Hey neighbor! I'm just south of you in NC near Elizabeth City. Anyway, last year was my first year winter sowing. I didn't do many herbs other than basil (I waited on basil like I did the tomatoes and peppers). Oh, I did winter sow chamomile, corriander and I think borage in December with great results. I would think things like chives would be great for wsing. As for the tomatoes and peppers, I waited until mid to late February for those. Our weather here is so odd. One day you are in the 70's and the next night we are down in the high 20's. Because of this fact I waited for the peppers and tomatoes. Also, after peppers and tomatoes germinated, I did bring those jugs in on nights with freezing temps but the jugs went back out the next day. Others with more experience say they ws their tomatoes and peppers in the bitter cold. I just can't bring myself to do that. But hey, I grew ALL my own tomato plants last year even gave some away to friends and neighbors and sold some at our neighborhood yard sale. I had tomatoes out the whazoo all summer. My only "oh no's" last year was alyssum. Had some great plants going but they froze solid and died in that freeze we had mid February '07. Michelle

I think we got very little useful advice from the experts on this for 2010, global fogging seems to have escaped any media's notice I've seen, but the marine layer and the winds it generates have governed everything I do in the yard this summer. I'm trying also to focus on the positives - I'm germinating native seedlings like white and black sage which never grow for me now, then I'm assuming we'll be hot & dry starting mid-Sept until later through Dec here, so I'll have time to get the sages to a good size for mid-November plant out. I'm working in beds I usually let bake through our normal higher temps, but I'm not growing any heat-loving crops like melons, peppers, cukes, eggplant, ... The powdery mildew, rose rust, tomato septoria and other fungal pathogens have been brutal thus far, I'm about 5 miles inland in South LA, usually far enough from the beach to be fog-free most of the summer.

I love lots of things in the garden but that's definitely not one of them, hope one never shows up in my garden or I might have to get out the 12 gauge, which has not been fired in over twenty years.... Guess I'll never be on the Amazing Race :-) Tom

If you want to take lasagna, Luckygardnr posted this a while back. Also made in the crockpot so it's very easy and will stay warm. When I made it I left out the mushrooms and red pepper and used cottage cheese, because I like the milder taste of it over the ricotta (also like the price better). It's yummy! Oh--if you have 4 hours of work before anyone eats, I suggest putting all the ingredients in the crockpot but not cooking it until you get to work. Four hours was plenty with the newer, warmer crockpots. CROCK POT LASAGNA 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked 1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey (I used about 1-1/4 lb.) 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning 28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce 1/3 cup water 1 small carton of fresh mushrooms (I didn't use) 15 oz. ricotta or 24 oz. cottage cheese (can use low fat) 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 1 red pepper (I didn't use) 1 sweet onion 1. Break noodles. Place half in bottom of greased slow cooker or use a Reynolds Slow Cooker Bag and there's no mess. 2. Brown ground beef. Drain. Stir in Italian seasoning. Spread half over noodles in slow cooker. 3. Layer half of sauce and water, half of mushrooms, half the pepper, half of the onion, half of ricotta or cottage cheese and half of mozzarella cheese over beef. Repeat layers. 4. Cover. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. (You can also double these ingredients and make 3 layers.) With newer crock pots, 4 hours is enough.