Just a few thoughts on Fairs before I go chop corn silage. Our fair in Drayton where my daughter shows her 4-H calf and my husbands family has shown dairy cattle for probably 40 years moved to August but has been suffering from a huge lack of help and exhibitors lately. Fairs are typically run by rural and farm folks and the face of rural Ontario has changed hugely in the last 20 years. What farmers there are are very busy and many of them don't participate in fairs because some part of them is held on Sundays. Our community is about 1/3 mennonites - not old order but they won't belong to the fair or come to anything on Sunday. Same goes for the huge Dutch community around us. Won't help with anythng that involves a Sunday. Many farmers are also fairly new immigrants and they don't always participate in community events. My 4-H club died about 3 years ago for the same reasons. We have trouble with volunteers in any group whether it be Horticulture or minor sports. It is very difficult running rural organizations with about 1/3 of the community to draw on for volunteers. The weather for the last several years has also hurt farmers as they need to make feed when the weather is good and there isn't that much good weather. Our feed has to be of such good quality to be competitive that you can't take time off to attend a fair if it is the only good week to make hay etc. Not like the old days where haying could wait another week if you were busy showing animals. If you make poor quality feed you pay for it all winter by buying suppliment. And that makes food cost more which comsumers don't seem to want to pay for. Agriculture has changed and so have fairs! Debbie

It helps with a basic uderstanding of how the different doorstyles rank in expense within that line, but between lines it's not as useful. The big reason that it's usless is the deceptive markup practies by most box stores. Just the cabinet boxes themselves are at about a 30% margin, which makes them appear to be cheaper than a cabinet store for those who think they are shopping apples to apples. But all of the accessories and molding's are closer to 50%, and those are the most expensive portions to begin with. So, that 10K quote is now 15K by the time you add in all of the finishing touches that a kitchen actually needs. Like toekick, scribe molding, and a touch up kit. It's the burger joint equivalent of selling you a large soda for $3 when it costs less than a quarter wholesale. Not denying anyone the ability to determine pricing however they want to, but it makes a real difference to the end consumer when they don't compare complete quotes. Box stores are NEVER the cheapest choice when comparing actual like to like quotes. Cbinet showrooms will beat them every time. The only place where they have a stranglehold is by offering credit. So the customer ends up paying more------TWICE! It's smart business, but those who deal with them should fully understand where they are being taken to the cleaners if they choose to go that route. All of those tiered discount programs are nothing but smoke and mirrors.

I've grown a group of three (own root from Heirloom) for 4 years. They have kept a steady height, I'd say a little over 3', no signs ever of throwing out long those long arms as so many DA roses will do, even in my climate. Last year I increased the group to five, ordinarily I would be reluctant to add to an established group however their growth is vigorous, yet the height is consistent. The newbies caught up quite well and I feel confident that the difference will be undetectable by next summer. Excellent blackspot resistance, and last year it was one of the few varieties that kept blooming during an untreated midge infestation. Love, love love, Scarborough Fair, one of my favorite and best.

Trying to start a large garden on a tiny budget.