Carol, For every smidgen of time and effort we give to our community, we get so much in return. It truly is a priviledge to work as a community volunteer here. It's just been crazy since the train wreck with one 'bad thing' after another, but in the midst of all those tragedies, you also witness so much caring and kindness. Love County truly lives up to being the county of "love". Now that I've had practically a whole night's sleep, I feel more ready for the holidays! Susan, You can freeze them as Dorothy stated, but when you thaw them, the texture is not the same as fresh tomatoes. That's why I dehydrate them. Then it is my option whether to toss handfuls of them into salads in their dehydrated state, or to soak them in a cup of warm water for a little while and then toss them into salads. We like the texture of dehydrated/rehydrated bite-sized tomatoes better than frozen tomatoes if we're throwing tomatoes into our salads. You also could toss your excess cherry tomatoes into the food processor with a few other ingredients and make salsa! George, Your mention of mint/lemon balm reminded me that I do cook with herbs from the garden all the time...some dried and some fresh. We still have green, fresh lemon balm, mint, rosemary, lavender and sage. Sage is certainly associated with Thanksgiving. Dorothy, We haven't had much rain lately. Earlier this month our mesonet station had 0.85" but we had barely a trace that day. With early freezing nights, everything is dry/dormant enough to burn, and so it has been. It isn't that there's been so many fires, but just that they've occurred so closely together. We were out all night Sunday so I was worthless on Monday because apparently I don't function very well on almost no sleep. It seems like we always have a really awful 8-10 days before Thanksgiving, and I think it is a combination of things....frost-induced dormancy of thousands of acres of grassland, stiff winds, the start of the hunting season, and lots of holiday travelers which tends to lead to highway accidents. Today, knock on wood, has been pretty quiet and I hope it lasta. Keith, That recipe sounds marvelous. I'll have to hang onto it so I can try it sometime. I hope everyone does have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and y'all be careful at those Black Friday sales if you go. I'm staying home and shopping online! There is nothing I want to buy badly enough that I'll go anywhere near a store for the next few days. We went to Wal-mart this morning and I hope I can manage to not step foot in a store again for another 5-7 days. Dawn

maybe i can help clear up some confusion here ive worked in the nusresry industry for 10 years now and i am a buyer for one of these types of chain stores, orchard supply hardware. truthfully, home depot, lowes, walmart, taget, all of these we all buy from similar if not the same sources as each other. now independent nurseries and garden centers, buy from the same growers as we buy from with one major difference, some do actually grom their own material to sell at a slightly higher profit. most chain garden centers are focused on one thing and that is turning the product so sitting on it and waiting for it to grow doesnt make good business sense especially when their space is entirely taken up for merchandise. alot of independent nurseries get their plants already grown and ready to go to the consumer, just like i buy them, the quality is the same because they come from the same grower, the same crop. the biggest difference in what the plant quality looks like is when the consumer goes to shop for the product. alot of times you go into a chain store and the plants are wilting the soil in the pot is dry and theres no clerk to be found or none that are knowledgeable. the key is to shop around, find that one place that caters to your needs and has the product selection and the quality you like, remember the plants when they come off the delivery truck are virtually the same its the finished product that counts look for a place that hass a friendly and knowledgeable sales staff and that keeps a clean and neat place to shop, one clue is to look at the way the employees are working, are they putting plants away or hanging out with other employees when much of the plants in the nursery are obviously dying from a lack of water? these are the places you should stter clear of. the places that do the right thing in these circumstances and that focus on making an enjoyable shopping experience for the consumer are the ones you should goto. price is definately a concern. most chain stores now do price matching so ask. so to answer the question. yeah go ahead and give home depot a shot if the satisfy your needs. go for it.

dirtworshiper- Actually, the WM I visit is pretty good! Clean store with helpful folks, most of whom speak (or at least understand) American. Yes, some cheapie poor quality items, but mostly the stuff is the same as available in big-name department stores. Last I looked the clerks were making much better than minimum wage, which is more than I can say about the help at several independent businesses 'down the street'. There will be good places to work or shop as well as not-so-good, and I find the business' ownership is no guide to which is which. That isn't going to stop me from feeling sarcastic at *any* business which puts on a green face (or wall as the case may be) but doesn't exhibit the sense to do enough research to make the green viable - and apparently thinks no one is going to notice.

I couldn't resist this piece since it is to all political parties it doesn't seem to be partial to any one: Wal-Mart vs. The Corrupt Morons 1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day. 2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute! 3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year. 4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined. 5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer, and most speak English. 6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world. 7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years. 8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy. 9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world. 10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago. 11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.) 12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart. You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy. This should be read and understood by all Americans Democrats, Republicans, Independents, EVERYONE!! To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, It is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons: a.. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke. b.. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke. c.. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke. d.. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more. e.. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke. f.. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke. g.. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure. You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars. AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ??