Hi Miranda Congratulations on your new hobby! It is going to be very interesting, let us know the results. As a child my father would take me to the sugar cane mills, and we got to sample the juice and the liquor made there, strong stuff! My father also made a delicious wine out of a very sour fruit (grosella) is like a berry. It was a sweet wine. You are going to be busy with the garden and the winemaking, the crops are looking good. And you will be happy with the nantes carrot, I always plant them in my garden. They are the all purpose, no fail carrot. Especially if you get them on sale in a tape form. Tons of the tape are even cheaper than the packet of seeds. When I see this value, I stock them up. And you don't even to have to thin them, thinning is not my favorite occupation. :o) The poha berries are the same as the ground cherries, you can save them when ripe in their own husks till you have enough to make a jam. Or you can use them in salads savory or sweet. I eat them as a snack. If you planted the casabanana in the spring, you would have fruits now, they take 100 days or more to grow and they take over the garden. That is a big no, no, for me and my small space. Nice tangelo tree! Silvia

Nearly everyone seems to be giving you breakfast and dessert ideas, so here is an entree for a change: CRANBERRY ROAST OF PORK 1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries 2/3 cup sugar 1 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup dry red wine + 1/2 cup dry red wine 4 pound loin of pork, either with bones or boneless Salt Pepper 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1 cup canned beef bouillon 1 Tablespoon cornstarch 1/3 cup cold water Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine berries, sugar, and water; boil, cook for 5 minutes until berries pop & mixture is thick. Add onion and 1/2 cup wine. Rub pork with salt, pepper, thyme. Place bone side down in roasting pan just large enough to hold the roast and juices that will develop. Spread cranberry mixture over roast. Roast 2-1/2 hours or about 40 minutes per pound or to internal temperature of 170 degrees. Combine remaining 1/2 cup of wine with beef bouillon and baste meat frequently with this and pan juices. If you need more, mix 1 part wine with 2 parts bouillon. Dont let pan juices scorch. (The onions will scorch a bit, even with basting, but they still taste good.) When roast is done, transfer to board for carving. To thicken pan juices if desired: Measure pan juices. For each cup of pan juice, mix 1 Tablespoon cornstarch with enough cold water to make a paste, then combine with the cooking liquid and cook until thick. Spread some sauce over carved meat and pass rest at the table. Serves 6. Adapted from Americana Magazine, November 1976 From my notes: Use a roasting pan just large enough to hold the meat and basting liquid to prevent evaporation of the yummy liquid. Baste gently so you dont disturb the cranberry-onion coating on the meat. We serve this with noodles to take advantage of the sauce.

Recipes tend to be accurate with how far ahead you can make it. I dont know whats in the recipe, but it may be something that will not retain the shape after so long, or it might pickup weird flavors from the fridge, or the texture or flavor might change after 2 or three days. Honestly, I would go with the canned. TRUST me, im like you, i make everything from scratch, even the fried onions and cream of mushroom soup for my green bean casserole, but if your guests like the canned stuff, thats the taste they like and remember from Thanksgivings past. People are nostalgic about that stuff. They might try your homemade stuff and like that better. But if it were me, i would cave in to the can. No stress.

In my area the cheapest sources for natives (aside from seed) are the native plant sales hosted by the Missouri Prairie Foundation and other similar organizations. Something like this for Massachusetts, perhaps: http://www.grownativemass.org/programs/plantsale I also see that the NE Wildflower society had Gaultheria procumbens on its list last year, so might offer it again in 2017. No clue what the pricing would be on that, though. Or you could plant from seed if you've got the patience for that: http://www.outsidepride.com/seed/ground-cover-seed/wintergreen-groundcover-seed.html http://homeguides.sfgate.com/plant-gaultheria-procumbens-seeds-21879.html