Marla, Thanks for the reply. I'm already 'working' all the short cuts I know for canning since I do a lot for my own family. I have a very large stash of jars, mostly picked up in my travels when I find them on sale, flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores. I keep adding and stashing :) We've had a few successful small business ventures, so I understand gross sales vs. the bottom line. It's unfortunate, but I've come to understand that when I do something I love to do, I can't expect to be paid as much for my time. That's the price you pay for not being a slave to somebody else's rules, and I think it's mostly worthwhile. The other thing is that we don't expect to make much profit for the first few years while we are learning what our new market customers want, and personally while we are building infrastructure on our property as our budget permits. That said, a lot of what we consider "value added" are the small steps our family has taken to make our microfarm more productive--deer fence, planting rows of berries and other fruits, expanding the range of things we're trying to grow and being creative about maximum use of the space we have, etc. In addition to selling products grown specifically for market plus our excess produce, we're expanding our own food base to keep from dependence on the grocery store. (Adding mushrooms, garlic this fall, chickens next spring...then hopefully bees). These are value added benefits that can't be measured as easily in dollars, but are precious nonetheless (as I'm sure most farmers would agree). We're also enjoying becoming more involved in our community, which is another "value added" benefit. I'm sure there are others, but this is moving too far off the original value added topic, so I'll stop blabbing now. Carrie

I'm assuming you are speaking of a treadle sewing machine when you say foot pedal? Franklin was a Sears and Roebuck brand and they were first manufactured around 1910. They were supposed to be a copy of Singer. The value of intact treadle machines varies wildly from one part of the country to the next. I have purchased them as cheaply as twenty five dollars (including the cabinet) to seventy five dollars. A really nice one in good shape with an attractive cabinet would bring about $200 here. The local city school systems were still using treadle machines in their sewing classes into the 1960s and they were still being made until the 1950s. I have five or six old machines like that and sort of collect them. You'll find the actual machine heads are often out of the machine when they're sold, and the cabinets with the treadle mechanisms are often more expensive than the old machines. Ebay usually has a bunch of them and they're sometimes found at estate auctions.

If it where an antique, and upholstered, then it would almost undoubtedly be a Collignon chair. If it were, then there would be a company mark on the underside of the seat, along the back of the seat frame, or a plate on the back of the seat frame. If there is no mark, it is not a Collignon, and I'm not familiar with any other makers that upholstered their folding chairs (seat and back). I'm not personally familiar with Robin wood works, but there are a whole slew of, what we like to call, "container companies" with similar names. They are generally cheap imports/repro's etc that only sell an item in increments of containers. :-) Happy Wood Works, Sunshine Wood Works, Smile Wood Works, to name a few. All told, and without seeing it, I would lay my money down on a repro chair as well. :-)

There is no energy code problem with using old windows MA although I would advise against it since the likehood of earlier insulating glass seal failure is so great. It's not a good investment. The residential energy code for Massachusetts is contained in Appendex J of the Building Code which contains no mention of the Energy Star program which is a voluntary energy conservation program sponsered by the EPA. In MA the windows of a house have no minimum standard; they are considered one element contributing to the total heat loss of the structure. The easiest way to show compliance is to enter heat loss and equipment efficiency information for the entire structure into a computer program called "REScheck" (supplied by the state) which returns a pass or fail notice. Another way to prove compliance is to have an engineer calculate the heat loss of the structure and certify compliance. Compliance proof must be submitted with the application for a building permit. There is an exception clause for additions to existing houses which sets the acceptable U & R values for each element of the addition rather than requiring analysis of the entire house. The maximum U-value for fenestration in an addition is .39 The current residential energy code in CT is the 2003 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) published by the ICC. "REScheck" software can be used to show compliance just like in MA. Here is a link that might be useful: MA residential energy code