I think maybe the weather then? I really appreciate your info, that tells me a lot!! There are a few that are still pure white and growing, but the ones that have "purpled" as you say, are quite small. I tied the leaves up today, but I will go out and pull the ones that have already done what they will do, so to speak:) Thanks for the info. I think this has been a weird year anyway, we are just now really starting to see sunshine and warmer temps. It has been a cold, damp Spring and early Summer for us here. Thanks again, farmerdilla, your info helped me tons!! g

Sylvia, I think I just need to hire you to be my personal seed shopper; you always have such good looking colorful edibles. What exposure does your sea kale have? I ordered a package from Johnny's when we bit the bullet and ordered the agribon cover. I have plans to grow a bunch up and harvest and freeze for use during the summer. Johnny's says it doesn't tolerate frost? I'm continually amazed at the multitude of micro climates around here. This month has been a thank you to the oak tree coverage. The gardens that are under heavy oaks are, for the most part; doing very well. The gardens out in the open; meh - not so good. I've lost a few plants I expected to loose, and lost a few I didn't want to loose. I'll replant one of the croton's I lost because it really makes a nice focal point for the street side veggie garden. I kept another croton alive by putting an upside down trash can over it :) Some of the other probably lost perennials will provide me the chance to rethink and plant something different. In past years, I've kept orchids out during low temps by running heat lamps in ground stake fixtures with sheets over the orchids. Sadly, last year my system developed some sort of short and I lost several of the orchids. I have enjoyed my orchids for years; moving them from SoFL to SoCa to Central Florida. But now that I can't move plants around I'm rethinking things. In the gee, surprise it is still alive department - If you look closely; that is a cherry tom - unprotected snug up to the electrical box and still growing away. And the zinnia's in front are the only blooming flowers remaining in the front. Normally this time of year I have Johnny Jump ups that reseed themselves each year; but this year they have not come up. My End of the driveway bed. In the front center are heavily covered pots containing tomato plants I started from saved comparti toms. I have shepherd hooks on either side that I use to create a tent like cover. I had planned to make it into a little greenhouse type area using plastic drop cloth. Nasty cold/flu/sinus crap has kept me away from my favorite toy store though. The real surprise though are the plants against the fence to the left; a sweet basil, eggplant and cilantro seedlings are all just fine and happy. I was happily surprised to see the cilantro, culantro and arugula all come through like shining stars. Again, they are in areas that have oak canopy's so I think that helped. I was very sad to see every last one of the basil curl up and melt; even our favorite spicy globe in a pot I covered. The coleus along the front of the house all froze (as expected) - Syvlia - perhaps you could suggest for me something edible and ornamental that I can plant in those spots? Preparing for the new season! For dinner last night we had left over italian meat pie with a huge side serving of slightly steamed greens from the garden. They were so very good; and they are all loving this cool weather and growing like crazy. Even the cranky spinach and celery are going gang busters now. If I can just figure a way to keep those dang rotten pesty squirrels out of our dinner. Those crazy things are running around like miniature banshee's frantically searching for buried treasure. I read that rats do not like catnip - so I'm going to plant lots of catnip around the salad beds this spring - squirrels are rodents also. And speaking of herbs; I found an old thread from 2008 in this forum which showed many pictures of ways to incorporate herbs into ornamental gardens. I would really love to see you "old timers" point out some of these tricks to us noob babe in woods peeps. ~dianne

I do not do fondue at home but we do indulge in fondue every 1-2 years at the Melting Pot (chain fondue restaurant) for a special occasion (anniversary or something). They do all of the cleanup and prep, it's a nice, long, relaxing, romantic meal in a little fondue booth for 2, and they have yummy non-alcoholic specialty drinks (I don't drink alcohol) like blackberry sage lemonade. But it is not cheap, $$ or caloriewise, so it's definitely a once in a while thing. It's especially luxurious feeling now that we have a toddler to be able to sit for 2 hours and chat without shoveling food in our mouths with one hand and reinforcing table manners with the other. We always get the broth cooking styles (we tried oil once and it was not for us) for the main course - usually the "mojo" with citrus and cilantro added (so you home fonduers should try that, I think it is half an orange and half a lime plus some cilantro) and request extra granny smith apples for the cheese course. We've been going for like 12 years now and have been to this restaurant in 3 states + Washington DC, so we always make servers laugh with our extensive menu knowledge (even though we go a most once a year but usually more like every 2). Now I want fondue, thanks, but we JUST had it in January for the holidays (DH's company had everyone go out to dinner on them for the holidays so we picked that).

Netla, I don't think that ham in a tuna sandwich sounds odd at all! I wouldn't have thought of it, but I'll have to try it. I have been making my own sauerkraut for a while now, and have fallen in love with putting it in all kinds of sandwiches. Since I don't can it, but keep it in the fridge, it's nice and crispy and adds a really nice tang and moisture which means I can use a bit less mayo. I've also been putting my bread and butter pickles in sandwiches, and roasted red bell peppers. Grilling onions slowly in a heavy pan with no oil makes another good way to add moisture without adding a lot of extra calories. I bought some portobellos today, and some eggplant, so we're likely to have veggie sandwiches at some point in the next couple of days.