Eddie, Enough, already! In SC. the pure sand soil type varies from place to place, yard to yard. Yet, through the years it has sustained the population, fed the Yankee Army as it pillaged and burned and contributed much in the way of research to the horticultural world. Random thoughts on the subject. 1. You seem frantic about pH. As you gain more experience and study other yards and farms noted will be the fact that plants can adapt to a wide range of situations, especially if you select some of the quality types which have been developed by Clemson, UGA, et al, specifically for the south. The best vegetable garden I have seen in the south was on Spring Island, SC. which is a very private plantation. The owner of the garden, while out riding his horse in the depths of the Island discovered the old saw mill and huge mounds of pine sawdust/bark composted over the centuries. He built raised beds and filled them with nothing but this very acid pine compost soil. The results are unbelievable. Brassicas that look like those pictures of crops grown in Alaska. 2. Suggest you not use or compost fresh animal manures in the south. It is loaded with Bahia Grass seed. Once introduced into a garden it will forever be a weeding nightmare. Ditto hairy vetch. Your best cover crop in the veggie garden is the constant use of straw and the Ruth Stout method. Look it up. 3. Nutrients added to sandy soil quickly leach into the underworld. Your job is to figure out how to slow this process down. Forget about tilling. 4. I'm going to cut to the chase here. Place all you reports, studies, questions in the back of a dark drawer for this year. Plant your winter veggie garden using several handfuls of bagged mushroom compost in each planting hole or spread in the bottom of rows plus a handful of dried molasses which will discourage various root insects. Water in as you plant. Now, spread pine needles as a mulch over all. Yes, I know they are acid. Don't worry about it. Press on. On top of the pine straw spread the dark, rich pine bark mulch mixed with any compost on hand. Over this a light scattering of straw. This should be all you need do to grow veggies, repeated annually, building the soil. Amend sandy soils at the surface. Spend your efforts on developing compost, of which 25% pine bark compost should be incorporated. Great stuff! Use it.

lavenders don't do well as topiaries unless you would like to shape them as ball hedges. Rosemary on the other hand is a good starter plant. Choose one with a straight stem, planted in a good sized pot and let it grow as tall as it is possible. Stick in a straight bamboo stick as a guide and use raffia or twine to attach the main leader stem to the stick. Remove all leaves above and below areas you've selected to be the balls. Do not cut off the tip of the leader stem until you are satisfied with the height of the plant. I think you can grow this plant up to 2 1/2 ft or perhaps even 3 feet. Once the plant has achieved the appropriate height, nip off the top. This will force branching in the areas below. Continue to remove any growth in the areas between the 'balls'. Let everythings else grow and nip off stem tips as they grow to certain lenght. This again forces that stem to branch out and continue nipping off the tips until you have your ball shape. The lowest ball is usually the largest and the top the smallest. A lot of patience is required when starting from scratch. Rosemaries also do not do well indoors unless it receives a decent amount of moisture. It is also susceptible to spider mites and powdery mildew and so everynow and then, you will need to mist it to prevent this from happening. Remove and adjust the ties as the plant grows bigger otherwise it can cut into the trunk causing harm or unsightly scars. Ianna

Here is a recipe for Orange Chicken that a KTer posted a while back. I made it and liked it. Orange Chicken 3 lb. (1.5 kg) small boneless skinless chicken thighs 1/3 cup flour 1 cup KRAFT PURE Orange Marmalade 1 cup KRAFT Original BarBQ Sauce 1/3 cup soy sauce 3 Tbsp. freshly grated gingerroot TOSS chicken with flour in large bowl; stir in all remaining ingredients. ADD mixture to slow cooker; cover with lid. (Slow cooker should be one-half to two-thirds full. If it's not full enough, you risk overcooking.) COOK on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours). Sue

Ask the boy scouts :o). Seriously though, my son camps out every month for a couple nights, and the guys have cooked everything from turkey dinners to choc chip cookies using a firepit with a dutch oven & camping stove. Foil packs are an easy one & very versatile - chop up chunks of whatever you want e.g. potatoes, onions, carrots, seasonings, meat - wrap in heavy duty foil & heat on the grill. Baked apples taste great that way too with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, butter, etc. I'm thinking of getting a single induction burner that I could use in the future while grilling outside anyway. I'll also buy or borrow and electric skillet. Thinking I'll be able to make many things I usually do, modifying mostly to simplify clean up.