This is a nice reference to keep on hand, Malna. Thanks. Do you happen to know what the ph of green tomato is? Or is that included under the tomatoes you listed? Deborah

As a general rule dried foods don't affect the pH of the recipe so they don't pose any safety issues. And with most, when dried, they are actually more acidic since the majority of the water, the primary source of their pH, has been removed. There are a few exceptions that require re-hydrating in a vinegar solution rather than water before use - things like onions, mushroom, etc. - but AFAIK dried cherries would pose no safety issues since they are acidic to begin with. Dave

P vitifolia won't survive the winters here, though w/ the way things are going I may have to eat my words. I have left a few of the clippings that have matured out over the winter and they go w/ the first heavy frost, (we don't have many, but you can count on a few!) and they don't come back from the roots. I had another P. vitifolia close by last year, a a two year old clipping from the larger plant, and I would have thought that something would have wandered across two differnt flowers. A number of other species amd hybrids nearby too. It was very wet last summer though, and they sprayed for mosquitoes (also responsible for eliminating almost all the Gulf Frittilary larvae, I think, that typically gorge themselves on the incarnata and caerula leaves). But I did see lots of bumble bees buzzing around. Perhaps this year I'll try to hand pollinate, though I only have the one plant. I suppose they need to be pollinated by a flower from another plant? All the photo's of the fruit are real nice! They look like a cross between a watermelon and a peach! e

Nice.