7000ft, I am totally convinced you ought to write a book. Your family sounds very interesting and it sounds like you all work as a cooperative of sorts. How much of your food do you produce? The tomatoes that I grow are primarily for sauce, so I use Roma-type tomatoes. They are odd-looking, being long and quite large. The variety I grew this year was Super San Marzano. I've tried some others, but this one is the best. The sauce-type tomatoes are awesome for making sauce. They are very meaty with minimal juice and seeds. Making sauce is a breeze because you can skip the steps for squeezing the juice and seeds out. According to the catalogs, some varieties have pectin in them that helps to thicken the sauce. We ended up with 25 jars of sauce in the freezer. That is a record for us, so we are pleased! That's 25 dinners during ski season that I don't have to cook. :) I also grow a cherry tomato and some sandwich-type tomatoes. I've had good luck with Early Wonder, which is early yet tasty. (way better than early girl!) Inside the GH we enjoy our first tomatoes in mid-July. Without the GH we are lucky to get any red tomatoes at all. I'm sure it's the same for you. My gardening efforts are pretty much solo, but my husband was instrumental in building the GH and in helping look after things as needed. He is an expert at raising seedlings because I tend to travel a lot in the spring. He also built a root cellar and he is fully on board with our quest to grow as much food as possible. It's a bit of an oddball pursuit, so I'm happy that he's into it!

I use those 4' orange electic fence stakes from home depot (about $1 a piece)for lots of things in the yard & gardens. Pound it in the ground and then slide the PVC pipe over it and into the soil a bit. Set out several of these with holes drilled in the PVC pipe and string wire through them to make a fairly sturdy, portable & cheap trellis. I use these stakes to build easy fencing. I use plastic cable ties to secure wire or plastic mesh fencing to them. Because I dislike the orange and it stands out like a sore thumb, I paint my stakes black. Pound 2 rows of these stakes in the ground about 4' apart and slide each end of a flexible PVC pipe over them, making an arch. Cover this with garden cloth or plastic to protect plants. I "sew" the fabric to the pvc with fishing line. If you are using plastic, cut some flaps in it, to keep it from blowing away in a big wind. I use them to brace non secured retaining walls. At my old house I built a raised bed using them to hold the lumber together. I drilled holes in the timbers and slid them over the stakes, then I lined the interior side with heavy plastic.

IâÂÂll try to get a photo of the door. HandyMac, Is there such a thing as a non toxic stripper? And one thing I wanted to mention. I was not necessarily wanting to strip it down to bare wood. There has to be probably 3 or 4 layers of paint on there, but it was my understanding that if you cover lead paint with non lead paint that seals it in there and unless it chips off later, you are no longer exposed to it. So the door is not chipping at all, I was going to just very lightly rough it up to hold paint and put another top layer on it. I definitely was not considering sanding this door down to bare wood. I am the person who would not even use glue but stick the toothpicks in the hole with a new screw. [g] ItâÂÂs worked perfectly before. lol I agree, you are right, of course, an experienced person here to look at it will be needed. I am just trying to get a broad idea of which direction to go. And to understand what people are talking about when they come out. And I do agree that it is difficult to find a person that is qualified. Many say they are but you find out in the end, they werenâÂÂt. I donâÂÂt think I am going to be considering steel doors. IâÂÂm pretty attached to wood doors. And the door faces East, and with the outer entry the sun is a minor factor. Trebruchet, Thanks for another point of view and for the link. IâÂÂm mulling it all over. MissingNoFingers - I didnâÂÂt think I had an heirloom door here. ItâÂÂs a cape with a pretty average, small front door. But it is solid wood paneled door and I think the price for those start at about $800. Thanks for the illustration, very helpful. Does the fact I was only planning on giving it a quick once over to paint it make a difference? Could I paint without sanding, since it isnâÂÂt peeling or chipping?

I decided my title was not clear -- am reposting with a simpler title. Please ignore this thread.