I understand the sentiment, Glib. I'm a low-input gardener myself. However... I speak as a gardener who is, at this very moment, growing short-season varieties of tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers and corn out in the open, in our native soil - something you're saying is impossible. I don't own a greenhouse. I don't use row covers. I don't use high or low tunnels. The only things I have outside are some cold frames for transitioning starts in the spring. I have a handful of ordinary 4' fluorescents that I use to start a handful of things indoors, but most of my crops are still direct-sown. Just because you "don't see tomatoes ripening in 50F temperatures" doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It does. They do. The original poster knows exactly what they're doing asking about the best varieties for cold, northern climates. The varieties we grow *are* indeed different. You can't keep making such grand assumptions. You don't garden here. That said, maybe I shouldn't have responded either, given that I don't garden in Iceland. (Slimy_Okra is right - our summers at least have *some* heat to them for a little while.) How many GardenWebers do, though? Which reminds me... thanks for chiming in, tigrikt. Good stuff to know! I think florauk has great advice... "You might look at seed catalogues from the UK with cultivars suited to N. Scotland." Lots of life-long gardeners over in the UK if my extended family is anything to judge by. :) I'm sure their cold-hardy varieties would be better suited for you than even ours here in Canada. All the best!

Thanks for the review on this recipe. I like to hear feedback from people on what is really good, and those not so good, too. Here it is in the high 90's to low 100's. Burning hot. I do not like this !! My pimentos do, though, and so do my tomatoes. Still none ripe,but should be soon. Had to buy a new fridge and new freezer this week ! One expensive week. My freeze has things icy, but not frozen hard. I get the new one tomorrow. The old fridge was freezing my tea, water, and milk. But, it would not make ice in the ice maker. Got disgusted with the problems so went and just spent a ton of money and got them !! Love the new fridge. French doors on top. Really easy to get things in and out of. Just lovely. Ice and water in the door.

This is the closest recipe I know of : It doesn't seem like much vinegar, but it is only a very small amount of relish. CAPONATA "Caponata is a Sicilian dish served as a salad, side dish or relish. We also like it as an appetizer spread on toasted baguette slices." 1 small eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch (5 mm) cubes 1 1/2 tbsp pickling salt (20 mL) 2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped 1 medium sweet red pepper, diced 1 cup diced zucchini (250 mL) 1/2 chopped onion (125 mL) 3 large cloves garlic, chopped 1/4 cup chopped stuffed olives (50 mL) 1 tbsp capers, rinsed (15 mL) 1 bay leaf 1 tsp fresh thyme (5 mL) or 1/4 tsp (1 mL) dried 1/4 tsp each: salt and freshly ground pepper (1 mL) 1/3 cup red wine vinegar (75 mL) 2 tsp granulated sugar (10 mL) 2 tsp olive oil (10 mL) 2 tbsp tomato paste (25 mL) (Read Step-by-Step Guide (below) before proceeding with recipe.) Place eggplant in a non-reactive bowl. Sprinkle with salt and stir well. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain eggp1ant in a sieve and rinse twice. draining thoroughly; press out excess moisture. Place eggplant, tomatoes, red pepper, zucchini, onion, garlic, olives, capers, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper in a large roasting pan. Heat vinegar, sugar, and oil in a microwavable container until hot, about 1 minute, stir into vegetables. Bake in a 350 degree F (18OC) oven for about 1 1/2 hours (1 hour for a convection oven), or until vegetables are softened and liquid has evaporated, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven, discard bay leaf and stir in tomato paste. Remove hot jars from canner and spoon relish into jars to within1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (headspace). Process 15 minutes for half-pint (250 mL) jars and 20 minutes for pint (500 mL) jars as directed Makes 5 Cups (1.25 L) STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE 20 MINUTES BEFORE PROCESSING: Place jars in canner and add hot water. Cover canner and begin heating over medium heat. Keep jars hot until you are ready to fill them. If the recipe requires a preparation and cooking time longer than 20 minutes, begin preparation of the ingredients first. Then begin heating the water and jars in the canner while the prepared food is cooking. If the ingredients require a shorter preparation and cooking time, begin heating the canner before you start your recipe. FIVE MINUTES BEFORE PROCESSING: Place lids in hot water and keep lids hot until you are ready to use them. Do not heat screw bands. FILLING CANNING JARS: Remove jars from canner and ladle food into hot jars to within 1/2 inch of top rim. Remove trapped air bubbles and re-adjust headspace to desired level by adding more hot food and/or liquid. Wipe rim and side of jars to ensure a good seal. Lift lid from hot water and center on jar. Apply screw band until fingertip tight. PROCESSING CANNING JARS: Place jars in canner and adjust water level to cover jars by 1 inch. Cover canner and place over high heat. Once a full boil is reached, begin counting the processing time specified in recipe (a full boil must be maintained for the entire time required). At end of processing time, turn heat off, remove canner lid and leave jars in canner for five minutes. Then lift jars out and place on heat-safe work surface. Do not touch seals or dry jars. Let cool for 12 to 24 hours. Check jar seals (sealed lids turn downward) and remove screw bands. STORING PRESERVED FOOD: Label jars with contents and date and store in a cool, dark place. Any jars that do not seal within 24 hours must be refrigerated or reprocessed immediately using new lids. Source: The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our family does yellow squash and zucchini bread and butter pickles. We also do a relish with the squash and red sweet peppers. I like it cut in big thick rounds and breaded, fried and served with simple marinara sauce and cheese. Like a poor man's eggplant parm. Cut it lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, add the seeds and center pulp and chop up with tomatoes, garlic, onions, and seasoned bread crumbs, or plain stale bread cubes, along with minced mushrooms, and some butter and olive oil. Stuff them and bake for 35 minutes at about 400. Last five minutes, top with shredded cheese of your choice. We like romano and parm mixed. Mainate them with other veggies in a nice cold vegetable platter. Dice them and add to fritter batter that you add a good dash of cayenne pepper and jack cheese. Tastes like a poor man's chile rellano. Slice them thin and put them inside omelets with other veggies and cheese. Feta is good. Saute them cut into thick rounds, use olive oil and salt and pepper than give them a tumble with a good parm, let the parm start to brown in places in the pan and then serve hot right out of the pan. Very good! Add them to ratatouille. Serve with nice bread or with pasta. I like cold ratatouille on Italian bread that's been toasted. Slice and use in a vegetable lasagna. Chunk and add with other veggies with alfredo sauce for a Primavera. Add with shrimp in an oil and garlic saute and serve over linguine. Slice raw and serve in salads. Shred them and add pancake mix and buttermilk and an egg until the batter is thick enough to drop off the end of the spoon to make cheap and quick fritters. Make cornmeal pancakes with the squash chunked into the batter with whole corn, diced green and red sweet peppers and diced sweet onions and serve with a rich tomato chile salsa and cheese and sour cream. Make a vegetable soup and add them. Top with floating feather dumplings. Use the squash, onions, peppers, and add it to chunks of Italian sausages that are almost cooked and stuff it into a hoagie roll, broil in the oven for 2 minutes with cheese to melt for a great veggie and sausage hoagie. Fill a bowl with them in the most odd shapes. Throw in some other veggies and make a centerpiece. Tie some ribbions and raffia around the squash. Maybe you'll get some strange goose and duck shaped ones!