Woody I really like the "pass along pink" Mum and the way it echoes the colors of the hibiscus in the background. It reminds me of an article in Fine Gardening this summer about design and using a "big sister plant little sister plant" to tie things together. I have not heard of Mammoth Mums and went back to Kevin's old post and read about them. Now I have plant lust. :(

hey thanks guys! nullzero; no figs or pomegranates here.. i dont really enjoy figs all that much.. and pomegranates are good but to me after having a couple of them i get sick of all the work trying to peel the rest LOL yeah hausman! whole different world out here, I wish my yard were bigger.. mangodog, my mangos are protected by a PVC structure ive built to be easily broken down and put back together for the winter.. even doubles as a sunshade structure if need be: and yeah we gotta somehow figure out how to compare the mangos lol

Cooking2day, I actually purchased the metal grinding parts, Dad built the wooden frame for me and put it together. It works really well but after this year when the apples were so plentiful Elery is threatening to motorize it. (grin) Diane, my apples make perfectly good pies and juice, I make Nancy's Apple Maple Jam and apple butter and sauce and any that is left over are happily consumed by the cows and horses. There is never any left for the deer! islay, apple juice here is usually cooked, which happens when I can it, and the fresh raw stuff is cider. The flavor is just so much different. Here, if it's alcoholic we call it "hard" cider. It's all good, that's for sure. Cathy, the cows didn't have any problems at all eating those apples, did they? And the goats wouldn't eat them? Any goats I've ever met would eat anything, including cigarettes, gloves and pieces of paper. Madonna, I'm intact but we did have a confirmed tornado in my county that did quite a bit of damage, and nearly half a million people in Michigan were without power. The power companies are saying that it might be Friday before everyone is back on and there is a lot of damage, flooding, trees down on houses, roofs are ruined. Most of the schools were closed today for structural problems and there is no power anyway. Wind was measured at 70MPH just south of me. It was a pretty wild night, but I'm fine and my power is on. I've got a couple days worth of yard cleaning to do and we've got some barn repair at the farm but that's minor compared to other damage. Now, definitely get your cider press out of the barn. If it's cast iron it can be sandblasted if it's really bad, or scrubbed clean if it's not. The metal parts for mine cost more than I want to admit, and if you try to buy one new, well, Happy Valley has one like mine but with two slatted baskets for the everyday low price of $930.00. Just the metal parts are $575.00. I see them periodically on Craigslist but they want hundreds of dollars for them. So, definitely dig that out, if for no reason other than they are a very saleable and expensive item, you've got treasure in that old barn! Annie

Wish I enjoyed mulled cider now, but my taste buds have changed. I used to during Christmas day have it in a crockpot so everyone could fill up their cups whenever.