Leslie, I'm excited about the warm weather Sunday because we are putting a new exterior door on the sun porch that day and it will be warm enough that I can paint it without having to worry that the paint will dry and cure too slowly. We are supposed to reach 77 degrees here on Sunday. Mike, Because I don't have a heater in the greenhouse, I waited for the temperature to ever-so-slowly make its way up to 32 degrees before I opened the greenhouse door. The Mix-Max thermometer showed that the greenhouse dropped only to 36 degrees early this morning and it was 73 degrees in there when it still was 32 degrees around 10 a.m. It is in the 80s in there now. I only opened one door to vent it because I want it to build up good heat to keep the plants warm tonight. The garden had lots of flowers and herbs that still looked great yesterday and that are dead and limp today. They look so sad. I really hate the first day after the first hard killing freeze because the formerly green and lush gardens just look so awful....and then I get over it and get them all cleaned up and ready for next year. Helen, Our front porch thermometer seems to read a little warmer than the thermometer out in the yard too, but it is usually only a degree or two of difference. I've had plants on the porch last a lot longer in cold weather than those that are out in the open air. It is one of the best things about having a big, covered, wraparound porch....more space to keep plants safe and warm. Bon, We've had mosquitoes and flies all over for the last couple of weeks, and I haven't seen a single one today. Yay! I hope all the grasshoppers are gone, but I'm not counting on it. They have an uncanny way of seeking shelter and popping out on and off through early December. I did find a few dead hoppers on the driveway, and I'm not mourning their loss. Dawn

Dorothy, You're welcome. I'm always happy to spread the word about Eliot Coleman's books and, also, about his wife's books. And that reminds me, Barbara Damrosch's wonderful book, "The Garden Primer", was updated and re-released in 2008 and I need to get a copy of it. It has been many years since I originally read her books but I remember that I enjoyed The Garden Primer and her Theme Gardens book immensely. Wait until you see his greenhouses (giant hoophouses really) on movable skids. They are amazing. It sounds like the cold finally reached y'all. I'd try harder to do some winter gardening, but I don't like cold weather. I finally lost the rest of my castor bean plants this week when the temperatures dropped into the low 20s. They had been killed back bit by bit with each successive frost. Having attained heights ranging from 8 to about 12 or 14' in height, they were gorgeous. They froze from the top down, but I left the ugly frozen leaves on them (although some eventually dropped on their own) because those leaves protected the still healthy leaves beneath them. I noticed Friday, though, that every one of them is now totally frozen out. In the garden, though, I still have lemon balm, sage, mint, rosemary, oregano, sweet alyssum, a few Laura Bush petunias in both pink and purple, and dianthus. Everything else is done. Every meal I've prepared this week has incorporated several items raised in the garden...that's how I keep my garden "alive" all winter long....by eating from it. I suppose we need the winter down time to rest and recover from a long garden season. Even as I lament the freezing weather and the end of the garden, I'm also looking at the 2010 calendar and starting to plot out my planting dates. LOL I do still have several pepper plants in pots that are producing peppers. I drag them into the garage at night (aling with the brugs) and back out during the day. It isn't exactly like we need more peppers....as y'all know, we harvested about 4 times our usual amount this summer. I think I keep the peppers alive as long as possible just so something is still green and producing....because I really miss the 'green' in the winter when most the landscape is brown or tawny gold. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden Primer, Second Edition

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Yes you can sub one hot pepper for another just as long as the amount used and ratio to the other ingredients isn't changed. Dave