From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Terry Coombs wrote:   
   >   
   >    Looks like we may get tired of strawberries ... nah , that ain't   
   > happening !   
      
     it hasn't happened to me yet either, but i have had   
   so many that i've invited others to come pick and then   
   gone out and helped them pick because i was so happy   
   to have someone else put them to use.   
      
      
   > Picked another basket this morning to be sure we had enough   
   > for a batch of jam , coulda made 2 batches with these and what I picked   
   > on Thursday . So Mrs Snag made one batch and cut a bowl full up for   
   > shortcake . That makes 17 half pints of jam so far . Still have some   
   > fresh berries in the fridge which I plan to freeze tomorrow . A cup of   
   > berries and a quarter cup of sugar , seal in a vacuum bag and   
   > refrigerate for a day to develop the syrup before I freeze them .   
      
     hmm... i guess that would be one way to do it.  i've   
   heard of people putting them on a tray and then freezing   
   them before bagging.  i tried one year freezing mashed   
   berries in pint jars but they were starting to ferment   
   when i did that and i was hoping the freezing would kill   
   off the ferment.  it didn't...  only a few jars were   
   edible.  the rest were like a glob of sorta strawberry   
   wine smelling stuff.  the worms were happy to have it...   
   i suppose i should have got vids of drunken worms.   
      
      
   cosmos are a great mid to late summer flower, annual   
   but prolific and all sorts of bees seem to like them.   
      
   buckwheat in small amounts can be planted at intervals   
   if you need a patch to help out that is quickly   
   established.   
      
      
   ...   
   > damaged . Oh , and I forgot about the small pot of chives , they're   
   > ready for a bigger home so they'll get repotted to a 6" container . Now   
   > I need to learn where/when to use them ...   
      
     best in the early to mid spring and late summer IMO.   
      
     if you don't want them to spread you'll have to remove   
   the seed heads after they have flowered for a bit.  and   
   by spread i mean take over...  i've removed some large   
   patches of them and i can say that i truly hate the   
   smell of chive roots/dirt clumps.   
      
      
   > does sprouting mung beans in   
   > a jar count as "gardening" ?   
      
     sure.  :)   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)