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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

> That table saw saved me $65... I paid $200 for it (a used Craftsman) 

1/3 reimbursed *already* .... ya done good !

> and used it to make the pantry too.

Now *this* I gotta 'read' - what are the dimensions/
arrangement and what do you intend to store *in*
the pantry ?

My current book is "Household and Country Crafts" -
I thought it would be about things like treenware
and quilting, etc.  Instead, the Contents reads :

Baking in the Old Brick-Ovens
The Dairy
The Domestic Pig
The Miller and the Mill
The Cooper
Spinning and Hand-Loom Weaving
The Village Blacksmith
The Wheelwright and The Carpenter
The Basket-Maker
The Glass-House Pot Maker and His Craft - - -

there are several more, and many of these crafts
have photos illustrating what types of tools it took
to provide the products - along with descriptions
of, for instance, brewing, cheese-making, candle-
dipping, etc. The "lighting and heating" is where
I am presently in the book - and looking forward 
to learning about barrels, baskets, wheels, and
particularly the last 'chapter/craft' The Roper and
his craft - when I tried to get some manila rope
for a project I discovered that about the only
place that would sell any would be a yacht supply
store - ordinary boats/fishermen are all 'into'
nylon and synthetics ....

> The truth is I enjoy doing it myself.. 

That's what many of 'today's children' have lost -
the opportunity to 'do-it-myself, Mommy !' and
instead of having chores that teach survivor
skills spend their time at the mall, in front of TV,
or 'improving their eye-hand coordination with
Gameboys, etc.

> I was just shocked when I saw what the door molding WOULD have cost me.

No, no, that's not a 'shock' that's a wonderful
*surprise* - a *bonus* *for* doing-it-yourself ....

Good job !! And thanks for sharing some *good*
news - I get *so* bogged down with all the
from-misfortune-all-the-way-to-horror in the
headlines.
>From frogpond AT aimcomm.net  Mon Oct 18 01:48:21 2004
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From: "MaryLou Reid" <frogpond AT aimcomm.net>
To: "Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>, homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 22:49:54 -0700
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Subject: Re: [Homestead] tomatoes the year-around and then some :
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On 16 Oct 2004 at 11:44, Toni Hawryluk wrote:

> Thank you whomever suggested the Mother Earth News
> Oct/Nov issue - it does indeed have an article about over-
> wintering a *type* of tomato plant, it suggests also to
> do the same thing in spring to have rooted cuttings to plant
> out as you did in fall - not just over-winter, an "eternal"
> tomato !

Hi Toni,
I'm the one who suggested MEN's Oct/Nov issue for over-wintering
tomatoes--and you're welcome ;-)  Glad it's of use to you.  It's one of
those things I've been interested in for quite a few years, and this
year I'm trying to do something about it.

As you probably know, even though tomatoes are annuals here in
much of the US, they are actually perennials where they are native,
so over-wintering is what they naturally do--given warm enough
temperatures.  That, of course, is the rub, eh?

Gene, you mentioned needing the right temperature for your
tomatoes to set fruit.  Rebecca Rupp says, in her book, "Blue Corn
and Square Tomatoes--unusual facts about common garden
vegetables" that the "Siberia tomato sets fruit at 38 degrees F and
produces ripe fruit in 48 days flat after flowering. It has been
successfully grown in the Yukon and Alaska..."  By now, there are
probably a number of varieties like that--this book was published in
1987.  I'll probably try growing one of those varieties myself this
winter.  I hope the flavor is worth it.  I highly recommend this book,
btw.  It's full of really interesting historical and horticultural
information for a number of common garden vegetables.  Great for
winter reading when most of the  garden is out of commission for
the season! ;-)

We're supposed to have milder than usual weather here in the
Northwest this winter due to an "el nino" weather pattern which has
formed in the Pacific.  That would be nice for sure!  Rob, who
posted the original question about overwintering tomatoes, lives on
the other side of the mountains and state from me--the warmer side!
If the predicted milder weather manifests, he may be able to over-
winter his tomatoes with little more than some extra protection or a
simple hoophouse structure, too.  Hopefully, milder weather will
manifest here, too, and allow me to use my hoophouse all winter!

I can tell you what I've done in past years to extend the season for
my tomatoes and other tender crops like peppers, eggplant, etc.,
and what I'm planning to do this year to hopefully grow them all
winter.

What I've been doing is filling two-litre soda bottles with water and
surrounding each tomato cage with them. This acts pretty much like
the "wall-o-water" you can buy, which warms up the water during the
day and gives off its stored heat slowly at night.  I use the bottles all
growing season, actually, because they help to moderate both the
hot and cold temperatures.  On very hot summer days, they help to
keep the plants a little cooler than would otherwise be the case, as
the water absorbs heat.  Even on those days, though, it can get
kinda cool here at night, so the stored heat that's given back at night
is helpful to the plants, also.

Of course, the bottles don't look as nice as the "wall-o-water"
version, but neither do they cost anything--especially If you recycle
other people's empties. (And there's the other benefit--it's a great
way to reuse/recycle!)  As the nights get colder, I also cover each
plant cage--including the surrounding bottles--with sheets or thin
blankets.  This seems to hold in enough heat around tomato plants
to protect them to near (or even at) freezing outside temperatures.
I've held them over quite a few weeks this way.

Here are some of the things I'm doing this year to hopefully hold
them over the winter.  This is a combination of a few techniques,
actually:

First of all, I am using an old European practice of planting in
strawbales.  Some of the advantages to this include the following:
1) the bales can be put on any surface--asphalt, cement, or
whatever--because they,  themselves, are the growing bed; 2) they
are warmer than the surrounding area because they are raised
beds; 3)  they also give off heat as they decompose. (This needs to
be balanced with added nitrogen, however, because nitrogen is tied
up--and therefore not available to the crops--while the straw is
decomposing); and 4) they have basically become compost by the
end of the growing season and can be used as such the next
season. (Be sure to keep the baling twine or wire on the bales while
you're using them as a garden bed so they don't fall apart before
you're finished with them for that purpose).

I started this process about three months ago, making two rows of
strawbales--each row two bales wide, placed end to end, making the
rows approx. 3ft wide by 20+ft long with a space approx. 2-1/2 ft
between them for tending or harvesting plants and moving a
wheelbarrow down the row.  The bales were last year's straw so
they were already rotting. I've been watering them since then to
speed the process along.  I've also covered them with composted
chicken manure/bedding to aid in their decomposition and to add
additional nitrogen.

Second, over this I built a hoophouse which is approximately 15' x
35' and about 7' high. Since there is plenty of space not used by the
strawbales, I will probably plant some things in bags, five gallon
buckets, wooden boxes, etc.--another way to reuse/recycle
materials!  I'll also have a potting bench and shelves for pots as well
as seedling trays.  And a place to sit on a sunny winter day with my
tea or coffee, or lunch, or a book, and my cats and pet chicken! ;-))

Third, I planted the strawbales. They hold tomato cages nicely, and I
can fit two of them (including the water-filled bottles surrounding
them) side by side on the bales.

Fourth, over these beds, I put hoops the width of the beds and about
3 to 5 feet high (depending on the height of the plants in the beds).
If the nights get too cold, I can hang lights (incandescent for heat)
spaced every few feet inside the hoops. I can then cover the hoops
with plastic sheets and/or light blankets to hold in the heat.

I've built the hoophouse so that I can hang sheets or light blankets
inside across the top and down the sides of it at night to help save
some of the heat.  I also have three 55 gallon plastic drums filled
with water at the south end of the house to act as a heat sink.  I
think a heat sink is ideally placed at the north of the greenhouse, but
the north side of mine is against the south side of my house, so it's
warmer there, anyway.  And the southside of it is going to be the
coldest area at night, but the most exposed to the sun in the
daytime, so I think having the heat storage barrels on the south side
is the best in my situation.  We shall see. (Any suggestions are
welcome! ;-)

I have a number of black recycled-plastic compost bins that I'm
lining up along the west side, outside of the hoophouse to add more
insulation.  I'd also like to utilize the heat from the compost in them,
but I'm still working on that, so I'll tell you more about it if and when I
get it worked out.

Some of these things I've already tried and they've worked well.
Others are going to be an experiment, and I'll let you know whether
or not they're successful.  Whether or not I'll be successful with the
tomatoes and other tender crops, I'm sure that I'll be able to grow
greens and some of the other more hardy crops most of the winter,
as well as get a head start on next year's garden.  I'd love to hear
any suggestions or ideas anyone else has! ;-)

Peace,
MaryLou