"Gaia's Garden," by Tony Hemenway. It's about using permaculture systems to make your garden stronger, and the new second edition is full of drool-worthy color photos. I love "Farm City"! I got it just before Christmas and I'm already re-reading it. Another great farm book is "Little Heathens," by Mildred Armstrong Kalish, which reads like the Little House books updated for the 1930s. :) Seymour is amazing. I constantly re-read his "Self-Sufficient Life" book--the illustrations are magical--and I just got "Self-Sufficient Gardener" for the first time. My chicken book of choice is currently the incredibly charming "Keep Chickens" by Barbara Kilarski, but if we actually take the plunge this spring (we're thinking about), I suppose we'll get the Storey guide to keeping and raising chickens.

Patrick sounds like you had a great time in your garden with the hummingbirds on the 4th. They sure are a lot of fun and entertainment. Lately the hummingbirds around here have been out doing themselves with the antics. I can't seem to walk outside with out catching them playing in my saffrass tree. I have phlox, scarlet runner beans, lady in red salva and several greggii salvas planted around that tree along with three different cupheas. I also have a feeder hanging from a limb. This feeder is used less than any of my three that I have out. I must put Crocosmia lucifer on my list of to get plants. I did do a Google serch and found it to be out of stock on several online nurseries.

Hi, everyone! Mmmm, apple cider doghnuts. I've only had those once, and we ate the whole bag within 15 minutes of leaving the orchard. They're scrumptious! Ollierose, I try to know the botanical names for the plants I grow, (or at least list them with it) so I only look up botanical names that seem really familiar, because those may be seeds I can send in and I'm just not making the right mental connection. If I don't recognize it at all, it's not something I can send in. If you want to look things up, the fastest way I've found is 1. have the google toolbar 2. type the Latin and the word plantfiles 3. read all about it. That's also my first step in deciding if I want a plant, but I always look them up on a few sites, because they all have inaccuracies sometimes. I like to increase my chances for trades by making it easy for the trader to know that I have what they want, or they have what I want, by using both common names and latin. Except I'm sure I've neglected to do that completely :) It's another cold, grey day, and I have so much garden cleanup to do, still perennials to get in the ground, plus a couple hundred bulbs--but all I want to do is sit in front of the woodstove with my tiny kitten!

llaz Quote: "a clove of garlic and two or three anchovies" Garlic and anchovies on a BLT? What were ya thinking, Lou "pizza?" lol For you Lou I found someone who might just agree with you so smitten are they with anchovies they"ve penned an "Ode to the Anchovie" see link below. :D barkeater Quote: "You start with a thick slice of your favorite tomato, up against REAL mayonnaise, with a high quality, crispy bacon, on nonbleached italian white bread. Lettuce is insignificant and use the absolute minimum possible, and add salt and pepper to taste. Anything else is SOMETHING ELSE, not a BLT." YES, YEEESSSSSSSSS, that's it! lol So simply and eloquently stated, too. newbie_2007 Quote: "as many 1/4 inch slices of tom that you can wrap your mouth around (some have bigger jaws than others)" hehe, that's why I'm thinking you should really make your own BLT's who better to judge these things. If someone makes your BLT sandwich TOO big you gotta wonder what is it they are really saying to you, lol trudi_d Quote: "We had a spec book that gave instructions on how to make sandwiches-----we were requred to cut on the diagonal. Great thread, this is the first I've looked at it." LOL, sort of reminds me of cooking in the Army, kinda funny that. Thanks! :) cziga Quote: "I had a BLT (not made by me) the other day that had mustard on one slice of bread and mayo on the other. On no account does mustard belong in a BLT. Not that its a bad condiment, but it obscures the tomato flavor and it altogether a bad idea." Certain taste combinations don't even "sound" good together although I've been meaning to try the Elvis' "banana and peanut butter" sandwich sometime. :D moosemac Quote: "Hubby likes: A thick slice of any large home grown beefesteak tomato, iceberg lettuce, Armour Black Label bacon, Cain's Mayo and Wonderbread toasted golden brown." Brand loyalty (I love it!) and the Wonderbread is an excellent bread for a classic BLT it has no flavor doing what bread should do which is hold ingredients so you can get them to your mouth without too much "fuss & muss". :P Moosemac, just curious but have you tried anchovies with the garlic on your BLT might go good with the cibatta bread, check with Lou, hehe :P Here is a link that might be useful: Ode to the Anchovy