So to add to the mix of questions (no pun intended)...what do I do about watering when I go on a two week vacation? I must admit I was lazy this year...okay, not lazy, just precautious. I had back surgery in November and am not even supposed to be gardening, but God help me, I can't stop myself. My husband had been entirely overworked and I couldn't stand to ask him to help me round up everything needed to mix the soil I know I should be using in the quantities I needed and then actually have to do the work to mix it up since I couldn't have done it. (Of course, now my back is doing much better than it was two months ago even, and I could mix the soil with a little help from my husband, but I can't distrub the root systems of my fruits and veggies.) At any rate, we simply bought two big bags of Miracle Gro Moisture Control Container Soil. It is a mixture of coir/bark/peat/pumice/perlite/fertilizer. After planting in it, I have found with the little rain we've been getting, I don't have to water my big 20" pots at all and only have to water the small ones every third day or so. Our temps have been mild to say the least. We've only had three days in the nineties and today it is 65 degrees out. It's May 17! I can't believe this. Now, I will say that the soil stays moist a long time, but it is by no means soggy wet. I do not think that I could pick it up and squeeze out any water, so that is a good thing. However, I also don't think that it has the same beautiful porosity that Al's mix, which I normally use, has. Anyway, In July, I am going away for two weeks and know that 65 won't even happen in the mornings and my plants will need much more water. There are tomatoe plants, peppers (bells and jalepenos), herbs, one black berry, and a Mexican Lime tree. The pots are all different sizes so would need water at different times, and weather is unpredictable here in July. It can rain everyday or not rain at all for days. I want to get a timer to water, but what in the world do I do about setting it? If I set it to water every day and it rains every day, I am worried the soil will be too soggy. If I set it water every third day and it doesn't rain at all, things will wilt. Any suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated. I have two months to figure this out. I have a friend who gardens that might be able to come over and change the setting on the timer if necessary. I was going to ask him to come over and pick any ripened veggies and fruit for his family during my time away anyway.

Hi Toni, His greenhouse is in a cooler part along the coast of CA. It is made of a hard clear plastic. I'm not sure about hsi watering schedule for the smaller ones. He has many mature seedlings in bloom grown in 2 inch liners, waiting to be moved up to 1 and 2 gal pots. These plants do so well in this nursery. He is the largest commercial grower in the US, so I guess that makes him an expert. They've been working on these for over 40 years. That is long before most Clivia enthusiasts had even heard of a Clivia. Yellow Clivias have a defect in the carotenoid pigment pathway. Due to thsi defect, they have no ornages or reds. The seedlings have a green base, unlike oranges which have a red base. The berries in the oranges are red, but in yellows they are yellow. Peach Clivias also have reddish berries, but many will have green bases. It gets confusing. Ther eis one variety of yellows in South Africa that has a different error in the pigment pathway. This one produces yellow flowers but red berries. There is also another group (called group 2 yellows) that looks identical to the group 1 yellows we know of here in the USA, bu the defect is in a different spot. ANy time you cross a yellow with an orange, you will get oranges. This is due to a correction of the defect in one of the genes in the baby. these are the Mendellian crosses you might of learned about in school. Homozygous vs heterzygous. Also, crossing a group 1 yellow with a group 2 yellow (generally only in South Africa or owned by collectors in the USA)will produce an orange, since each yellow corrects the other yellow's defect. No worries on that one, since you probably won't come across it, unless you go looking for group 2 yellows. Basically, every yellow you buy in the USA will be group 1 and can be crossed with any other American yellow. Peaches crossed with yellows give mixed results. A small percentage of yellows, a small percentage of peaches, but mostly oranges and pastels. Most orange and red Clivias have atleast some yellow blended in deeper in the throat. There is also some white, but as of yet, we don't have pure white Clivias. We have some very pale Clivias, but not pure white. The variegation is due to meristem cell at the very base lacking the ability to produce pigment. Nitrogen doesn't correct for this. There are examples, where some variegated lines might disappear with improved fertilization, but in general, it has no relation to fertilizer. My tarped Clivias still get some light. I have some clear panels on the roof of my best shaded one, and I can keep an opening on a side of my other shade areas. They don't need a lot of light. There was once a planting of Clivias in an undergorund parking structure by one of the largest shopping malls in Southern CA. They received so litle light year round, but yet they bloomed every year. I spoke with the landscape designer who originally planted them and he was amazed anyone even realized they were gone. Such a small world! My wife accepts my plant hobby. Of course, it means I have to accept hers. Such is marriage, right? lol I hope you were able to save your frozen Clivias. The nice part is the outer leaves protect the inner parts. Keep the dead frozen wasted leaves on until they dry up. If the central stem is still hard, your plant has a chance. If it is soft all the way to the roots, sorry. Hi Mike, I have my own wind/rain story. My wife actually was out there with me trying to save thousands of dollars of collector Clivias. What a morning. I was in my dress clothes trying to get to work, looked out and the roof had blown off my greenhouse. It was pouring buckets of rain. That would ruin amny of them if the crowns got flooded. We only found bits of the roof, so I wonder where the bulk of it went. I guess anyone who has dealt with special plants has their own story of trying to save these things. Good luck this winter and safe driving as another big sotrm heads your way. Craig

It's the morning after, and I am thankful for all you good people who took the time to post and get me through a bad moment. I learned from your posts, and I laughed with your posts. Most importantly, I found out that even on a cooking forum, not everyone makes the perfect, flaky, homemade pie crust. Thank you for telling me that I am not alone. I am through with pies and pie crusts. This year will have been the 20th year of trying, and it was the worst yet. It is time to move on. I am a market gardener, and I grow wonderful organic strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and rhubarb. When I bake with the fruit, I do a crisp, a cobbler, or a tart. DS has a love of pumpkin pie, and I think my efforts are emotionally entwined with being the "good mother", but I am going to find a good bakery next year. You are all right- there is more than one way to skin a cat (that is a horrible saying isn't it?) I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. You all helped make mine a good one. :)

You will spend more money building than buying an equivalent. This is true. But because you are building, you can make the house suit you and your family uniquely. You do that by evaluating how YOU live not how others live. Be honest and be realistic about your own life. Start by asking really good questions. Do you need a walk in pantry? or would a pullout cabinet pantry suffice? Do you buy large bulk of food? 40 lb dogfood, 20lb bag of rice or flour, etc. Do you need a place to store large entertaining type of items that you don't need daily. (platters, roasters, warming trays, tea service etc.)If you don't entertain like that, can you reduce the size of the pantry? These types of things are individually driven. How will you access outdoor cooking during summer? Will you need to? Do you have a fully furnished outdoor kitchen separate from your indoor kitchen? (I am big fan of outside wall kitchen that has an easy access to outdoors in the summer.) Make sure the access/door/hallway is wide enough to get people in and out of the house with trays of hot food. How do you visualize using the DR and the seating area? Do the appliance/storage placements work with that? Do you even need a DR or can you configure the DR into something more useful for you so that you don't build more house than you need. Do you have a grand piano that needs a placement, for example? (in the long run, not over building for your particular need will save you money...) These types of access/functional issues have to be nailed down before you focus on the 'kitchen layout' per se. I suggest that you walk through the kitchen in your minds eye at various phases of your day: getting up and making coffee, making dinner, having people over to cook with, serving them a nice dinner, having a cocktail party, large gathering where you eat buffet style, bringing in groceries, taking out garbage and recycle, kids doing homework. How do you come in and out of the kitchen for those functions? Does your kitchen's location and 'door placements' work for you? How is the view out the window? Are the window placement such that it optimizes the light and view. All of these functions have to work, not just the "COOKING" function. Then you make trade-offs regarding what is really important to you.