I am not into selling heirlooms. Basically they seem to want a good red tomato. So I am trying a few of the others. I am setting 80 days as top limit for a tomatoes. I sell vine ripened tomatoes . That many days does eliminated a bunch. Yellow pears sells and some cherry My colored one were a disaster really because of the horrible weather. So was main crop. First year just red and then red cherry and year pear. This year , my second try I added a few more to test. Money I take it to tight for people to try things. I saw a big difference this year from last. More trying to grow a few tomatoes in their back yards. I will test out these colored tomatoes again. Prices here at market are low. All of us were below store prices. I am limited in starting space and sun/warm space to grow them. I am trying to improve that part. Ever see a cat go down the row under the black plastic??? They think ditches are to play in when they are younger. My cats `are working cats. If I would have row covers the cats would insist on getting inside them. I wonder if the raccoons would too???? I doubt it. I do not know what Earl of Edgecombe is so , have not tried. I am waiting on more seed catalogs and to decided finally what tomatoes and tomatoes to public seems here to be round smooth ones.

One point to keep in mind, when considering that prior thread about cutting square footage: the cut considered was about or less than 10% of the overall square footage and affected everyday living areas, rather than choosing whether or not to have a separate media room or similar occasional-use area. So consider *what* is being cut as well as how much. To opine upon the OP's original question regarding labor-intensive jobs, one must consider the proportion or amount of labor required. Laying tile is far more labor intensive than laying electrical wire. But laying the wires in 4000 sf is comparatively more intensive than for 2000 sf; also, I note that high sf houses often incorporate more advanced or complex wiring issues than in the smaller houses. Complexity =/exceeds intensity in terms of time and cost, if not in actual physical labor. One of the most expensive potentials in any build is the temptation of "change orders." At a wild guess [based upon listening to a lot of builders over the past 40 years], 99% of the change orders are unnecessary. That is, they do not improve upon the original integrity of the structure. That doesn't mean many change orders don't improve comfort or convenience, just that they weren't necessary for accomplishing the build. It is true that change orders will usually cost you several times as much as it would have if the change had been part of the original plan. If you really want to control spending, do your work in advance and don't change your mind once the build is underway. Otherwise, I think "labor intensiveness" is difficult to categorize sufficiently for comparisons. To be fair, the intensiveness must take into consideration the skill and knowledge needed as well as the physical and/or time consuming aspects. Compare laying brick to finishing drywall -- both are physically demanding and both require knowledge of the materials involved and both require a high level of skill. Yet most of us would immediately decide that masonry was far more "labor intensive", which I think may be because a big brick wall is so much more obvious than a level 5 hallway. Our perceptions have influenced our valuation of the intensity. When it comes to saving money in a build the importance is not in comparing the labor intensiveness of different skills, but in preparing all the details. It is true that if you are skilled in some aspects, you can save paying cash out because you've already spent time learning to paint or lay tile or hang drywall or whatever. It is also true that if you aren't skilled enough to please a master mason/tiler/painter/whatever, then you are wasting both time and money because the house will have a higher value if a master does the work. And on exactly the same note, if you take the time and make the effort to learn the skill, then your work on your house will often be better than a master's work... because it IS your house.

I can't believe the ones criticizing sandy for her observations. I had a friend just like what sandy has described. For some reason (being co-dependant) or other, she didn't leave him. He did just what sandy described one time. Friend and I were in her kitchen getting a meal on the table. The guys were outside and friend's husband nudged my husband and said, "Watch this." Then he proceeded to yell that he wanted an iced tea and friend was to get it for him...pronto. Well, like I say, we were busy and the guys were doing nothing. She literally almost jumped out of her skin to get him a glass of tea. I told her to tell him to come in and get it and she said, "Oh no..I couldn't do that!" My husband was livid and we never went back....but, this was just one example of what I witnessed..which I am sure is the same with sandy...just one nail in a board of nails....she was just giving an example. This friend of mine would say, "If you're going to be a door mat, you're going to get stepped on." But..she was a living example of just that. The friend is a friend...you hate to drop out of their lives because of their poor decision to live with a bum, but that's what I finally did...just dropped out. This upset her very much, but I couldn't just go on watching it...now I don't have to see it. But..maybe sandy is a better friend that I was...I think it "is" her business if she is going to remain friends with this woman...it is right that she offers help.

DistressedWife, this husband of yours has problems and he is using you to make himself feel better about himself. That's what I think. He feels better after he has chastised you, belittled you. He wants to set the rules. I think that he needs a good kick up the arse but not by you. He's not worth a kick up the arse. I know he was your best friend and I suppose you were his best friend but now that you are married, he no longer seems to see you that way. You are his wife. He feels entitled. Well, he's wrong. But he won't know or think he's wrong. He's got a lot of growing up to do and that is his problem. Your problem is him, and a little bit you. (You need to build up your self esteem.) You have to get brave. Get yourself organised, pack your stuff, and get out to a better place. Your father's house seems like a good option. Take some control of your life and you will feel that you have some control. I wouldn't do this when he is around. Wait until he's gone out. He won't want you to have control over your life. And of course he'll want you back. He wants you as his underling. He is not fit to be your husband. Maybe one day he will be. But only he can fix himself. The longer you are away from him, the more likely he is to be motivated to do so. My de facto husband does bot believe in marriage, that's why he and I never married. He thinks that when people marry, they change. I think he is right. Life is about changing our minds. I changed my mind about ever wanting to marry my de facto. You might change your mind about never wanting a divorce. Or you might decide to stop wanting to work at your marriage when you are the only one doing so. For it takes two, to make a marriage work, and at the moment he has no intention. You can't change him but you can change you. And your predicament. All the best. And I'll be sending good vibes your way.