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I'm so glad it's not just me! For 3 years in a row now in Northern/Central California, I have had 20-30 pounds of tomatoes on the vine, heavy and green, that NEVER did get ripe because it doesn't get hot enough anymore in this region that was once the US's largest producer of tomatoes (but the...

I live in zone 9A. I am thinking of doing a second planting of tomatoes in about 3 weeks so we will have tomatoes through the end of fall. Has anyone else in this zone tried this? This is my first year gardening in this zone. We only moved here a year ago & it's very different from...

I bought non-GMO okra seeds from an ebayer who sells all heirloom/non-GMO seeds, and I had 100% germination. I started them in plant starter 6-packs with Miracle Gro seed starter soil. I am in zone 9a. I started my seedlings indoors, hardened them off outdoors for 2 weeks, then put the small...

I had the richest soil I've ever had in my life when we lived in downtown Sacramento! I could just throw seeds outside and water them & just wait. Food would grow. It was the most fertile soil ever. When we moved up here, I wanted to bring my soil with me (no lie). I also had a lot of...

They also cannot cross lava rocks. I encircle my cauliflower, broccoli, etc., with rings of plain lava rocks (the kind used for landscaping). They can't cross lava rock. I learned about that little trick one season after losing my entire season's worth of cauliflower to slugs (and didn't know...

I discovered this last spring that the longer I have something that I started indoors, the more abundant harvest I will get from the plant itself. There's gotta be something about starting the plants really a little earlier than you want them so they are fully mature and healthy. Our early...

What is green sand? I've never heard of it. Maybe it's an East Coast thing? Been gardening for better than 25 years & this is the first time I've heard of it. I'm always on the lookout for good, organic, innovative ways to improve my garden, so I am interested in knowing what is "green...

Tomatillos, not tomatoes. They are two completely different plants.

I am going to have to order seed and grow my calendulas. I couldn't find them anywhere this year. My regular marigolds are doing outstanding, though.

I got a 500-seed assortment of various heirloom tomato varieties all mixed up together, so I don't know what I'm gonna get until they grow! I haven't planted them yet, just started them today in seed trays. All my tomatoes for the year are planted in the ground and getting big already, so this...

We are growing them together, but we have plenty of space and good, sandy soil. I have 4 kinds of melons and 5 kinds of squash growing in different spots throughout the yard. The biggest plant so far is a "volunteer" pumpkin that came from a pumpkin I fed to my chickens last fall & one of the...

I saw the ground cherries in one of my catalogs, thinking maybe it was Baker Creek. I considered ordering some. Let me know how you like them. If they're good, I'll order some next year. I am thoroughly enjoying my garden this year. This is the first time in 2 years we've been able to have...

We love chile verde, and I'm learning to can and make my own sauces this year. Tomatillos are the primary ingredient in salsa verde. I would rather have too many than not enough, since I'm just learning to can... allowing myself something of a margin for error, a bit of a "learning curve", so...

Oops, I'll have to put that info in my profile. I'm in zone 9A in the Sierras. We used to be zone 8 until the new hardiness zone map came out for 2012. The plants are already about 2 to 2-1/2 feet tall and getting yellow flowers on them & the plants are starting to get bushy. It sure does...

Last year I tried cooking with fresh tomatillos for the first time and really liked the outcome of using fresh ones, so I'm growing my own this year. I've never seen tomatillo plants and don't know much about them, just got a deal on 3 plants, planted them, and they are doing really super...

We completely dug up/tilled up the entire yard. Our yard is on a hill/slope, so we are putting in one strip of new lawn about 6 feet wide and about 30 feet long at the top, and the entire rest of the yard is garden. At this time, we are completely lawn-less. I had to have a REAL garden this...

It does help if you live with a person first. If your beliefs prevent that, try at least living as roommates for a while. Would you buy your wedding dress without trying it on first? Of course not! Why would you pick a mate without "trying it on" first? Doesn't mean you have to engage in...

Mine died, but I think it had gotten too warm here by the time I put it in the ground. I'm definitely going to try again.

It seems that this year, I have acquired quite a few of the gardening implements that I have been wanting, though I still have many more on my wish list! I thought it would be fun to discuss amongst us all: A) What is your favorite gardening tool(s) that you currently possess, and why? B)...

I have 5 California wonder peppers, 1 Rutgers heirloom tomato, 1 Lemonboy heirloom tomato, and 1 marigold left to put into the ground today. Once those are in the ground, my 2012 planting is DONE! (Though my husband pointed out to me today a nice spot to plant some late corn....)