Glad you decided to come in from the bushes. LOL I'm just getting started with container gardening and wondering how come i have'nt done it sooner. my flower beds are a mess too but blooming too. and i'm frantically trying to get everything into pots. Josh, i'll probably have trouble with oak seedlings too as i've oak trees all over. How do you handle 200 plus containers? When i think about it though,it can't be worse than all the flower beds i have and when i think of all the rocks i've had to dig up,it would have been easier to have started with containers. vickie

Susan, You're welcome. I've protected plants by covering them up with sheets, blankets, etc. in past years and it works pretty good as long as the temps don't go to far below freezing. I hope you can successfully cover up yours and keep them going a while longer. I always put my winter tomatoes (the ones I plant in pots in February) on the concrete with the south-facing wall of the garage right behind them and I do think the heat helps them grow and mature tomatoes more quickly. I also think the radiant heat might help them a little at night, although I always either cover them up with blankets or drag them into the garage on cold nights. When you're trying to either keep fall tomatoes going late or get spring tomatoes going early, you have to use every trick in the book! Don't forget that often the last green tomatoes will ripen up indoors on a counter when you absolutely must pick them because the temps are going so low that covering them up won't help. I've had ripe tomatoes very late into December from those last ones coloring up indoors over time. And, yes, if you lug a couple of those 5-gallon buckets indoors, it is likely the tomatoes will continue to ripen in a sunny south window. They most likely will ripen more slowly and they may not have the same flavor as a summer tomato, but they'll still taste better than grocery store tomatoes. If you want to grow indoor tomatoes in a future year either early in spring, or late in fall, or throughout the winter, three that are absolutely perfect for indoor tomatoes are Red Robin, Yellow Canary and Orange Pixie. They can be grown in surprisingly small pots (they say as small as 4" or 8" pots for Red Robin, but I wouldn't go smaller than 1 or 2 gallons, I think, for the best yields). All 3 varieties produce a high yield for such small plants and the flavor of all three is surprisingly good---not the best tomatoes you'll ever have, but not bad, especially for indoor tomatoes. Both Red Robin and Yellow Canary get about 8-12" tall in pots (though about 6" taller than that in the ground in the summer time) and Orange Pixie gets a bit taller--maybe 15-18" in a pot indoors and sometimes a little taller in the ground in the summertime. When I have grown them, they all three had as much or more fruit than foliage. A couple of years ago I grew these three varieties as a 'border' around a bed of larger tomato plants.....just one more way of squeezing a few more tomatoes out of one bed. Dawn

My preference is DARK. DH's is Butterfingers! I know that because when we were in Belgium I was excited about these small chocolate outlets are a popular draw for tourists. In Belgium much like wineries, tours of Belgian chocolate shops include tastings and exclusive souvenirs. Anyway, I was overwhelmed trying to make decisions and assumed by the puzzled look on his face that DH was too. I finally made some selections, he didn't. He finally said "they don't have Butterfingers". I was emnbarrased and told him to keep his voice down--crazy American!

This is the one I make when company comes and it's easy! You can easily add Kahlua or Amaretto to this but I wouldn't...it's just perfect the way it is. It has a great mouth feel. Dark Chocolate: Milk Chocolate: White Chocolate: 6 ounces semisweet (or milk or white) chocolate 3 tablespoons butter 4 medium, very fresh eggs, separated 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 1/2 cup cold heavy cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla whipped cream and chocolate curls; garnish First, place a stainless steel bowl and a wire whisk in the refrigerator. Then chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a medium, non-stick skillet along with the butter; melt over low heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat to cool slightly. In a medium size bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tarter and continue to beat gradually adding 2 tablespoons granulated sugar until it forms stiff peaks; set aside. Stir the egg yolks into the slightly warm chocolate in the skillet, 1 at a time. Using the chilled bowl and whisk, beat (donÂt use a mixer) 1/2 cup heavy cream until it begins to foam and gradually add 2 tablespoons powdered sugar then vanilla. Continue beating just until stiff peaks; do not over beat. Gradually and gently fold chocolate mixture into beaten egg whites then gently fold that mixture into whipped cream in cold bowl. Do not over work the mousse! Spoon into 4 martini glasses, cover and chill at least 2 hours. Garnish as desired. Marilyn