outside and pick exactly the amount we wanted. Often when I buy lettuce or spinach, most of it goes bad. I've never understood why they only sell such big bags of spinach, or a whole head of...

We have a 30-40 year old carob in our backyard. We love the shade and the maturity of the tree....it's an awesome tree. But alas! it is indeed messy. Leaves, seed pods, the birds love it so there is lots of bird poop to deal with underneath the canopy. In winter, around Christms time, the tree produces a fuzzy flower that I assume becomes the seed pod. It's odor is somewhat offensive. I'm okay with it but some find it extremely offnseive. That lasts a couple of months, then the fuzzies fall and stain the brickwork. It's not a tree for everyone, but it's okay with our household.

I've been doing some reading, lots of reading, LOL, and came across an article saying that home designs like ours, two stories with a vaulted entryway and staircase are a nightmare for HVAC. It recommended two systems: one up, one down for real comfort and said it was really more economical than a two-zone single system. We've thought about putting a second unit in the attic, but it's something that probably has to wait until the house is paid off. In the meantime, I've been thinking and finally realized that there is a place we could put another supply duct. It would be on the far side of the door into the garage. The current duct trunk is on the other side of that door. It's right above the closet in the guest room, so we should be able to go through there and straight up to the attic--hope the attic joists aren't in the way. The run would be about 10"-11" x 24" in size and approx 58' long with 2 right angle turns. We're thinking it could handle about 900 CFM and hoping we could take our master bedroom and vaulted ceiling bath off the current duct and supply them with that. Our bedroom gets a little, but our bath is at the end of the current run and gets basically no air. With our master suite off the main trunk, I'm pretty sure the other upstairs rooms would have plenty. Does that sound like a duct that would work? Hubby is also thinking that if we did it with ductboard, he'd be able to do most of it himself, except for the connection to the plenum. He's pretty good with carpentry, plumbing and electrical, but has only worked on a/c in cars. And if I hadn't mentioned it, after measuring our house, we're really around 2,600 sq ft, not the 2,400 sq ft we had thought we had. Sorry, one more thing, if we have 1410 CFM now and add 900 CFM with another duct, going to about 2500 CFM, does that mean we'd need any certain blower size? Or do we just go with what the manual J says, assuming I can find the manual or a tech to do the calcs for us?

Thank you for the replies!!!! Lily's mom- Thank you so much for looking through this!!!! There will be 4 bedrooms/ 4 full baths plus the office and it's half bath when the addition is done. Bedroom 2 will become a laundry room/bike room. The current laundry will become a butler's pantry/scullery. I guess I am confused why it wouldn't count as a bedroom? It will still have a closet and bathroom. But it will have a 6 foot wide pocket door and a bar/hutch area (I don't think I will install a wine cooler or ice maker). I did have an interior designer here last week who does high end homes in the area and she believes that no one would ever use the room as a true bedroom because of its location. She also thought that adding a larger laundry room was important. Unfortunately, the current shower is 29" wide. I don't think it is very useful in that size. That is why I was thinking of eliminating it. If I can squeeze in a new shower, I would make it 36" wide. I think to maintain the bathroom with a shower and closet, I will have to steal more closet space from the master closet. This bothered the ID because she thought people want closet space and two masters. It seems I could take some space and still leave a 2 foot wide closet for the original master, plus the other walk in closet. I completely agree that I need to move the door further down. I think that is great idea. The only reason I don't want the toilet and sink switched is I don't want it on the dining room wall. I just have this thing about hearing the toilet flush or worse being so close to to the living area. The birds will move into the current master bedroom. This way they will all get views out the window. They get a lot of time out of their cages and sometimes I need a break from them! They are very needy animals! Thanks bpathome! I wish that would work, but there wouldn't be wall space for the pocket door to close, unless I am missing something?