Pam, Usually when the aphids show up here, masses of lady bugs arrive about 7-10 days later and start gobbling them up. Oddly this year we have tons of lady bugs early and no aphids yet. It is possible the lady bugs are controlling the aphids before I ever even see them. Are aphids a regular problem there or is this out of the ordinary? Louise Riotte used to recommend dusting agricultural lime on plants infested with aphids, but since our soil here is already so alkaline, I've never used lime for them. I think planting and covering up the plants you mentioned would be fine. However, you still need to check the plants daily for aphids underneath the covering. Nothing would be worse that having aphids multiplying under the row cover since the row cover could prevent beneficial insects from reaching the aphids. The row cover will provide decent wind protection and, obviously, the heavier the row cover, the more protection it provides. Row cover might protect the plants adequately from rain. It just depends on how heavy the rain is. We usually don't get heavy enough rain here at our house in mid-spring to pound tomato plants to a pulp. By the time we are warm enough for violent thunderstorms with heavy rain to develop, the plants usually are big and strong and generally remain undamaged. When I put tomato plants in the ground, I immediately hammer a stake into the ground close to each plant and use zip ties to hold the plant up close to the stake. This protects the plants from strong winds and the occasional heavy rainstorm. Normally I cage at planting time as the cages will give some hail protection, but this year we put hoops over the rows of tomatoes and covered the hoops with chicken wire and with heavy duty deer fencing. Now that the plants are growing well, I need to remove the hoop coverings in the next few days and get the cages around the plants while the plants are still a manageable size. In some past years, I wrapped each tomato cage in 4 or 6 mm plastic on the same day I put the plants in the ground, in effect turning each cage into a mini greenhouse. I would remove the plastic as soon as the plants reached it so that hitting the plastic wouldn't slow their growth or make the plants misshapen. This works really well but is very labor-intensive. My dad used to put #10 vegetable cans (he got them from the lunch ladies at our school cafeteria back then) around each small tomato plant when he planted them. He'd cut the bottom off the cans and work them a couple of inches into the soil so they wouldn't blow away. By the early 1980s he was using 5-gallon buckets in the same way, but cutting the bottoms off of them was a PITA. He also sometimes used black nursery pots the same way. By the time the buckets, cans or pots were removed from the plants, the worst spring winds had ended. Lots of gardeners here in my neighborhood use black nursery pots or 5-gallon buckets the same way he did, and on some recent cold nights I saw big molasses feed tubs turned upside down and lined up in a row in a garden. I bet they had been placed over tomato plants for frost protection. The main way I protect tomato plants from wind or rain is by hardening them off well in heavy wind exposure after they've already had significant wind exposure indoors from a fan. I try to get them strong enough before they go into the ground so I don't have to worry much about severe storms hurting them. Oddly, when I started hardening them off this spring, it was not nearly as windy as usual. I remember complaining to Tim that the March winds were not strong enough. I felt like the plants were not as strong as usual at planting time. We did finally get our strong winds -- in late April and early May. However, the tomato plants tolerated the winds just fine. This has been such a challenging planting season. I feel like I am so far behind on warm-season planting, but at least the cool-season plants have had the kind of weather they like. It is not yet a bad pest year here. So far this year the only pests I have found doing damage in the garden are 2 army worms (one on a potato plant and one on a lambs quarters plant I was pulling out of a bed), 2 cabbage loopers and one cutworm. The garden is full of birds every day and I assume they are taking care of a lot of the pests. Ever since we hit 91 degrees last week (before dropping into the 20s and 30s a few nights later), grasshoppers (older ones, not nymphs) have just appeared out of nowhere. Yesterday I found some fairly newly hatched grasshoppers ( about 1/8" long or maybe even a smidgen smaller) and one very small potato leafhopper. Well, cucumber beetles have been around all spring, but our fields always are full of them and there isn't much I can do about them. For every one I kill, 100 more appear, so I just don't even bother trying to control them. Aphids usually are not an issue here except for pea aphids some years, though not this year, on the sugar snap peas and for green aphids on the Piricicaba broccoli (and only on this one variety--it is an aphid magnet). If aphids are a huge issue, you could buy and release lady bugs. Also, keep an eye on your soil's nitrogen levels. Aphids often flock to plants that are growing in high-nitrogen soils. Dawn

looks like something is sucking its vital juices.. look for bugs.. i have had aphids on the back of mine once rinsed of the bug.. it wouldnt bother me.. to use them to make tea ... bugs are too much of mother nature.. to think that you cant ever eat something they landed on.. or walked across... or sucked on .. lol .. one might even consider them an boost of protien.. ok.. i am weirding myself out now.. lol .. you are going to have to go a bit zen on your attitude.. if you want to stay organic ... stuff doenst need to look perfect.. to still be edible... but all that is in your head.. ken

Here's my version of Mojitos. It simplifies the process so you can enjoy them anytime. I imagine it would adapt well for your trip. I don't really have quantities since I measure by eye! Anytime Mojitos Light Rum 750 ml Fresh Lime Juice (about 1/3-1/2 cup) Mint Leaves (2 cups or so) Superfine Sugar Lime Soda Water Mint sprigs or lime zest curl for garnish (optional) In a pitcher, add mint and lime juice to rum, mash and marinate in refrigerator at least 4 hours preferably overnight. Strain rum through fine sieve or cheese cloth. Fill shaker with ice, add a shot of rum, ½ tsp. or so of super fine sugar and shake till chilled. Pour mixture into glass and top with a splash lime soda water. (Or you could add the sugar during the marinating process, skip this step and just fill a glass with ice, add the rum and top with lime soda water.) Garnish with a mint sprig. Once strained, the rum will keep well in the refrigerator for quite a while. NOTE: I tried simple syrup the last time I made them and according to my experts, they weren't as good.

Basil is an annual so it will not last for ever anyway. I'd start again in the new apartment. Thoroughly wash your pots before replanting in new medium. Your main problem is that herbs just don't much like being indoors. They often lack sufficient light and there's no wind or rain to keep bugs on their toes.