Mine maybe are a little more transluscent than the milk jugs, round, one gallon, with a nice plastic carrying handle. Will save up more. Even if it is opaque, it shouldn't be a problem if you cut around the rim of the lid and substitute clear plastic with vent slits, then use the rim to secure it. I used to love these air puffed mints, white and red striped balls, melt in your mouth. Anyway, I found some at Walgreen's so buy them but can't use too many too fast. I was thinking they'd make good ws containers. Meanwhile I kinda got my comeuppance. I ordered (a splurge) 6 10-20 (standard) nursery flats w/drainage holes and 6 clear Jiffy plastic covers (not as tough as I expected). Anyway, the lid won't fit on with my deep root six packs and won't fit on with a regular one either. I can use something in them but will have to secure the covers as well because they don't snap on. I know those little 2 oz or so cups would work, or can get those 9 cell packs (not sure if they would fit). So years ago I ordered this sturdy, red metal 4-cell contraption with some kind of plunger, never tried it out, saw it not too long ago. I thought I'd see how it works in damp soil, can't find it :-(. I wasn't really expecting it to work well. If I had more time to accumulate recycleables, I could cut some plastic dividers in the old egg-crate style to keep the plants separate and just plant the whole flat and be done with it. I suppose cardboard would work but harder to cut and can't reuse the following year. I did a little research and found one almost identical to mine only I sure didn't pay $29.95 for it back when I got it! Now I really hope it will turn up. Saw it within the last year. Mine looks almost identical to the smaller red one but IIRC it's about 1" X 1" X 1" cube, no very slightly larger, is four-cell strung along horizontally and is finished in industrial grade-red paint. Soil Blocker is what they are called. More Information on Potting Blocks - Soil Block Research, History, and Information Here is a link that might be useful: Johnny's Selected Seeds Soil Blocker

CHOCOLATE MINT TRUFFLE TORTE Makes 1 cake, 12 servings. This torte uses yet one more technique for infusing fresh herbs. This time you steep mint leaves in warm butter, strain them out, and use the scented butter in the cake. Flourless chocolate cakes are familiar to most serious chocolate lovers because they are the most intensely chocolate cakes imaginable. They are, in fact, cooled dense chocolate souffl and very simple to make. The fresh peppermint flavor in this version gives it a refreshing taste. About 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, for the pan 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour, for the pan 6 ounces (1-1/2 stick) unsalted butter 1/2 cup (gently packed) fresh chocolate mint or peppermint leaves 12 ounces premium bittersweet chocolate chopped 6 large eggs, at room temperature 6 tbsp. granulated sugar Garnish with powdered sugar Preparing the pan: Generously butter a 9 inch springform pan and lightly dust the interior with the flour. Turn the pan upside down and bang out the excess flour. Wrap a large square of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the bottom of the pan and partially up the sides. Turn the pan right side up and set it in a shallow baking pan or on a half-sheet pan. Infusing the butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the mint leaves and let the butter sit in a warm place for about 30 minutes to absorb the flavor of the leaves. Butter and chocolate mixture: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Create a double boiler by selecting a medium (10-12") stainless-steel mixing bowl that will rest on top of large (6-quart) pot. The top of the bowl can extend beyond the rim of the pot, but the bottom of the bowl must not touch the water. Put about 2" water in the pot and bring it to a simmer. If the butter has cooled, heat it again to thin it. Pour the butter through a fine sieve into the mixing bowl and press the leaves with the back of a spoon to extract all the butter. Add the chocolate to the bowl and place it over the simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted, then remove the bowl from the water. Eggs: Beat the eggs and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for a full 10 minutes. They should quadruple in volume and become light colored, very thick and fluffy. Fold 1/4 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, then very gently fold in the remaining egg mixture until completely incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Baking: Put the baking pan with the cake on the center oven rack and pour in enough water to come about 1/2" up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until an instant-thermometer inserted in the center of the cake register 155 to 160 F, 25 to 30 minutes. The top of the cake will lose its glossiness and be slightly mounded, but it should not bake so long that it rises and cracks. If you insert a skewer into the center, it should come out gooey. Let the cake cool completely in its pan on a wire rack. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake and remove the outer ring. The cake will keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream, ice cream or custard sauce. Recipe from: "The Herbfarm Cookbook" by Jerry Traunfeld.

This is as authentic a recipe for the old-school Italian water ice as you'd want to find. For strawberry, just follow the recipe for the peach one and use the berries, although for raspberry or black cherry, it's better with just the strained juice from the fruits. LEMON WATER ICE 1 quart water 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup lemon juice Grated rind of 1 lemon (no white part) Boil water and sugar together for 5 minutes. Cool. Stir in juice and peel. Pour into shallow bowl and put in freezer. As it starts to freeze, keep stirring the outside crystals into the center and mix in peel. Do this about every half hour. When really slushy, stop and freeze overnight. To serve, you must scrape very thin layers of the slush off the top. I use a big spoon with sharp edges moving it sideways. My notes: This won't turn out right unless you do both the stirring thing and the scraping thing. It really is all about the technique, not the ingredients, which is why you won't get the same results in an ice cream freezer, even though we've tried it. Depending on how many you'll be serving and when, you can divide the ingredients in half for a smaller batch because the syrup starts to congeal after about 2 or 3 days. For all of these, follow the same method as the Lemon Ice, boiling water and sugar together, add other ingredients, then freezing as directed: LEMON-LIME WATER ICE (my personal favorite) Make as above but use 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 lime juice and equal amounts of lemon and lime peel LIME ICE Make as above using lime juice and peel instead of the lemon. FRESH PEACH WATER ICE 1 cup sugar 2 1/2 cups water 1 1/2 cups peeled and sliced ripe peaches 1 1/2 to 2 tsp. lemon juice Puree peaches in blender with lemon juice. ORANGE WATER ICE 2 cups water 1 cup sugar 1 cup fresh orange juice 1 grated orange rind (no white part) 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice GRAPE WATER ICE 2/3 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups water 1 cup grape juice 1/4 cup orange juice 2 Tbs. lemon juice

Wow, thank you all so much for sharing your suggestions and considerable knowledge, it is so helpful to me! I use meringue powder instead of egg whites because one of my kiddos had a salmonella infection a few years ago and it was quite an awful experience. We never determined exactly where he came in contact with it; it could have been from handling the reptiles/turtles at school, or from a local restaurant where he was the only one to eat spinach with his dinner salad. Regardless, since that experience, I have become extremely cautious - no bagged lettuce/spinach, no reptilian pets, and no eating anything with uncooked/undercooked eggs, including spoonfuls of raw cookie dough (which I had done my entire life without incident!). Poured fondant sounds like an interesting solution! But could that be piped, or would royal icing need to be used for detail work? Not sure I could handle two different icings..my kitchen was a disaster just using one icing, with the piping bags and bowls for coloring, etc. I am not a neat cook. I'll try adding lemon juice and using Ateco meringue powder next time! I also found another recipe online for a crusting buttercream (with meringue powder) so I may try that as well some other time. So many great ideas here....thank you all so much!