Great choices for Fall Planting

• Make sure your container is large enough for your plants and has a drainage hole
  
• Choose a variety of shapes, sizes and colors.
• This can be something you change seasonally and as you do, move the plants to your  yard.
• Most importantly, keep it watered.  Normally, you would water it every 3 days. Adding mulch to the top will help conserve moisture.
• Water the soil, not the plant
• Pick plants that will work in the location of your container.

• Wider is better than deeper when you are digging your hole for planting.  You want the hole to be 2 to 3 times the width of the container or rootball.
• The top of the rootball should also be an inch or two above the original ground level
• Mix the original soil with your soil conditioner
  
• When planting trees or shrubs in the fall, it is not necessary to use a lot of high nitrogen fertilizer.
• When planting container grown plants, thoroughly disturb or break up the roots on the outside of the root ball.
• *  Water the plant well after initial planting.  Thoroughly water once or twice a week thereafter, until the plant becomes established.
• Water the soil, not the plant.
• Mulch it!  This helps retain moisture and controls weed growth.

• 1 cup NC Muscadine grapes cut into quarters and seeded
  
• 1 NC granny smith apple, cored, halved and thinly sliced
  
• ¼ cup NC pecans coarsely chopped and toasted
  
• ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)
  
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  
• 1-tablespoon white-wine vinegar
  
• 1-tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

In a large bowl, combine the grapes, apples, pecans, blue cheese, celery, vinegar and oil.  Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.

• 1 NC apple of your choice, cored, halved and thinly sliced
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
  
• Cinnamon to taste

Melt your butter in a small sauté pan and add the brown sugar.  Toss your apples in the mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Let simmer on med.-low for 5-10 minutes.  Serve over Vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and a shortbread cookie.

Crust

• ¼ cup heavy cream
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1 large egg yolk
  
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
  
• ½ cup sugar
  
• 1-teaspoon baking powder
  
• 5 ounces (1 ¼ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  

Filling

• ½ cup sugar
  
• ½ cup pure NC honey
  
• ¼ cup wildflower honey
  
• 1-teaspoon salt
  
• 6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  
• ½ cup heavy cream
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1 large egg yolk
  
• 1 ½ cups pecan halves

To make the crust:

Whisk cream, egg, yolk, and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Pulse flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a food processor to mix.  Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.  With the machine running, add cream mixture, and process until dough just comes together.  Shape ¾ of the mixture into a disk and the other ¼ into a small disk.  Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm about 1 hour; reserve the small disk to make cookies. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months; thaw before using.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to ¼ inch thickness. (If dough is soft and sticky, transfer to a baking sheet and freeze until firm but pliable, about 5 minutes.) Cut out a 12 inch round, and fit in into a fluted 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. (Patch any tears with scraps of dough.) Freeze while making the filling (or cover and freeze for up to 3 days).

To make the filling:

Bring the sugar, honeys, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, whisking until sugar dissolves.  Add butter, and whisk until incorporated.  Transfer honey mixture to a medium bowl, and let cool for 30 minutes.  Whisk in cream, egg, and yolk until incorporated.

Place the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Scatter pecans over bottom.  Slowly pour filling over pecans, redistributing the pecans evenly with your fingers.  Bake until crust is golden brown and center is set but still slightly wobbly, about 1 hour.  Transfer tart pan to a wire rack, and let cool completely.  Remove from pan, and serve immediately.