Why not give them a try? Conventional methods say to start them in early spring, when the soil has thoroughly thawed. So what if it's late spring? You might get something from them before the real heat hits. I think I'll try some too. PV

Search Update!!! What luck; I found the duck ...recipe. My "Drunken Duck" recipe has re-appeared today! Happy Dance!!! It was in an old file box I'm slowly clearing out. I wonder what other jewels may surface? I had made two copies of this recipe from a library book and then put both copies in the same place. What was I thinking? The book - a history review of cooking, restaurants, and recipes of the late 1800s - came from the Dover, DE, Library. I think it was long out of print when I checked it out in 1992. The dinner is called "Positively Ducky, A Small Spring Dinner for Four." It's Chapter 29 of the book and begins on page 305. Apparently the recipes were broken down into seasons and the duck recipe came under "Spring." I know everything about this book - except the title and author. I had made photo copies of the pages, stapled them together, and did not bother to reference the book, author, or publisher on the pages. Again, what was I thinking? The menu for this dinner is includes... Crisp Savory Almonds Chilled Spring Green Soup Aromatic Duck (which I named Drunk Duck; it's soaked in Brandy) Gingered Red Cabbage Slaw Fresh Grapefruit Gelatin with Cream I won't copy all the instructions right now - I have birthday treats to prepare - but the marinade/rub for the 5 lb. duck includes... 2 teaspoons black peppercorns 1 teaspoon dried thyme 2 bay leaves, crumbled 6 whole cloves 1 Tbls. coarse Kosher salt 1 Tbls. brown sugar 1 Tbls. gin, vodka, or brandy 1 garlic clove, peeled I am so thankful I found this recipe. A copy will be put in my computer; my friends will have emailed copies, a paper copy will go in a proper file folder and cabinet, and another copy will go in my Betty Crocker cookbook. My ducks will never be served sober again!

trailrunner, I have this one from RobinKate, my family loves it. I'm thinking it would be very pretty made with the white tomatoes I grow every year: Tomato Orange Marmalade Adapted from Gourmet 2003 It is important that you use the best quality tomatoes you can for this recipe. You can use any color of tomato you want, a mix is especially striking. Don't use paste tomatoes as they do not have enough liquid in them. If need be in winter you can make a batch using 1 quart jar of home canned crushed tomatoes. However supermarket tomato look alikes will not work. A friend tried that once and when I asked how it was she replied, "Well... I ate it." Which meant no one else would. 3 pounds peeled, cored and chopped ripe heirloom tomatoes, including juices (the weight is after peeling, coring and chopping, including the weight of any juices) 3 cups sugar 2 organic juice oranges, washed 1 organic lemon, washed 1/8 tsp salt Place peeled, chopped tomatoes and their juices in a 5 to 6 qt or larger, wide pot, (the ingredients will all fit in a smaller pot but you need to leave space so they will not bubble over, ideally it should be at least 9 1/2 inches wide to encourage rapid evaporation). Slice oranges and lemons as thinly as possible, including peel and pith. I slice mine on my mandolin using the thinest insert and then remove all the seeds and slice the rounds into 4 pieces (and the pieces that are only peel I julienne, you can also quarter the fruit and then slice it as thinly as possible with a knife. Place the lemon and orange slices in the pan with the tomatoes, checking again for any citrus pits you missed, in the pot with the tomato. Add the sugar and salt and place over moderate heat while stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Turn the heat to high and continue to cook until the setting point is reached.* Using a canning funnel ladle hot marmalade into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Run a bubble wand or small knife around the inside of the jar to remove air bubbles. Use a damp paper towel to clean the surface of the rims, place a clean lid on top, add the rings and tighten as tightly as you can with your hands. Place the filled jars in a water bath canner and process for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes is up remove the lid, turn off the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes before removing the jars to cool on a towel or receiving blanket. I don't know if this is the one you are looking for, but it's good. Thanks RobinKate, I know you're out there somewhere! Annie

Wow. You guys are great! Thank you all so much for the kind words and encouragement. It helps a lot. And I see I'm not the only one in this boat! I do know that things will get better, and I can always plant new roses, etc. But it's just the loss of the rare roses that pisses me off. Why couldn't it be the more common ones that are easily replaced? Of course that's not the way it goes, altho there were a few of those too! And it's my fault for planting the tiny own-root bands in this crappy soil of ours before they've grown to a decent size. And it's my fault for not keeping on top of the sprinklers to be sure they are covering the entire beds, and my fault for not getting the most invasive weeds and underplantings pulled out when they were smaller. But... that's because I've been so busy, and overly obsessed and buying waaaay too many roses. I'm not growing and cultivating them, I'm collecting them. That's what I do. I collect things. It's sad. It's a sickness I guess. I know that in the coming seasons I will get all the beds done. And Bluegirl, yes I am doing what you said. I plant a rose, or weed part of a bed. In this heat, that's all I can do. It's slow going, but it's nice when I do get something done. Right now tho, I also am now dealing with the death of my 98yr old mom. We've been expecting it for sometime, but it's kind of surreal now that it has finally happened. My brother just flew out from Upstate NY and my sister is coming up from SoCal, so we will be dealing with all the estate and stuff over the next two weeks. I'm not going to get much done in the yard for awhile, except watering. Which is ok, since it's been too darn hot to work out there. By then it will be cooler and easier to do stuff outside. The only drawback now is the days are getting shorter, so I won't have as much daylight to get things done. Oh well, it'll get done when it gets done. LOL My life will be so different now. I'll have more time and less stress. Not that Mom was stressful. It was my niece who is my partner in the shop, and who lived with her. She's got mental issues and was a nightmare to deal with regarding Mom. Our lives revolved around her needs and wants, and my younger son and I had to go stay with Mom whenever she wanted to have time off. Now I have freedom, and so does Mom! She was trapped in her bed in a body that didn't work and a mind that was basically gone. I will miss her, but I will not miss the ordeals we went thru with my niece. And I will think of Mom when I'm out there working in the garden. Being out there will help me get over her passing. Judith, your chickens sound wonderful. We only have room for a few. (In fact we're not supposed to have more than 2... which is totally ludicrous... why bother?) Anyway.... we built a decent little shack for the girls and have a run that's 8'x24', but we're going to add another 10-12' in length and use our old satellite dish to put over part of it. It's going to be a fun and funky set-up for them. And next yr... I want some of those Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and Brahmas. Can't wait! Oh and I also am using weed barrier under some of my potted roses. Saves on weeds that's for sure. Altho they still get in the pots. But now I am sort of cultivating some weeds. Those are the goodies for the chickens! They love it when I bring them their "greens!"