Jennifer: If you really only get 2-300 hrs chilling some of your new tree list will not work. I found Earli Autumn severely lacking in quality. Tomcot needs more chilling. Lapins, Stella and Rainier all need more chilling. I'd suggest Arctic Star nectarine over Fantasia or Jolly Red Giant. Nothing but rave reviews on Arctic Star. It's a top ten fruit for me, in other words about as good as anything. You might consider some figs and persimmon. Both very low chilling and easy to grow. You'll like them if you give them a chance. I loved my Strawberry Verte figs this year but there are many good varieties. I prefer the astringent until soft persimmon but you might like the Fuyu types.

I would say common hackberry, Celtis occidentalis, for both of them - but one or more could be Sugarberry, which is also a type of hackbery, Celtis laevigata. Either way, they are both definitely hackberries of one kind or another.

Deborah, I think every year that my pear tree is dead. It is this strange gnarly thing that actually ONLY produces pears. It has NO leaves really to speak of. The link I added below is a pic I took at the height of summer this year (I was testing a new lens on my camera, hence the weird image). You can see very little foliage. What you think you see is actually a tree behind it our by the road. Unfortunately there are also no pears on it as the squirrels have already raided at this point. I have no idea how it produces fruit every year with so little leaves. I keep telling my husband when spring arrives that I think this is the year that it may have finally died and it keeps surprising us. I would have hundreds of pears if not for the squirrels (netting next year for sure). He thinks it will outlast us if no one takes it out on the way down the driveway one day (crazy UPS drivers). Maybe your pears will bounce back. Kalindi Here is a link that might be useful: Pear tree

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