Well the jelly will have to wait as my grandson is coming for the day. He loves pumpkin things so I made pumpkin syrup, pumpkin pie cupcakes, apple pumpkin scones, and pumpkin spice biscotti. That should get me a few brownie points He will take some if each home to share with the family.

Weedwhacker said:Crittergarden, I tried over-wintering rosemary unsuccessfully for quite a few years -- until the last couple, when I discovered they do much better in a cool to chilly room, with as much sunlight as possible.

Hmmm.
Maybe I should try one in the basement under lights, where I plan to winter some tropical stuff.
Anywhere in the house gets pretty warm. Except maybe the NW corner of the kitchen, where I'd need a light too.
I killed one in that spot once though. HOW DO YOU KNOW when to water it?

Cookies4kids said:Well the jelly will have to wait as my grandson is coming for the day. He loves pumpkin things so I made pumpkin syrup, pumpkin pie cupcakes, apple pumpkin scones, and pumpkin spice biscotti. That should get me a few brownie points He will take some if each home to share with the family.

Awww

"HOW DO YOU KNOW when to water it?"

I just kind of give them some water every couple of weeks -- I'm pretty notorious for killing plants by underwatering, apparently the rosemary plants are good with that...

CarolineScott said:
I also spend two days a week with my now 9 months old grand daughter.

Extra Awww. I'm a little afraid of children old enough to talk, but babies are much easier for me to be around.

Wish we were there, Frank.

I work on my blog, look at my flower photos and my deer and other animal photos
and look at plant catalogs thinking of what I want to order for
my flower garden!

Excellent wildlife shots!
But I'm not sure FEEDING them is what I'd want to do!
I just got the deer back OUT of my garden since the fence fell down!

Wonderful pictures, Sheri. Do you have trouble with the deer in your gardens?? They are so pretty, but as soon as we feed them, they become a huge problem. They ate off 22 of my tiny asiatic lilies before I got a chance to see them in bloom. I was soo mad I was in tears. You wait a whole year to see something and it's wiped out in one night!!

Yep. My fence fell and I couldn't afford to replace it. They ate ALL my tulips. They ate my globe arborvite. They EVEN ate part of the yucca!

Moms raised babies here for 3-4 years.....

FINALLY got the fence "fixed" - still ugly, but working to keep the deer out.

And I'm collecting tulips again.

What gorgeous photos, Sheri. Deer are so beautiful, although I know they can be so destructive to gardens. My worst enemy is rabbits, and they are bad enough

We have rabbits too, Linda, but they seem to give up after a little while. At least here, they don't eat a whole plant. They leave a little for me to see

Sheri, studying the seed catalogs is one of my favorite winter "sports" too!! I often feel that winter is the best time of year for gardening, much less work than the "real" gardening season...

Since I'm able to grow some cold tolerant crops here in tx, that's what I do. Broccoli, collards, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, snow peas, and sweetpeas are a few I've sowed already. They haven't germinated yet. May have to try again. I plant just about 6 of each, and pick whatever is ready each day. I avoid planting so much I have to freeze or can them. A large part of my winter is spent moving compost from the barn to the garden for the spring crops. And also, planning new areas or better ideas for expanding the garden. I have a Quonset hut minus its tarp, that I'm going to put wire on, and next spring use it for indeterminate tomatoes. They can grow right over the 10' top, and down the other side. Hopefully, I can walk thru and pick tomatoes.

Texaskitty, winter would certainly be a lot different without all the snow!! I don't like snow, but I've always lived here so it's just one of those "facts of life."

And if you grow the tomatoes on the Quonset hut frame, please post pictures -- sounds a lot like my gourd hoop trellis!

I'm loving the hut and hoop trellis!
Do tomatoes need light to ripen or just heat?

I don't think they need light, Crittergarden -- because it's often recommended to put them in a paper bag or wrap them individually with newspaper. Warmth must be the key factor

good! I might grow them that way too then!

The plant needs light to grow, but once the tomato has reached a large enough size it can ripen in the dark.