Yes, Katamari is the rolling stuff up game. Its really addictive for such a simple game, and theres three of them. The part I like the most is the amazing effort they put into the music. I found some of it on youtube and it ranges from techno to jazzy lounge music, swing music, Im pretty sure someone even snuck a gospel peice or two in there. While Iw as writing yesterday I stumbled across someone who had done an orchestral version of one of the themse that made my jaw drop. Video game music is constantly impressing me with every passing year. But anyway, back to gardening... Part of my problem with the space issue is theres a movement out here for the "Grow Biointensive" system. While I'm interested that they've managed to do so much with such small topsoil space, I've noticed all the beds dealing with the system need at least two feet of soil, dug down or in raised beds, and thats not what I have. My mum has been trying to push me in that direction, but I dont feel confident with it at this time since I wanted to get more of a feel for the general gardening situation since its my first time and all. Some plants still got pushed closer together than I would've liked but then none of us had seen some of these plants actually growing before. The cukes are doign better than I expected for being about 6 inches closer to each toher plant than I really wanted them to be, but we had such a huge amount of plants to deal with that I did the best I could. I think the funniest part about all this is while it is my first time growing a real garden, I've been growing virtual gardens since I was abotu 19, playing an online game called "Final Fantasy 11", which had a really complicated planting/gardening system most people didnt know about. That game system is actually what got me really focused on the seasons, when to plant, where to plant, when to fertilize, what plants grew better in what geological areas, and I even had a little notebook for a long time where I'd record the weekly cycle of my virtual plants in relation to the moon phase and exact time I made any modifications to the planting space. Even the gamers thought I was nuts, but I loved it! They'd even die off or give terrible results if I neglected them for too long, or give off better results if I got proper gardening tools, workbenches, and diffrent planters had diffrent effects too. Im getting better results with a real garden than I was in my virtual gardens though... Except for that one time I accidentally harvested 122 virtual onions. I can tell you, the cooks sure were happy with me.

Bingo. Mystery no longer. Two weeks ago I covered the eggplants with plastic netting, bundled loosely around the edges. Big rain three days ago, and I didn't bother to go out there until today. I go out there and find a dead squirrel, tangled up in the net, with a half chewed 4-inch eggplant next to it. Sherlock Holmes I'm not, but this was pretty easy. Now, this is still a little perplexing. A squirrel couldn't chew it's way out of a net? A few days tangled up and it's dead? Well, it did get into the 80s. To the extent that this squirrel was a misbehavin' eggplant addicted one, I can't say I'm sorry to see it gone.

So I'm back - yeah my last post made me feel kinda bad because I feel like I failed.... but hey that's how you learn. I'm going to continue the process - until late May - at which I will come back for advice again before purchasing plants from store. Unfortunately every nursery I call tell me the same thing "We are not sure what we're getting this May. We should have some variety" - EXTREMELY vague and I did make 9 calls - all the way to 40 minutes out of my home location. So - in terms of my peppers/eggplants... frankly when I replanted them - they barely had a stem on them - they did have leaves though - IF my memory serves correctly. So I'm not sure how much I buried - I do remember being a little surprised though because within a week their stem length doubled (I thought the transplant would injure them so).... their leaves didn't change much at the time. Either way... I'm scratching my head because the pictures don't indicate that... perhaps I'm confusing things. Eitherway - I am blasting them with the lamps and I did start with the fish feed (my cats were swarming around me) - how many hours of artificial lighting would you say they need? I hope they improve - I am seeing a marginal improvement with the peppers.. but not the eggplants. I will post updates. So my "real" reason for posting - well I have tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday of and I'm ready to replant tomato seeds pending recommendations here. Again - the tomatoes are a little under 2 weeks old since re-rooting the cuttings. It's been about 4 days since my last set of tomato pictures - they've had their first fertilization 2 days ago and 4 days of light (directly under lamps + near window). I've noticed some serious improvements in some plants and others just crumbling. The middle of the tray - forgot the varieties - one is black kim I believe - anyway I definitely need to reseed. They are looking much more green (they are greener than the picture)/healthier - still could get a bit more green... anyway would appreciate any thoughts on them

mystearica: "I'm considering either staking them with a bamboo (which I'm not sure if it's sturdy enough) or perhaps look into this Florida weave - wouldn't the twine dig through the plant's stem if it got windy?" Thousands of gardeners have used this technique for years...would they still be using it if it did not work? With simple staking there will be a need to add support strings/cloth to hold the plant to the stake...there will be rubbing against the plant in that situation, also. But, sure, given the right wind and situation anything is possible with any setup, be it string, rings, wood braces, etc.,. With a continuous rubbing of the string the plants sometimes build up a "callous" at those points to further protect themselves from the chaffing. I've seen the "Florida weave" used by lots of market growers. I would think a bamboo stake 1" at the small end should be adequate to hold a pepper plant up provided the stake is embedded deeply into firm ground. I wouldn't fool with the plastic plant clips you linked to...use some cotton scraps, strips of ladies' nylon stockings,...soft material that you could cut into 1/2" or so stirps. Jute string, the brown "grassy-looking string that usually comes in a small to large sized bulk roll, is probably the most often used...it is strong, cheap, and bio-degradable...for a small garden a roll will last a long time. $2.28 -> https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lehigh-1-16-in-x-190-ft-Natural-Twisted-Jute-Rope/3587908 Best wishes, Ed