Thanks for the replies and I welcome any more - I did forget to post pics today as I got caught up with a front yard project and general Sunday stuff. I will grab some in the AM of the 'gaps' I speak of. Speaking to those - should I remove the strips of sod where the installer tried to fill in? These don't even have any root system and dirt attached at this point. Just curious if I should pull them and fill in with dirt/sand/whatever...or just drop filler on top of them. I'm grabbing a soil testing kit tomorrow and will submit to the sod company. They provide free analysis of the test kit - apparently a pretty big outfit here in SC (Carolina Fresh - http://www.carolinafreshfarms.com/index.php ). The installer told me he laid down a 'starter' fertilizer a day or so after installation, so I'd like to know what I should do for the next application without relying on him. Thanks again and I was very happy to see a brief reply from TW himself. No offense, Grasshole :). Much appreciated to you both.

Hi Michelle, It would be too late to set tomatoes here where I am in St. Pete close to the water but probably not for you. Question, which tomato variety did you buy and what kind of soil did you put it in? I ask because you state you're container growing on your deck. With tomatoes you have to be careful with this, lots and lots of factors. We've had two very dry, sunny days with very little cloud cover. Your plant was probably kept in screened/filtered sun at the store and now if you've moved it into the scalding sun too quickly it sure won't be happy and may not make it, you have to slowly acclimate them to full sun. Having said that other factors are using a good quality potting mix that drains well, NOT soil from the ground and NOT a potting SOIL vs. MIX. Since I'm on a roll if you're going to grow a tomato plant on a deck how are you going to manage growth in such a way that our spring storms won't blow it and the container over? If you want to be successful in your first outing on the deck I suggest you start with a Husky Cherry Red tomato, it's a dwarf indeterminate the will grow no higher than 4-5 feet while putting out loads of great tasting cherry tomatoes, and watch the placement of your containers so that the sides of the containers don't get too such afternoon sun if the container isn't 10 gallons or larger as the heat absorbed from the walls of the container may heat up your potting mix too much and stress the roots of the plant. Tom

I think this might be a case of the writer using the wrong word. "Seasoning" means something particular to us, which Clinresga defined. I don't remember about my own Demeyere, though I remember reading the materials. They might have been better saying something like "pre-treat the finish" but are probably glomming onto "seasoning" because people are accustomed to having to do that. The surface has little micro fissures in the texture. I wonder if this isn't a way to completely clean in there? Just a wild stab in the dark. It might even be the case (wild speculation) that baking it on could seal up those micro fissures. As to the white blotching, my guess is that it's minerals clinging. I sometimes get that with the stainless pans from my steam oven, but they go away when I put them in the dishwasher. My best guess (total stab in the dark) is that the even heating/cooling helps, or else it's the vertical position while the water/heat hits thus preventing cooling. I had some white blotches on my oven enamel after the self clean which came up though using a steamer, but which were unaffected by scrubbing. One of those kind with the ridges and the ouch to touch texture.

Lovely bloom and I see several more buds. I don't disbub my dahlias though have been told that doing so allows the remaining flowers to get larger. This year some critter is nipping the flower off. I find the flower with barely any stem on the ground. Today I cut the recent bloom shortly after it opened and brought it inside. Planted mine late as well so not many blooms yet. If I have lots of blooms and am expecting a frost I make bouquets to share with my neighbors. Had enough for eight bouquets last fall.