Pam, I think our two gardens arise from a common place inside us, and we feel the same passion for our our creations. I hope we'll see each other's gardens one day. Laura: thank you! That's what everyone who writes wants to hear. Sherry, As far as we're concerned, it's perfectly feasible: we have a guest room and a standing invitation to come visit, and we live in a beautiful area, little known to tourists. So you may keep that in mind as you weigh the possibilities of a trip to Italy. As Henry Mitchell wrote, flowers, wonderful as they are, are not what gardening is about; rather it's watching the growth of the garden in spring, the splendor of the plants' maturity, and their slow retirement in fall. The roses are incredibly lovely in their delicate new foliage with the daffodils in bloom at their feet: who could ask for more? I love the woods below the shade garden, still bare at this time, and the woodland bulbs in certain lucky locations. For me at these times this is the most beautiful place in the world. My husband has to sit through a lot of rhapsodizing as well. It's the common fate of gardeners' spouses. When I wrote this message I forgot one of the reasons I originally wanted to write it, which is, that we now have DIRT!!!! Our neighbors have been a constructing a new, large cow barn as part of a significant expansion of their dairy operation. On the whole this is a good thing for us, as well as for the cows, as they'll move out of the middle of our little settlement of houses and barns, resulting in a cleaner and neater environment for the humans and more sanitary conditions for the beasts. Anyway, it has been necessary to excavate for the building and dump trucks have been hauling away great loads of perfectly good soil, a product of which we are in chronically short supply, all our acres notwithstanding. Of course we can buy topsoil, but having it hauled in is an expensive business. So my husband flagged down one of the dumptruck drivers and, for twenty euros, got him to dump one load in our parking area and another in our field by the side of the road. This is GREAT. Now we can fill in low spots, make up potting soil, and refill the propagating beds after we've dug up the rooted cuttings. We're very happy about our pile of soil! Melissa

mcnucci, were bouts are you located in NC? I'm in Charlotte. Figs are awesome! And you are in luck with so many figs. I make fig jam with my figs and eat them fresh. Whenever I see a "Figs for sale" signs out in the country rural roads, I try to buy them. You can try to sell them, but when they are ripe they can spoil and mold quickly. And lately we've had wet humid weather here. I got hooked on figs after buying a jar of fig jam that was just sugary syrup and ONE fig! After finding figs on a side road market, I made a case of Fig Jam and it was totally awesome! Nine years later, now I have over 20 fig trees and over 10 different cultivars and just finished building a greenhouse to protect my trees from the weather. Also, freeze them and use them later. Good luck.

Thanks Connie - Lilting Belle is indeed one of my favs - I could arrange to have one for you if you could make it to the swap :-) and Jeff ..... I can only laugh - didn't think how that sounded - but come to think of it, Brandon may need that Sicilian protection if he doesn't quit tempting me with so many wonderful plants at the swaps. I've been introduced to some very interesting ones by him - but unfortunately my husband sees them as just another weed. Hope you can make it to a swap soon.

I remember watching the Top Chef Season 6 finale in the napa Valley and the final 4 had to use grapes from Michael Chiarello's vineyard (on a train no less) to create a dish for the quickfire - this one won and stuck in my head, even though I hate brussel sprouts (cannot abide by food that smells the same goin' in as goin' out) but if you don't check this one out---> Enjoy! Top Chef, Season 6, Episode 13, Quickfire Challenge Ingredients Ruby Quinoa 1/4 cup ruby quinoa rinsed well 1 cup stock, preferably vegetable can use poultry 1/2 ea medium onion, minced 1 tablespoon Butter Salt and Pepper to taste Brussels Sprouts 1/2 cup Brussels sprouts split in half and cleaned 2 tablespoons butter 2 ea sprigs thyme, leaves cleaned 1/4 cup lardon double smoked bacon, rendered Salt and Pepper to taste Concord Grape Reduction 1/4 cup concord grape skins, reserve flesh 1/2 cup chicken stock 1 ea thyme sprig 1/2 cup butter Roasted Hen 2 ea game hens 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons minced shallot 1 ea clove garlic smashed 2 ea sprigs thyme Directions For Ruby Quinoa Sweat the onion in butter until translucent, add the quinoa and lightly toast. Add the stock, bring to a simmer, cook the quinoa at a simmer until it just starts to "burst" the quinoa should become tender For Brussels Sprouts Blanch the brussels sprouts in salted boiling water until the color is set, shock in ice water. Render the bacon until crisp add the brussels sprouts and start to caramelize in the bacon fat. Finish cooking the Brussels sprouts with the bacon until tender, season with salt and pepper, add the thyme leaves and hold until plating For Concord Grape Reduction Reduce the stock with the grape skins, add the thyme spring. When the ?reduction is au-sec, whisk in the butter to create a butter fondue style sauce with the concord grape. Strain the skins and thyme from the sauce. Reserve warm. For Rosted Hen Remove the legs and thigh together, debone the thigh bone keeping intact the drumstick and the thigh meat. Leave the breast on the bone. Over high heat warm a large saute pan with canola oil. Sear the breast and thigh on all sides with skin exposed to create a crisp finished skin. Place into a 350 degree oven until the internal temperature of the hen reaches 145F, remove from the oven add whole butter and baste with thyme, garlic, shallot until the hen is finished and the skin is crisp. Serve the hen off the bone with the garnish and sauce � 2011 Bryan Voltaggio