"Strangest".... That's pretty funny, as I am the only one in my entire neighborhood that grows *ANY* fruit at all.... The neighbors look at me like I am some sort of anachronism for growing a little garden and some fruit trees.... But... The "Strangest" of all the common stuff I have is a cider pear, a Citation Rootstock peach/plum that had the graft die, an American Purple plum seedling, and a roadside dug-up seedling peach. My Purple and black tomatoes probably classify as what folks around here think is weirdest... They look and say "But... It's rotten!" On the sugar cane thing - if you poke around and ask the old timers at the feed stores - you will find that most farm families in the Deep South used to raise their own sugar cane for sweetening things.... As Jolji said - you bury them over the winter, then dig them up and plant them shallow after Easter... This year, I want a Jujube and a couple filberts... In years past - people expressed wonderment at my Vanilla orchids... Thanks

Ha! I've found pink string in dend roots, too. They probably grow it. Once I found a thumbtack and a bottlecap. I never have thumbtacks in the house, so it was really bumfuzzling to find that the pot. Stacy

I have the little greenhouse thingy that Namfon links to, above. I have been using it for about 5 seasons, and really find it to be helpful, as our last frost date is fairly late in the spring. I put mine in a corner in the garage until late April, using compact fluorescent bulbs in clamp-on shop lights. The lighting is not the greatest, but it seems to work. I just use the bulbs with the most lumens that I can find... especially if they are on sale. I also now put a very small heater/fan on the bottom shelf to keep the temperature at 70-75F. I have used incndescent light in the past as makeshift low-output heaters, as well. Through some creative stacking and by adding another shelf, I am able to have 8-12 flats, depending on how I arrange them. The unit is very light weight, which makes moving it outdoors when the Chicago winter finally ends quite easy. I usually park it against a fence for stability, in good sun, and then use tent stakes on the base to hold it down. The unit is also pretty easy to take apart for storage, which is great for my limited space. The only complaint I have is that the clear plastic can get very soft in the sunlight, and may tear easily at the seams & zippered areas. I have learned to be really careful when zipping/unzipping the 'door'. Duct tape works fine to repair the tears, though. If that is the same greenhouse thing you're talking about, it's a good & helpful thing. Well worth the $20 or so I paid for it way back when.

I have tomatoes, cosmos and nierembergia growing out of the sides of my compost bin and violas out the back of it. It's its own mini garden. Then I have snaps in the spaces between the rocks that line the borders around the potager, and ceratostigma taking over one of the raised potager beds. Its pretty blue flowers look so nice next to the yellow chilies, I think I may leave some of it. But since it makes such a nice ground cover, I'm going to move most of it to other areas. Edna, those potatoes should be fine to eat unless they have started turning green. And I bet they'll taste better than any you've bought at the grocery store, sitting under bright lights and getting old before their time. : ) Diana