Thanks! I’ve created a calendar item for next August so I remember to do this. I have chicken fencing that I need to use in my garden in order to get seedlings to grow; otherwise as soon as they emerge they become rat hors d’oeuvres. In the meantime I’ve set out rat traps; if I catch any of them I figure I’m evening the score.
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Grapes? I suspect a raccoon.
Here is a photograph of a fermented hot pepper sauce that I made with some of the produce from my garden: jalapenos, serranos, and habaneros, along with some garlic cloves:
Sadly, my straw-bale potato experiment was unsuccessful; more on that later (I did get some potatoes using another growing method, though). My tomatoes succumbed to a version of blight last month; but I am still harvesting okra and some remaining hot peppers.
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My mouth is watering! 
Sorry for the garden fails. Gardening is def an experiment in science and nature.
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The tomato season is continuing here, but not for long. My heirlooms did not do well this year, but cherries and Siberia varieties were very prolific! Cucumbers did well, too, and I made a couple of big batches of eggplant caponata from the eggplant produced by the four plants I had just to try a new variety.
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Removed my tomato plants today at my community garden - sad day. Still have one with MANY teeny weeny tomatoes at home - I pop them like candy!
Also pulled a few carrots today - and just made carrot top pesto - omg good! 
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My tomatoes are not showing any major signs of slowing down… just a few wilted leaves. But they will not be producing much because the nighttime temperatures have dropped into the fifties. I’ll give them a couple more weeks and then remove them. It was not the best summer for tomatoes here, unfortunately. The Siberia variety and Kahuku goldens were the clear winners.
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An indoor gardening item made the “top 4 items” for 2025 from Wired / NYT recommendations
I learned of them here on CC threads, use them for the geranium plants I bring inside in autumn (along with a few unintended insects).
I
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These little things indeed work like magic!
Spring planting is on the way and I’ve started some tomatoes and pepper seedlings. They’re in trays because I put them in the yard during the day but in the garage at nite.
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I adjusted the title to include 2026. Dint know that we needed to start a fresh thread - weigh in!
Love the seed starting. Our local seed swap is this weekend but I won’t go because it is always a MOB. Crowds, no thanks! I can get some seeds at my community garden and I have some at home.
I may start a few this weekend just for the fun of it.
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About 3 weeks later and they have their first real leaves and continue to grow! I will plant them in the garden mid-April
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Beautiful! I planted a few seedlings last Sunday or Monday. Inside, little planers. The zinnias have sprouted but not the kale or herbs yet
I’m waiting until the end of March to start my tomatoes. The cucumbers and zucchini will wait until maybe the end of April. Hoping for 
!!
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So I see a Black Krim, yes? And a Brandywine? And maybe some peppers?
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I started Brandywine, Black Krim, and Dona tomatoes. These are among my favorites. I also started a few bell peppers of various colors and a Padron pepper. And I have a personal-sized watermelon I’m going to give a try this year.
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I am delayed in getting my seeds started this year; but Brandywine and Black Krim are in my regular rotation as well. And some hot peppers of various types.
Historically I have grown Moon and Stars watermelon; but the last couple of years it just hasn’t taken, for whatever reason.
Still growing. Nites are starting to get warmer so I think i’ll plant them around the 2nd week of April.
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I thought other gardeners might be interested in this technique to induce more branches to grow. I have a persimmon tree and much of the foliage is up top; also there are no longer any low branches. It turns out with many trees this is controlled by something called apical dominance. The higher end of the tree sends a hormone down and it inhibits lower branches from forming so that new growth tends to happen at the top.
But there are buds in the lower part of the tree that could form new branches. To induce them to grow take a pruning saw and make a cut above the bud (don’t circle the branch or you’ll kill it!) This cut blocks the hormone, the bud thinks it’s at the top of the tree, a branch often forms (perhaps 3 out of 5 times).
I did this over several years to lower the height of a lemon tree that was in the yard when we bought our house. Much of the foliage was roof-high, so I induced lower branches and then started lowering the tree height by about 25% per year. With this persimmon tree I’ve been controlling the height, but I’d like additional branches down lower and it looks like in a year or two I may have them. I’ve also done this on a dwarf fig tree to get branches down low.
example of a cut
several new lower-level branches have started
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