In between. They fool you because of our powerful sun. I've lived in Seattle and Germany, and those are looong days. We don't have long days. But they aren't short like down south either. Johnny's Seed gives you the latitude adaptation. We grow 'Gunnison' (yel) and 'Ruby Ring' (red...well...I grow 'Ruby Ring' for me). Dan

I got a square foot gardening success kit from Gardeners Supply and put a Sausage tomato in it this year. It came with special soil, and it's self watering so it stays constantly moist. The pot isn't that big, but I have to admit I'm impressed with it. My Sausage tomato is about the same age as several other tomato plants and gets the same treatment, but it's at least 50% bigger than my other plants.

Thanks DC. Steve, the biga does make a difference. Also, an extra day or two in the fridge will give you the holey texture too. I use that recipe more as a guide. Other than scooping up eight cups of flour, and adding the biga (another 1 1/2 cups of flour), I don't measure the other ingredients. Unless you call the palm of your hand measuring, which is what I use for both the salt and the yeast. I use about half the yeast called for in a double batch of this bread and I just add water until I get the texture I want. I prefer a more hydrated or wet dough. This also contributes more holes. Also try not to flatten the dough too much when you are shaping your loaves or you will lose that holey texture you are looking for. I used up the rest of the dough today. More baguettes including one filled with roasted garlic and cheddar. Ann

Years ago I read about culturing yeasts from one's own kitchen, with just a bit of commercial yeast in a sponge, which is left open to capture the natural yeast spores that colonize the kitchen--similar to the sourdough cultures which were unique to the areas where they were cultured. The kefir bread is similar to Mark Bittman's recipe and technique. I culture the kefir (one source) all day, then use it for the water in the recipe, with a teaspoon of sugar, the yeast, and one cup of the flour. Let that sponge 'work' overnight, then add the salt and remaining flour the next morning. Let that rise all day, and bake in the evening. If I don't have time for an all day rise, I add another teaspoon of yeast with the remaining flour, and let the dough rise until doubled, usually about an hour. The length of time for the kefir to culture, as well as the rising time for the bread dough, depends on the room temperature, although I usually proof it in the oven. If you're experienced in bread baking, you'll know when everything is right. Today's loaf is one-third whole wheat flour and two-thirds all-purpose flour, but I sometimes vary the ratio, and sometimes substitute a small amount of other flours, such as spelt or oat, or a tablespoon of wheat germ and/or bran. The crispy-bottom cornbread is basically the Better Homes recipe for Bacon Cornettes, without the bacon. I have the cookbook, but here's a link I found online. I use half whole wheat and half all-purpose for the flour, and half yellow and half white for the cornmeal, and a little less salt and sugar than the recipe lists. To make it crispy on the bottom, I bake the mixture in a preheated iron skillet that has had a teaspoon of bacon grease melted in the bottom. The same way my grandmother baked her cornbread. :) The crackers are a simple tortilla recipe, like this one, but I use olive oil, one-third whole wheat flour and two-thirds all-purpose, and add different herbs, spices, and grated parmesan cheese. As I mentioned above, I use the pasta roller, set at #2, using smaller pieces of dough than if I were making tortillas. The roller makes the crackers more oblong than round, but it's much quicker than rolling by hand. I sprinkle with a little kosher salt, then bake them at 400 for about 5 minutes, on cooky sheets. The last time I made crackers, I made a few using the #1 setting, which is almost paper thin. I reduced the baking time to 3 minutes, keeping a close watch so that they didn't burn. They were very thin, crispy, crunchy and yummy. I plan to try the thinner ones with half flour/half cornmeal soon--I'm thinking they will be similar to tortilla snack chips. I know this might sound confusing, but that's the way I cook. :)