This is one of my favorite silly things to do. This year i grew tumeric and posted about it. I started a nice patch of German camomile that way so its not all that silly. Garlic , horseradish, mint ,watercress, mustard seed,lemon grass. and Szechuan peppercorn all worked well also.Ginger , papaya, mango, avocado, lychee,and many other tropicals were not practical in zone 5. This year I also planted roots like beet, parsley,carrot,also kohlrabi to get the seed for next year. I got a ton of beet seed from one beet but the parsnip attracted a large stem boring webby multicolored worm i have never seen before. No seed from that or the carrots.Oh popcorn works if you get it from a farmstore so its not a hybrid. Hot peppers work well too. I will be thinking of this for days now coming up with all the other things I forgot. Ric

LOL it was at a sweetbay where I found it. having looked at a bunch of pics, it does not look like the jamaican hot chocolate, especially since those are supposed to be smaller than a normal hab, and this one is enormous, far larger than my orange habs. the descriptions on thehotpepper refer to the normal choc hab as the st bernard of habs, leading me to think that's what this one is. it's also quite wrinkly like a normal choc hab. gonna eat it with my lunch today, maybe flavor will be an indication (not only an indication of what it is, but also whether to grow it next year). maybe next year I'll make some brown hot sauce. that oughta look appetizing.

When I make my own ponzu, I use 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp lemons, and 1 cup soy sauce, but you can adjust it any way you like. Sometimes I use all lime juice and sometimes I use all lemon juice, depending on what I have. Right now, the new lemon and lime trees I have do not have ripe fruit, but I should be getting Meyer lemons this autumn and limes hopefully by winter. Lars

In the ground is always best but if you prefer them potted I would sink the pots for winter. Do NOT put that styrofoam box over them. Just mulch them up with leaves or soil. The box will cause mold and at the same time prevent needed precipitation from getting to the roots. If you put them in the window wells use leaves or wood mulch to pack around them. Gravel will freeze and transmit the cold more easily. If the wells are under the eaves you may have to water occasionally. Roses need water all winter even when dormant. If you put them in the garage keep them on a shelf or on blocks off the concrete floor. Water them about once a month with a 1/2 gallon of water. They are dormant, not dead, so they do need water. The fig trees would probably benefit from a drink now and then too. Mark your calendar or use a phone reminder to remember to water them. When I had roses stored in my shed I would put a shovel full of snow on each pot every time we had to shovel. But like you, we don't get as much snow as we used to so now I water all my roses during the winter. It really helps to keep them hydrated and dehydration is as big a killer as the freezing temperatures are.