Welcome, Beth!
You might be interested in the "Edibles and Preserving" forum.
http://garden.org/forums/view/...
If you click on "Watch This Forum" in the upper-right of the forum home page, you will get a quick link to it on your personal Home Page.
Sometimes (especially at night) a forum thread will become so active that it IS like a chat room.
I see that you both garden and write ... Dave and Trish (the hosts of the website) really appreciate it when people contribute articles (called "Ideas"). Those can be any length from a few sentences to several pages.
When you settle in, ask anyone about how to do that, or click the "Ideas" link on the left-hand menu panel. It might be self-explanatory.
There is also a "Topic of the Month" or "Topic of the Week", and articles related to a current or upcoming topic are especially appreciated. They also often stimulate lots of responses and discussion.
