I grew a number of heirlooms last year...and honestly, I was really disappointed. Maybe last year was just a bad year for tomatoes? I found them to be quite acidic tasting, they didn't keep AT ALL after picking, and I had terrible cracking problems. I had to throw out so many tomatoes because they quickly turned to mush and got moldy after cracking. The rest I mostly made into tomato sauces. They were fine for that. Off the top of my head, I think I grew Cherokee Purple, Indian Stripe, Black Krim...and a few others that I can't remember. I got loads of tomatoes, but there were just so many that were ruined. It seemed like they didn't get fully ripe, but they were still starting to crack and rot on the plant. Maybe a blight of some kind? We did not have a hot summer, maybe that was part of it. I also grew Black Cherry...it didn't do well. I started it at the same time as everything else but it took FOREVER to ripen. I have grown something called Chocolate Cherry in the past, it didn't produce a lot but the flavour was divine. Normally I grow varieties like Sweet Million, Manitoba, Celebrity, etc. They've been reliable for me. I will probably still try the purple heirlooms again, I'm assuming either my conditions were wrong or it was just a bad tomato year in my area. But last year was basically a bust for me! I don't think I'll ever plant ALL my tomatoes as heirlooms again, though. Just in case I have a complete failure again. I'll probably split my tomato plants between my old reliables and some new-to-me heirlooms.

I give away alot of my apricot jalapeno jelly. I prefer it with 5 different types of peppers, jalapeno, habanero, tobasco, pequin and serano, or whatever I have growing. Wild plum jelly is another favorite, if I can find wild plums (which I couldn't this year.) I made sour cherry, apricot and peach! Cherry is DGS#1 favorite, apricot is DH favorite and peach is DGS#2 favorite. I also gift squash/zuchinni relish. The last couple of years I haven't canned salsa, which I did for years. I have been making it fresh, even with grocery store tomatoes, which IMOP is better than processed salsa. I just don't care for the vinegar taste.

Terri, sorry it has taken so long for me to get back with you...but thanks for posting that link. It's still not clear to me though. This is from the deliciously organic site: "after chatting a bit with some of the ladies from Rodelle (a company that sells some amazing organic vanilla) they informed me that in order for vanilla to be classified as an "extract" you need 18-20 vanilla beans per 750ml of alcohol. They also told me that in order to get the best flavor out of your beans you can chop them up before adding them to the alcohol, or let the whole beans ferment in the alcohol for at least 2 months. Homemade vanilla lasts a couple of years if kept in a cool dark place and there is the added benefit of having wonderful fermented vanilla beans in your pantry to be used in your baking." So,if I keep adding vodka, it won't be extract strength anymore?

Ken - yes, looks like Hosta Choice is out London way. Thankfully, I'm not riding the hosta train these days so doubt I will be heading there any time soon. Because I need another obsession like a hole in the head. Woodyoak / Sunnyboarders - yes, Mori's is right on the trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake...and Sunshine Express is right off the QEW. I used to buy from Mori's when I was first plant shopping, but I noticed the weirdest things just wouldn't survive. Like herbs for example. I thought it was me or my own inexperience, but then I was talking to a few work colleagues and they described similar situations. Plus they were significantly more expensive than elsewhere. So I stopped buying product there and would only go to walk through there nursery during lunch (a nice escape!). Funny, because they are a major nursery supplier and when I would cross the border to Buffalo, they were often from Mori Nurseries (and I'd scream NO!). The one exception to this was Japanese maples - they had a really great and varied selection and generally no problems there.