Sideshoots from my broccoli amount to over 90% of my harvest. The sideshoots may be a little smaller during high temperatures but regain size when cooler nights return. You can usually pick those side shoots until nightime temperatures drop into the mid twenties. Size of those sideshoots is more of a factor of variety difference. I never let them flower since I harvest weekly after the primary heads form and any missed shoot is cut off with the harvest.

I am in central FL and am wondering what would be a good choice for a freestone (if possible) Peach. I bought a Florida king last season, but so far it does not seem to be doing all that well. It put out a couple blossoms in the spring but nothing came of it. It is just recently in the past month or so starting to really put out good leaf growth. Also, what is recommended for spraying. When buying my tree I was not really aware of all the spraying that is recommended. I have a friend that bought a house with a mature peach tree that he does nothing to. No spraying, watering, fertilizing, nothing and it produces an incredible amount of great tasting fruit. Unfortunately he does not know the variety. Is there any ay to root a cutting of his peach? Does air rooting work on peaches? Thanks for any help.

I was thinking about the Tomcat some more, and have a couple of questions: 1) Where is the best place to order a Tomcot (preferably one that will ship in the fall, not next spring)? 2) Does it matter what kind of rootstock you choose? (One company I looked at gives you a choice.) Thanks for any info.

Zone 7 is a fairly mild climate and therefore not very restrictive as to what you can grow well. So you're pretty free to try whatever varieties sound good to you. To start off, learn that some veggies like heat (so grow in summer) and others like cooler temps (Spring and Fall). Of what you've listed. Summer Veggies: Tomatoes cucumbers bush beans bell peppers hot peppers corn Squash Spring/Fall Veggies: sugar snap peas carrots radishes broccoli cauliflower cabbage lettuce greens **herbs vary and some are annual, some perinniel or bienniel. **onions are tricky. They are daylight sensitive and therefore only certain varieties will grow well in the South. You can try green onions with no problems. But otherwise, stick to Short-Day Onions. You don't have enough daylight to give long-day onions a chance to form a big bulb. When it doubt, it's probably a long day onion, and best grown up north. the Notable exception being Granex which is like a Vidalia or Texas Sweet. These are planted in Fall and harvested in Spring. Clemson University's Agricultural Extension has good information for your area. Last you just need a good seed source. Johnny's Seeds (www.johnnyseeds.com) is a good basic one to start with - or you can buy locally. If you're looking in the seed catalogs, check out the vendor on Dave's Garden before buying from them. There are many good vendors, but some not so good. Dave's Garden has a Watchdog report with vendor reviews that make it easier to tell the good from the bad. (www.davesgarden.com/products/gwd/) Best of Luck! Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Clemson University Extension