Beth, I made pickles first and then I finished dehydrating my tomatoes from yesterday and then I finished my yellow tomato sauce and THEN I made one batch of Multi-purpose Seasoned Tomato Sauce. By the time I finished it was around 2 p.m. and we hopped in the car and sped down to the Southlake Central Market to check out their produce selection. I was a little disappointed. They didn't have nearly as many heirloom winter squashes, pumpkins and gourds nor did they have as many heirloom tomatoes. However, they did have pickling cucumbers, so I bought another 5 lbs. Since I made bread-and-butter pickles today, I'll make dills tomorrow. Best of all, my own pickling cukes are about to reach pickling size, so I'll be able to make stacker-type pickles about Friday or Saturday. We also picked up a 10-grain store bakery bread that we like and a few other veggies. Then, it was off to Green Sprouts Farmer's Market a couple of miles up the road. It really is just a smaller, more affordable version of Whole Foods or Central Market, but I mean really, really, really smaller and not much selection. They had some great prices on produce, but a lot of their produce was overripe and I didn't purchase anything there. But, I did get visiting those two stores out of my system. The next time I want to go to Central Market, I'll go to Fort Worth because it has a better selection by far. I don't know this for a fact, but it seems bigger than the one in Southlake. It might be that the Fort Worth store has more autumn pumpkins and winter squash outside because they have a big covered patio type thing in front of the store where they often have musicians and cookouts when the weather is good, and I didn't see anything like that at the Southlake store. The only advantage the Southlake store has over Fort Worth is that Tim can stop by it on his way to work at DFW Airport if there's something I "need". I got home in time to spend an hour in the garden while my sweet DH grilled chicken and sausage and made dinner. I had used up all my tomatoes today making the multi-purpose tomato sauce, but I got to pick another 6 tonight, so I'm OK. Moni, I think Tulsa might have a Whole Foods or Wild Oats which are sort of similar to Central Market but more heavily focused on organics and less focused on gourmet-type fare, although there is a lot of gourmet type stuff, especially if you like artisan cheeses and breads. I'll do some research and see what I can find out about Edmond-OKC-Tulsa. Surely something in that area has a 'health food store' with a good selection. I have found they usually have the best produce in terms of variety and selection. Today I was looking at all the fingerling potatoes (six or eight varieties) at Central Market and making a mental note to buy some in December to sprout for spring planting. Two road trips in two days. I've got to stay home and weed and mow for the rest of the week or the yard and garden will be a jungle. Jan, I'll link Pendery's below. The web site is great, but if you're ever in the Fort Worth-Dallas area, you have to visit the store for the sheer pleasure of inhaling all the lovely aromas of the many spices and herbs. Don't miss their chili mixes. They are great and come in many combinations. I love that Pickling Spice and Italian Seasoning Mixes too---they look like real spices and herbs, not just ground-up powders. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Pendery's Spices

I sent you a message.

Would like to trade for your tall zinnia and Siberian iris. Here's my list - Doreen. Flowers Ballonflower - blue Chinese houses [collinsia heterophylla] Columbine – red [canadensis] Cosmos – orange English daisy Hibiscus [hardy] – Luna pink/Luna white Hosta – yellow edge [lg.] Love lies bleeding Marigold – short mix Milkwood - pink Million gold Obedient plant - pink Pepper, Ornamental [hot - capsicum annum] Phlox [hardy] – white,pink & lavender mix w/ bicolors Rudbeckia - Autumn Sun [r.herbstonne] Rudbeckia triloba [prairie coneflower] Sunflower – Italian white/Multi-brown & yellow Vegetables & herbs Broccoli – Calabrese green sprouting Carrot – Nantes coreless Catnip Chicory – Blue southishe Dill Lettuce – Buttercrunch Peas – Sugar snap/Little marvel Pepper , bell – yellow/orange Pumpkin – Jack O'Lantern Radish – early Scarlet globe Thyme Tomato [heirloom] – Black Krim/Solar Flare/Hillbilly/Carbon/Red Zebra/Purple splash/Mortgage lifter/Cherokee purple/Black Brandywine/Yellow cherry/Great white beefsteak/Beauty king/Pineapple/Paul Robeson/Striped German Turnip – Purple top white globe Vines Morning glory - mix [includes Milky Way, Grandpa Ott, ivy-leaf blue, Crimson rambler and various others] /Grandpa Ott/Orange Noah Pea vine – white butterfly Trumpet vine – orange/red Trees/Shrubs Hydrangea - white [Annabelle] Rose of Sharon – single pink w/dark eye

I think the seed exchange has been decimated by people moving over to Facebook. Plus, there is such an extensive list of "bad traders," some added for absolutely no reason except that someone didn't like the trade they got, that it's become almost a clique. Please PM me. I may be able to help, depending on where you live.