Most of the veggies now coming off - snap peas, broccoli, choys, onions, beets, spinach - cool weather stuff - are being eaten fresh - but if we can't eat all of it, I'm making soup bases and veggie type soups for the freezer. I recently ground up enough sausage for 12 lbs worth, but had some nice bones with lots of meat left over on them - so tried browning the meat and put into a crock pot with whatever veggies I had left that missed the stir fry pot. This pork meat - as Ken mentioned in one of his posts, happened to have a couple of bones in it - so didn't get quite as much grindings - but salvaged anyway as a lot of tender meats came off the bones. I browned those bones in the oven and added to the stock pot. Every time I walk past that stock pot, it gets "addings" and it is beginning to smell and taste pretty great. Some of the addings - A few potatoes that were beginning to sprout. Ditto for carrots. Handful of snap peas - that didn't make the stir fry. A couple of small hot sauces from the take-out burritos we had for lunch. A few garlic cloves that were getting a bit soft - the rest were sprouting - so planted them. Multiplier onions that were thinned out a bit - straight from the garden. Some chopped cabbage leaves from thinnings, and a few beets that missed last week's soup. To that, I seasoned with the left over spices that I ground up last year - my own blend of - I think - dill, thyme, oregano, basil and some lemon/pepper salt - that was also home dried this past summer. I may add some dried cherry tomatoes - from last year's harvest, and vowed to do preserve a few more this year (and started a few more cherry type seedlings with high hopes). The pepper seedlings that I need for the dried pepper powders are all doing well - in their little seedling cups - and the window sill is doing the job just fine, so retired the grow light in the pantry. (Saves a little electricity maybe - and works quite well - so long as the sun isn't too high yet. But need to watch it, as weather is warming up and they might cook otherwise). Most of my tomato starts are hardened and planted - doing well. We had one of our Santa Ana conditions yesterday. I kind of like those warm easterly winds off the desert, but they dry the plants and soil very quickly - so they need extra watering early in the day. Along with the warm weather, of course, comes bugs. I caught the aphis moving in on my cabbages - so made some hot pepper/soap spray and gave them "what for." That seemed to clean them out well. (Hot pepper spray - same as that we get from the burrito place in those little take-out cups - doing double duty -grin). The new compost pile is almost finished - will need some for the cukes and cantaloupes I want to have ready for April plantings - as they need direct seeding. Hopefully, the seeds I planted last year will still be fresh enough - so need to try a few in damp towels. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

I missed the fact that it was my turn, possibly because I've been working on my glögg recipe for several days, trying to duplicate the one I remember from my Swedish grandmother's house at Christmas. There are so many completely different recipes that it's taking quite a toll on us to try them all. Burgundy or sherry? Port or brandy? Whiskey or vodka? I'd like to have it right by Christmas, but that means starting the testing earlier and earlier each day. What space do we have left? I'm wondering if we can try hardy kiwi in this locale; although they are hardy to -25, the buds can be blasted by late cold snaps. They might succeed with some shade to the east, which would potentially delay the formation of buds. They could be grown along the fence, with the grapes, but I'll defer to northern gardeners who know if this is unrealistic. Alternatively, if our virtual homeowners are really into fruit, they should probably have some "real" strawberries. They could be grown in a long narrow bed inside the fence (we still have a fence, even though George has banished the deer, don't we? Or, maybe we have enough fruit for this garden. Do we also need to talk about the materials we're going to use, like paving and mulch, and about how this area will relate to the rest of the yard? Is it going to evoke an old New England farm yard and orchard, or be a more formal space? Will we include flowers and grasses, or will it be strictly devoted to fruit? Can we have a table and some chairs out here, where we (um, I mean they) can sit and enjoy this garden?

Without a picture, just guessing. Could be black aphids, which have wings as adults. Ladybugs will eat them for lunch. Neem should not hurt the ladybug adults but can have negative effect of formation of ladybug larvae. Squishing is best while population is low. I have found the more I spray to kill the harmful insect the more beneficials I affect and then my whole garden is out of balance. If you must spray... a soapy solution on the underside of leaves will take care of aphids if done often during infestation. You can make the solution yourself or buy the Safer product.

I hope this isn't too late. Here is my wishlist. I'd chat more but black friday is calling and I must answer! 1. Heuchera 2. Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra) 3. Agastache - orange, purple, and reds 4. Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema) 5. Pipevine 6. Canna - "Australia", "Stuttgart", "Pretoria" 7. Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) 8. Caryopteris 9. Corydalis - blue flowering types Redbud - "Rising Sun" Geranium (Pelargonium) - "Vancouver Centennial" Ornamental Pepper - "Sangria" Creeping Mazus (Mazus reptans) Mamou Bean (Erythrina herbacea) Tall Bearded Iris Dahlia Coleus - odd colors and/or foliage shape, solid reds Clematis Bugbane/Black Snakeroot (Cimicifuga) Basil - Lime, cinnamon, colored, or miniature varieties Coneflower Begonia - any but the ones commonly used for annual beddings Asiatic Lily Toad Lily (Tricyrtis) Peruvian Lily (Alstroemeria) False Spirea (Sorbaria sorbifolia) - "Sem" Stonecrop (Sedum) Caladium Mini Groundcovers - ajuga, sagina, leptinella, mazus, etc. Flowering shade perennials I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Jeff