Glad you decided to come in from the bushes. LOL I'm just getting started with container gardening and wondering how come i have'nt done it sooner. my flower beds are a mess too but blooming too. and i'm frantically trying to get everything into pots. Josh, i'll probably have trouble with oak seedlings too as i've oak trees all over. How do you handle 200 plus containers? When i think about it though,it can't be worse than all the flower beds i have and when i think of all the rocks i've had to dig up,it would have been easier to have started with containers. vickie

Susan, You're welcome. I've protected plants by covering them up with sheets, blankets, etc. in past years and it works pretty good as long as the temps don't go to far below freezing. I hope you can successfully cover up yours and keep them going a while longer. I always put my winter tomatoes (the ones I plant in pots in February) on the concrete with the south-facing wall of the garage right behind them and I do think the heat helps them grow and mature tomatoes more quickly. I also think the radiant heat might help them a little at night, although I always either cover them up with blankets or drag them into the garage on cold nights. When you're trying to either keep fall tomatoes going late or get spring tomatoes going early, you have to use every trick in the book! Don't forget that often the last green tomatoes will ripen up indoors on a counter when you absolutely must pick them because the temps are going so low that covering them up won't help. I've had ripe tomatoes very late into December from those last ones coloring up indoors over time. And, yes, if you lug a couple of those 5-gallon buckets indoors, it is likely the tomatoes will continue to ripen in a sunny south window. They most likely will ripen more slowly and they may not have the same flavor as a summer tomato, but they'll still taste better than grocery store tomatoes. If you want to grow indoor tomatoes in a future year either early in spring, or late in fall, or throughout the winter, three that are absolutely perfect for indoor tomatoes are Red Robin, Yellow Canary and Orange Pixie. They can be grown in surprisingly small pots (they say as small as 4" or 8" pots for Red Robin, but I wouldn't go smaller than 1 or 2 gallons, I think, for the best yields). All 3 varieties produce a high yield for such small plants and the flavor of all three is surprisingly good---not the best tomatoes you'll ever have, but not bad, especially for indoor tomatoes. Both Red Robin and Yellow Canary get about 8-12" tall in pots (though about 6" taller than that in the ground in the summer time) and Orange Pixie gets a bit taller--maybe 15-18" in a pot indoors and sometimes a little taller in the ground in the summertime. When I have grown them, they all three had as much or more fruit than foliage. A couple of years ago I grew these three varieties as a 'border' around a bed of larger tomato plants.....just one more way of squeezing a few more tomatoes out of one bed. Dawn

I am so pleased that the whole family is enjoying the Dipsticks. We love them! I have all of the Marcia Adams cookbooks EXCEPT for the Christmas one that all of you are talking about. I will have to look for that one now. I love Lars's description of the show. The quilts and pottery that she has at the end of the show are always quite interesting. I have not seen the show in awhile. I know that it is no longer in production because Marcia Adams had some heart problems a couple years ago. However, the show was still running for awhile after that. Not sure about now though. Anyway, I am really happy that you are enjoying the items that I sent, and I hope you save a little of the apple jam to try out that coffee cake. Gail

I have to try this: Salty and sweet brownies 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa 2 cups sugar 3 large eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon Maldon sea salt Directions Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-inch square metal cake pan with foil, draping the foil over the edges. Lightly butter the foil. In a large saucepan, melt the butter with the unsweetened chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Whisking them in one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, add the cocoa, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the batter. Using a butter knife, swirl the salt into the batter. Bake the fudge brownies in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes, until the edge is set but the center is still a bit soft and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out coated with a little of the batter. Let the brownies cool at room temperature in the pan for 1 hour, then refrigerate just until they are firm, about 1 hour. Lift the brownies from the pan and peel off the foil. Cut the brownies into 16 squares. Serve at room temperature. Make Ahead The salted fudge brownies can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, and frozen for up to 1 month