The proof is in the pictures! I totally agree with Al's statements. I often say that I wish I had been exposed to a few basics in plant science and physics long ago, when I first became interested in growing plants, but the basics are not what circulates through the general gardening community, nor are they anything promoted by the gardening industry. The first thing I wish I had learned is that growing in the ground or garden, and growing within the confines of a container, are two very different environments that each require a different approach. I've come to think of the garden as organic, and growing in pots as more inorganic and something I have more control over. I think if I'd had that separated in the beginning, I'd have had much better success, and a lot sooner. I'm also fond of saying that a green thumb is nothing more than applied knowledge. And that's very true. There's no luck or magic to growing plants. It's all skill from applying the basics of science and physics. And the more I learn, the more I realize that the industry exists to help itself, and not necessarily the gardeners. Once we learn what containerized plants really need, we are more or less forced to search down various ingredients and mix our own mediums better suited to how plants respond when placed in a confined space. As Al says, we can't make a case when it comes to personal choices or convenience, but we certainly can show how various practices benefit or limit our plants. And to be honest, I don't find it inconvenient to grow healthier plants with healthier roots, anyway. To me, it's worth it to mix my own mediums custom to my unique environment, more in keeping with what is beneficial to my plants from a scientific angle. So, I save organic methods for the gardens... and I go with a more controllable, inorganic approach to growing in pots.

Wolflover. It is so wonderful to see you here! I know you're there, but you don't post as often as you used to and I miss you when you aren't posting. That was an important pepper tidbit I learned shortly after moving here, and I did find, too, that not letting the plants be exposed to cold temps below 50 degrees did make a huge difference in how well/how early they produce. I wish I'd learned it 10 or 15 years earlier. My peppers are a lot more pampered...carried in and out just like yours...but they don't seem to mind being planted later. Even though I plant them about a month later than I used to, they produce earlier than they used to. Seems odd, doesn't it, but I'll keep doing it since it works. I haven't tried Aji Dulce. I'll have to put it on my list. The habaneros I grow are for DH and his friends. I barely survive inhaling the fumes when I'm cutting them up, and I don't eat them at all except in pepper jellies. Aji Dulce probably would be just right for a 'pepper wimp' like me. You've made a lot more salsa than I have, but I've been bogged down in fruit. Now that the fruit is over, I can spend more time on peppers, pepper jellies and salsa. I canned about 85 jars of salsa last year and it wasn't enough, so I'm shooting for 120-130 this year. I still have a long way to go to reach that goal though. Adellabedella, I can see why several glasses of milk and lots of bread would be required. I grew a yellow habanero type pepper called 'Fatali' (beware any pepper with the word fatal as part of its name) for several years and thought all our friends knew it was really, really, really hot. DH gave some Fatali peppers to a coworker who took them home. Before he could even warn his wife "Watch out, they're really hot", she'd taken one out of the bag and popped it into her mouth. It made blisters in her mouth. Blisters! She could laught about it later, but she was in all kinds of misery at the time. She thought it was one of those sweet squash peppers or mushroom peppers and never dreamed it was a habanero type. Dawn

Thanks for the lowdown. :) I knew, of course, the why's of it regarding the whole wheat. The three hour thing may be true scientifically, but I milled enough flour for the day (to soak for my bread, and to feed the starter a couple of times). My first encounter with rancid flour was four years ago, after my three month kitchen remodel ended up taking more like ten. My canisters are airtight, so when I opened them, I could clearly smell that my flours were rancid. Milling is fun enough to stick with. :) I got big bags of the wheat I liked for the Pizza. If those prove consistent, I'll get more of this crop. I could measure out kits, but it's really not that hard to do on the fly. I just measure the red and white wheatberries in the same bowl and mill them together. This time, I also milled a scoop of peas and added a little water. I previously tried soaking the wheat alone, but it didn't come out right. It's much better to mix up the whole recipe, inc. ascorbic acid, and let it do it's thing for at least a day in the fridge. The peazza isn't green enough (I have to try all white wheat), but it tastes great! I made my first home milled soft white wheat pastry the other day, for early peach pies. The butter crust with vinegar added was nice and flaky, though not the kind of long flakes that I'm assuming come from the bigger globule lard. Do you know anything about duck fat? I have some that needs using up and I thought I might try it in pastry. I get it about being able to plant the wheat. Opposite of when they ate their seed stores in the Little House books, because they ran out of food during the winter. :) It's just kind of remarkable that eggs and milk--the freshest things which are always kept cold--are so much more stable as powder than wheat. :) If I can find small quantities, I might try some other of your powders. As it is, I use It's Delish (a kosher brand--very pure and inexpensive) dehydrated onions and mixed veg in wet quickies like omelettes and meatballs. They absorb the juices and add flavor when one doesn't want to spend an extra twenty minutes chopping and sweating little chips of veg. So my honey has gone all crystalized. I zapped it enough to liquify enough for my bread, but it's mostly still a chunk. Is that something I can turn into a powder? Don't know that I would do it, but it would be interesting to know how.. For the mixes. ;)

I like the idea of doing all the prep, cutting and measuring (not to mention making the mess) in one shot to make meal prep easier. I would like to try chopping all the veggies for soup and stews ahead of time. This time of year is great to get veggies cheaply at the Farmer's Market too. I was wondering if you need to blanch the vegetables before you freeze them? The vegetables I would probably use are: onions, celery, carrots, peppers?, and possibly green beans. If blanching is needed, should they be blanched before or after the chopping or doesn't that matter? Thanks for the advice and good ideas!! Pat