Bonnie, I don't think cranberries need to come up to 221 to set since they have some much natural pectin. I don't find temperature to be all that accurate anyway. I've made crabapple and quince jelly (both high pectin) and they set around 215. Other things needed to get to a higher temp. I have also experienced the temperature plateau in some cases. This winter I made back to back batches of calamondin marmalade that I had prepared exactly the same way. The first batch set around 215/216. The second batch had to be cooked to a higher temp. After that it looked the same on the plate test, but ended up looser in the jar. I just use the thermometer as one more indicator of when to do a plate test. After doing a few batches, I can start to tell how the bubbles are changing and also how it is looking thicker falling off the spoon. (Although I've never had it react quite like the books say when doing the "sheet" test.) My thermometer is pretty close to accurate. I tested it in boiling water once. Melly

Hi Miranda Congratulations on your new hobby! It is going to be very interesting, let us know the results. As a child my father would take me to the sugar cane mills, and we got to sample the juice and the liquor made there, strong stuff! My father also made a delicious wine out of a very sour fruit (grosella) is like a berry. It was a sweet wine. You are going to be busy with the garden and the winemaking, the crops are looking good. And you will be happy with the nantes carrot, I always plant them in my garden. They are the all purpose, no fail carrot. Especially if you get them on sale in a tape form. Tons of the tape are even cheaper than the packet of seeds. When I see this value, I stock them up. And you don't even to have to thin them, thinning is not my favorite occupation. :o) The poha berries are the same as the ground cherries, you can save them when ripe in their own husks till you have enough to make a jam. Or you can use them in salads savory or sweet. I eat them as a snack. If you planted the casabanana in the spring, you would have fruits now, they take 100 days or more to grow and they take over the garden. That is a big no, no, for me and my small space. Nice tangelo tree! Silvia

In my area the cheapest sources for natives (aside from seed) are the native plant sales hosted by the Missouri Prairie Foundation and other similar organizations. Something like this for Massachusetts, perhaps: http://www.grownativemass.org/programs/plantsale I also see that the NE Wildflower society had Gaultheria procumbens on its list last year, so might offer it again in 2017. No clue what the pricing would be on that, though. Or you could plant from seed if you've got the patience for that: http://www.outsidepride.com/seed/ground-cover-seed/wintergreen-groundcover-seed.html http://homeguides.sfgate.com/plant-gaultheria-procumbens-seeds-21879.html

Wow. I had not seen this list before and had no idea that so many other peoples interests in AV's, paralleled my own. I think I have close to half of those on the list! I have been a big fan of the "buckeye" series of AV's and I have several. Like all of us here, our tastes change from time to time. Mine have evolved to where I have a distinct preference for variegation. I have not added a plant to my shelves for a long time that did not hold some promise for variegation. As a result, just going off the pics, I think I would gravitate toward the Buckeye since it appears to have a more prolific variegation pattern.