Of My "late drop" Live oaks. 3 had last winter as their 2nd winter in my yard zone 6 SW Pa. One came back from the roots One plain out died. And one is in purgatory. Just joking. It isn't dead but it isn't actively living/growing. It's a zombie tree, I guess. In the middle pic it has green under the bark, but you can barely see it. I believe it will make it, but it will be after a chunk of the season is past before leafout. If anyone doubts the green under the bark I will try to get a picture with a flashlight shining on it. The top pic is the one that came back from the roots. There are red/pink buds on the one with my hands on the twig showing the bark. I just don't know how long until it starts showing some life beyond some tiny buds and green bark. But if they come to life soon, I will be glad I tried and succeeded with them, thus far. Not knowing how late leaf out and growth will affect them long term. Before finding the patch of green underbark, I was ready to think maybe the pink things weren't buds and it was dead. I sat and looked at this tree for a while trying to decide if it was dead or alive. I had a magnifying glass, too. The top couple limbs sticking up had the most red/pink buds, 3 clustered at the end. But not as many lower down. Usually the tips die before the lower portions. Well, as long as the green trunk is green it is alive, and has lived through last winter, it is going to leaf out somewhere, from the top, bottom or middle. All I can do is wait.

What make a tomatoe to qualify for the adjective PASTE? Isn't that it has less juice and more meat ? If you are growing them for commercial purposes (to make paste and sell) then it make sense, like HEINZ company goes into a great extent and develops a tomato just for that purpose, regardless of taste, color... But as a home gardener, we want a tomato that is flavorful and requires less efforts and energy to reduce it. For that, there are ways. For example cut the tomato into halves and squees the juice(and seeds) out and then boil it. But I have found a better and more energy efficient way: After regular preparation, bring the batch to boil so that the tomato chunks soften and break apart. With a hand held blender, blend it real well and then strain it through a fine meshed steel straner and get the seeds and pupl out. Now here comes the trick: You have a bag made of a tightly woven strong cotten fabric. Pour the must into the bag, either hang it or rest it in a strainer. Depending on how thick you want your paste, let the juic/water sip out. This way you dont need to boil it for hours and waste energy.

I wouldn't say I'm an over achiever, but I do like lots of detail so I'll go with Colleen and do both. Plus since I haven't participated before, the more info might make it easier on my partner. Please tell us a little about yourself and your eating and cooking style. Who lives with you, favorite colors, hobbies etc. I live with my DW in an old [circa 1825] house with our dog and 8 cats. We've been together 31 years. In one of my several incarnations I was a chef so our cooking depends mostly on how mobile I am. Sometimes I do quite a bit of the cooking and at times most is left to Christy. Luckily she's learned much during our 31 years together. I'm half Italian so I do cook lots of Italian, but love non hot Mexican, regional American, French, Chinese, etc. My favorite color is purple and the non color black. I'm also an artist and draw, sometimes paint watercolors or sculpt. I crochet in a very basic manner and know only basic knitting stitches. Love to garden but can't do too much anymore. Luckily I'm surrounded by the best of the Garden State for food needs and also lucky that I concentrated on perennials when I did garden more. Your favorite cookbook. Types of cookbooks you always look at. Do you like to write in your cookbooks when you find you need to alter a recipe to make it work or do you believe books should not be written in? My favorite all time cookbook is James Beard's American Cookery. Good recipes but I love the way he wrote. I have a extensive cookbook collection and love all types of cookbooks. Favorites are the old time pamphlet cookbooks, to the many incarnations of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. I too read cookbooks for pleasure. I do write in them and love used cookbooks that others have written in. Do you like jam? Love it. Do you like jelly? Very much so. Apple is a favorite. Do you like marmalade? Not so much. Do you like pickles? Not spicy but do love dills. Do you like spicy food? Well spiced, but not hot. I don't eat black pepper if I can help it, but can eat a bit of cayenne much easier. What are your favorite fruits? Any you do not like? Love fruit and can't think of any I don't like... ah.. except cantaloupe. Do you have a strong sweet tooth or you more of a savory person? I do have a sweet tooth. 1. Where do you live? I live in a tiny town in rural New Jersey, surrounded by farms of the horse, tree and food varieties. 2. Do you grill/eat outdoors often? Do you pack up a picnic basket or typically eat in the yard or kitchen? We grill fairly often in the summer but then eat indoors. 3. What colors do you use on your porch/patio/outdoor eating area? Not really any particular color. 4. Do you use your regular dishes or do you have special dishes/serving ware for outdoors? Or are you a paper plate/paper napkin kind of girl/guy? Depends. I don't like using paper products too much but when I'm not getting around Christy likes to use paper plates so she doesn't have as much to wash up since we don't use a dishwasher. I do use cloth napkins though. 5. Are your summertime gatherings more casual or formal? Casual. 6. Do you like to try the latest kitchen gadgets? I love gadgets and have lots. I like to collect old/antique gadgets too. 7. What are your favorite summer drinks? Desserts? Snacks? I drink seltzer as my continual drink. Raspberry. Unsweetened only. I have a 2 gallon crock that I make iced tea for the summer in or lemonade. Neither of us really drink alcohol any more although we keep some around. I'll drink Asti or champagne but don't like other wines. Desserts we eat mostly fruit, but I do like to bake and we like most anything with lemon, chocolate or other fruits. We make ice cream fairly often in the summer. Snacks consist of dark pretzels or a hunk of very dark chocolate. I don't care for milk chocolate, plus the dark doesn't seem to affect my glucose levels. Smiles. 8. What are your favorite summertime cooking/eating/entertaining activities? Do you spend time boating, at a cabin, around a campfire....etc.? We haven't been doing much the past couple years but we like to rent a cabin on a lake or down the shore when finances allow. Mostly we just love to lounge around and read, eat Jersey tomatoes and white corn and play with our animals. 9. Do you garden and/or grow your own veggies and fruits? Are you one who likes to can and preserve? I love to garden but don't do much anymore. I do have several friends who have produce stands on their farms so it's easy and close to get great veggies and fruit. I like to can but have done more freezing lately. I plan to get out the big pressure canner this year though. 10. Barefoot or flip flops? Always barefoot whenever possible and sometimes when not advised. Smiles. I've been known to run outside in the snow barefoot for a few minutes. We always kid about how hard it is to get me in shoes. I like to say my feet are claustrophobic. Smiles. Hope this helps.

Don't get really mad too much in my older age, but do get extremly annoyed. Especially with old people who should not drive. We just had one person get killed (75) and the other (82) in the hospital. They apparently had been to our local casino and did not pay attention to a stop sign and go thru it and got hit by an 18 wheeler. I really feel sorry for the truck drivers, there were not hurt because of this dumb thing. They offer free drinks--so--and it probably was senior day. That interesection has alot of accidents. Seniors do not need to go shopping Fri night and weekends when working people have to do but if they do, please do not take 20 minutes to look at a can- or a list. Please have your money/check out--yes you do have to pay for it. Please let the person with you count out your nickels, dimes and quarters etc That is what angers me. Yes I am old, and getting older.