Marys1000 -- I think that house is lovely. I have lived in a Pennsylvania 1870s tenant/farmhouse for eleven years and know firsthand about the unattractive, economical changes owners make to a home. I have spent a lot of time removing or fixing these things. It has been well worth it, but I know this will never be the house that architectural historians gush over. Granted, the house you are looking at has been enlarged or "remuddled", but I don't think that would limit your ability to make the place homey, cozy, and wonderful. If you are looking for a high-style architectural piece to restore to perfection, then move along. But if you want a genuine, rural home, then I think it fits the bill, especially with all its quirkiness. One caveat, I know nothing about pricing and whether this is high or low for your area. Nor do I know how common this type of home/size property is. There are high styles of architecture available sometimes on the outskirts of towns, but more often I think properties with accompanying pieces of farmland will have this typical, plain type of farmhouse. It's quite beautiful in its own right, I think. The property is absolutely amazing. Good luck! Tina

Sorry to hear about your trouble, Prettealady. Your story is more common than you know. I'm an insurance agent (since 1977) and it's very rare that I find condo/co-op policy that's written correctly. Most agents insure them like tenants policies, focusing on the personal property coverage (contents) and pay little or no attention to the dwelling or building limit, leaving most insureds gravely underinsured. Anyone paying (depending on area) less than $200 for condo insurance is likely underinsured. Your options are to complain to State Farm (not the agent), your State's insurance dept, and lastly, to sue. Agents carry E&O insurance that covers Errors & Omissions. I don't know all the facts, but on the surface, it appears your agent let you down. Good luck, Kevin

Katie (the OP)... I really don't think thinning has much to do with root formation, only final size. I just recently ran an experiment here (for a totally different purpose) and planted nearly a dozen radishes in a single 12 oz plastic Dixie Cup (indoors under lights). They all germinated in two days an grew for 4 weeks (we just harvested them last week... mmmm, they were good). The roots all began to swell right up in two weeks and by the end of the fourth week wound up looking like dinner rolls packed into a baking pan, all bucked-up against one another and even popping out from between each other. Also I don't believe the issue is soil composition as I've grown root vegetables in heavy soil (referring to clay-ish and not nutrient density) and the roots still form... they tend to push up more out of the soil, tend towards misshapen and not get as large but they still form. So with those possibilities out of the way, that just leaves mineral deficiency or an imbalance or excess nitrogen... And the biggest clue here is that your greens (tops) grow just fine... so this tells me its not a mineral deficiency. The only thing left on the table that makes any sense is excess nitrogen levels. You don't state how you went about taking your samples or when, nor who did your testing (ex. was this a DIY kit? I'm wondering because most labs also do pH and organic matter). The nitrogen content in soil is so fleeting that if you didn't take your soil samples during the warm growing season, then the results you got likely may not really be relevant... this would be very likely if you were using fertilizer salts but also if you were growing organically as microbial activity is directly related to soil temps and moisture. I do know excess nitrogen will cause many root vegetables to push top growth rather than root formation (from first-hand experiences) and you did state how well your greens did so... What did you use for fertilizer during the growing season or how did you prepare your beds before you planted? These can all be clues to explain your lack of root formation and thus evolve into a solution. An example would be for instance say: if you mixed in (high-nitrogen) bat guano prior to planting and later side-dressed with blood meal and watered throughout the growing season with fish emulsion then the accessible nitrogen level could have been very high for the growing season but dropped off by fall with the cooling soil temps, if that's when you took your soil samples. I'm just throwing this out as an example but the only way for what you've described to be possible (based upon my own experiences anyway) seems to be an excess of nitrogen occurred during the growing season.

I'd put in temporary supports, remove the existing poles and concrete, install new, pressure treated posts in holes that are deep enough to prevent side movement, and pour new concrete . The amount of the post in a hole should be at least 1/3 of the aboveground length (so, if it's 8-9' from the ground to the top of the structure, a 3' deep hole would be about right). If you place a couple of inches of gravel at the bottom of the hole and taper the concrete away from the post to the edge of the hole, it should outlast you.