-=> Quoting Janis Kracht to All <=-

 JK> spring is almost here

Where you live maybe! We don't plant our gardens here until the
first weekend in June and even then we can get hit with a late
frost and have to start over.

 JK> miraclegro's aeogarden hydroponic planters 

Very convenient!

 JK> The "system" is not cheap by any means!!

I looked them up online. No kidding!

 JK> You set up this the system with special plant lights

Another challenge for me. Electricity is expensive here (31 cents
per kwt hour while yours is under 20 cents) and I need to use
more than you because of our short days. (On Dec 21 I get 4 hours of
weak sunlight while you get 8 and 1/2 hours of the real thing.)

My method is to plant seeds in large flower pots in May, move them
outside in June, bring them back inside in early Sept and harvest
everything before Nov. 11 before they die from lack of sunlight. I
don't use grow lights any more after I calculated that it takes $50
worth of power to save $2 worth of chilies.

I did grow some garlic scapes from sprouted cloves in Jan without
grow lights buy they were quite pale. They tasted fine though.

A uniquely northern fruit:

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: About Honeyberries
Categories: Info, Fruit
  Servings: 1 text file

           honeyberry
           blue-berried honeysuckle
           sweetberry honeysuckle
           blue honeysuckle
           Haskap (Japanese)
           Lonicera caerulea

The honeyberry is in the Honeysuckle family. It is native throughout
the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere. It is a deciduous shrub
growing to 1.5-2 m tall. The flowers are yellowish-white, 12-16 mm
long, with five equal lobes; they are produced in pairs on the
shoots. The fruit is an edible, blue berry, somewhat rectangular in
shape weighing 1.3 to 2.2 grams, and about 1 cm in diameter.

The species is circumpolar, primarily found in or near wetlands of
boreal forests in heavy peat soils. The plant is winter-hardy (zones
1-4) and can tolerate temperatures below minus 47 C.

Honeysuckle is harvested in late spring or early summer two weeks
before strawberries for Russian type varieties, with Japanese types
ripening at a similar time to strawberries. The berries are ready to
harvest when the inner layer is dark purple or blue. The outer layer
is dark blue and looks ripened, but the inner layer may be green
with a sour flavor. Average production on a good bush is about 3
kilograms (6.6 lb) and can maintain productivity for 30 years.

As a blue pigmented fruit, it contains phytochemicals etc.

Honeysuckle can be used in pastries, jams, juice, ice cream, yogurt,
sauces, candies and a wine similar in color and flavor to red grape
or cherry wine. 

From: Wikipedia, edited for brevity.
 
MMMMM-------------------------------------------------

Recipe to follow.


Cheers

Jim


... The world holds 300 pounds of insects for every pound of human.

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