The only seeds I have at this point are zinnia flowers. =( Is there any way you want to trade for those? The seeds are so easy to collect at the end of the growing season - they take over spaces so easily so there's no need for weeding. I'm hoping to grow cukes (pickling and eating ones) and peppers (especially reds and yellows) so I thought I'd ask. Our space is tiny too so I only want to grow just a little.

Hi, I'm sowing my peppers and eggplants today so none of these are on my trade list. I find I have the following that I could trade in small amounts: Long purple eggplant '09, Red peppers Nardello '09, Gambo '09, Corno di toro '09 and marconi '10. I found one thing on your list that I really, really would like; the white cup and saucer vine. I have trouble with that one if it's not fresh however, can you tell me about that? Thanks, Catrina

We stuck to peas, tomatoes,peppers and basil this year, because we were planning on working around the house more. We also bought a 1/2 share of an Organic CSA for the season and just picked up our last box of vegetables this week. We had a good harvest this year. LOTs of all of the above. We ate so much basil we were almost getting sick of it. Still have a bowl of peppers in the refrigerator and have been sauteing onions, peppers, and mushrooms every night and putting it on top of everything. We had cages around all the pepper plants to keep them upright with the weight of mature peppers. I wish I could say which peppers we had this year, but I just went looking and I guess I didn't write it down and have no idea where I put the tags. I usually grow Marconi Peppers which I've found to be early and prolific, but they were out at Russell's when I went in the spring and I asked them for a substitute. Thanks for the review on the eggplant. I usually grow that and will try one of those varieties next year. I have been fairly unimaginative in our Tomato selection due to the fact that we have encroaching shade that is making it difficult to produce a standard size tomato. We continue to love Sungold cherry tomato, as our favorite. We grew that again this year and we kept picking them and they kept coming. I've been experimenting adding a tomato to the front perennial bed that has full sun and have planted 'Bush Champion' for two years now. They only get about 3 ft tall and I had success staking them and caging them and keeping them hidden from the street. They have been surprisingly good tasting, disease free, medium to large size and abundant. The only complaint I have, is that they grow very densely and there are a LOT of tomatoes in the middle of the plant with a lot of foliage and I think they need more air circulation. Russell's said they had a better one for me to try next year, so Sungold Cherry continues to be our best tomato. Have you tried asking over on the Organic Vegetable Garden forum? OH....and Cornell has a website for reviewing Vegetable Varieties that I always check when I want to try something new. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Vegetable Varieties

I haven't grown Habaneros, but last year grew Lemon Drop and had the same problem of them needing a longer season to mature, so I just recently started two plants in hope of earlier ripening. They also took a little longer to germinate than my other peppers, which I usually start mid-March. Of course, a cool growing season will slow down the plants even if we start them early and we can't do anything about that except hope for the best. Still, it wouldn't hurt to start at least a couple Habs earlier than your others.