What I usually do is I have a 5 gallon bucket for the indoor system reservoir, and an additional 5 gallon bucket for adding water throughout the week. I set the water out in this second 5 gallon bucket and add 10 ml H2O2 for four or five gallons. If I don't I discovered that the reservoir will get funky in a couple days and then I have to scrape the slime off of the top after disinfecting the reservoir with H2O2. I only tried rain water once and will definitely keep it up once I get a good system in place. I'm just a little skeptical of my vinyl shingles and water quality so I may try to rig up something on my metal shed instead. So yea, the H2O2 is a preventive/standard procedure for me pretty much. Also, I noticed that even after four days of letting that water just sit there waiting to be used, when I pour it out it bubbles -- that H2O2 has put a lot of oxygen in that water. This might be my last post on this thread as I am now harvesting the last of the tomatoes - on the EARLY maturity date I might add - and they are very good tasting before and after flushing. Here are some final pics of a portion of the harvest, some notes, and some random outdoor pics too... Thanks everyone for your help on this thread -- the next time around I will be more vigilant to prune the sucker shoots and trim off deformed fruit to get the fruit bigger, but for the pathetic job I did this time around, this turned out GREAT! Here is a link that might be useful: Here are the pictures.

I just had some of the tart with some friends at work - they loved it, but I think it needs some revision. First of all, the lemon curd was too sweet, but I think this is because I used Meyer lemons, and I will adjust for that in the future. The other problem was that the edge crust was a bit hard - still tasty and good to eat, but a bit difficult to cut. I think the problem here is that I started the crust at 425 degrees for 11 minutes with the aluminum foil and pie weights and then returned it to the oven for 17 minutes with the oven turned down to 350 degrees. The recipe that called for a 425 oven expected me to put the curd in the crust for the second baking, but I decided not to do that because I knew it was not going to fit, and I had already adjusted the curd recipe so that it would not require baking after being cooked on the stovetop. Also, I took the shortcut of not chilling the dough as long as the recipe called for, but I don't think this would have caused the crust to come out hard. Anyway, no one complained about the crust being hard, and so maybe I just need to serve it with a knife in addition to a fork - the forks were plastic, which didn't help. I pretty much followed Anne Burrell's recipe, except that I used four eggs plus one egg white in the curd plus one tablespoon of cornstarch to help it set without baking. I did refer to Ina's recipe as well, especially the part about pricking the inside of the shell after removing the pie weights. Actually, I forgot to do that before the second baking, but I pricked it after baking to deflate it. One tip of my own that I added was to add the lemon zest to the curd just before cooking it, and I stirred it in with a spoon instead of a whisk. Let me know what suggestions you have regarding the crust. Thanks! Lars

PerfectMemory, It's perfectly normal to feel mad at losing your mom. Grief can take many forms and sometimes bring out in us a person we don't even recognize. But I wanted to talk to you about life not being pointless. Nobel Prize winner and Nazy Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once called it 'the most important question a human has to face: Why are we here?'. Think about our capabilities and the use of our brain, we barely scratch the surface. We only use a small fraction of our brain yet we have done so much. It's true, our present life span allows us barely to scratch the surface of what we are designed to do. Think about the beginning, I know you may not be a believer in God but hear me out, God created mankind as an expression of his love and surrounded us with beauty and plenty under peaceful conditions. The first humans were given a fulfilling and meaningful assignment: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is living upon the earth." (Genesis 3:8,9) Things did not immediately work out as Jehovah purposed, for we are here, the poor choice of our first parents we have inherited sin and death. NEVERTHELESS God's original purpose for mankind WILL be fulfilled. Few things are more distressing to the human spirit than the thought that life has no meaning, no purpose. But, if you make careful observation of the natural world, you will see that the mind-boggling complexities found in nature, from unicellular organisms to galactic clusters millions of light years away, tell us of an intelligent Designer, or Creator. "For God's invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable". (Romans 1:20) Regarding us humans, we have an inborn desire to live and to know the meaning of life and seeking those answers is part of being human. We were not created to die, and because things changed and we are now here God has given us the hope of seeing of loved ones again in perfect conditions to restore His original purpose. The thought of seeing them again is the hope that Jesus gave us when he was on earth and resurrected some who had died, Jesus was only giving us a preview of what was to come in the future in a much grander scale. We WILL see our loved ones again. The Bible can answer all of our questions it's just a matter of looking. There is no tradition there, no lies, no imperfect human reasoning, just pure, loving guidance. I can assure you that if you look, you will find. Much love, Ada

What a different world it was before 9/11. I was at work in downtown Minneapolis getting ready to help out with a United Way fundraiser event in our office. My co-worker in the cubical next to mine just stood up and said the World Trade Center had been hit by an airplane. As the saying goes, the commonest things happen most commonly, and I immediately thought of the World Trade building in St. Paul and the tiny downtown airport there and knew it must have been a terrible accident. Terrorism never even occurred to me. It wasn't until I went to the internet that I understood what was going on. I had a very close friend who was a flight attendant for United at the time and she called to let me know she was alright. She was in absolute shock, watching TV and telling me that a second airplane had hit the towers as we were on the phone. My husband was working in St. Paul at an office that faced southeast. He watched plane after plane head into landing formation towards the airport. The airplanes in the air were simply told to land at whatever airport was nearest and the huge Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport could take a lot of traffic. The rumors began that the Sears Tower was going to be hit next and the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis, so our company told us all to go home. Out in the suburbs, my brother-in-law and nephew immediately went to donate blood when all of the eastern hospitals were gearing up for the thousands and thousands of wounded patients they were expecting. As we know, that didn't happen. I used to walk to and from work, and when we went back to work the next day, it was incredibly strange to hear the silence. No airplanes were allowed in the sky for several days and it was soooo quiet. The Sunday following the attack, church ended and people began leaving and the choir began singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic ("Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord....") and everyone just stopped in their tracks and began singing. It makes me tear up just to type this. A member of my book club made a strange statement that still haunts me. It was 6-9 months after 9/11 and she said some of her co-workers were STILL wearing small flag pins on their lapels every day. She couldn't understand it and thought that it was appropriate right after 9/11 but that enough time had passed and that people should now put that kind of thing away. Thank God people won't ever forget 9/11.