Lisa- the key to success for you is already being demonstrated by your fig: there are a few disease free and pest free fruits that can be grown organically with very little effort. It's a sharp drop off from there. Asian persimmons (you look to be just within the right climate zone), mulberries, jujubes (you may not have enough summer heat) offer excellent return for minimal input. After those winners, there's always apples, grapes (Steuben should be a good bet in Mass., and Jupiter is so good you should give it a try) and sour cherries. Good luck.

Raccoons, squirrels, birds, foxes, deer, etc, etc,etc. Take your pick. They all love figs. (Sneaky neighbors, too). FF

Salevane, very nice container and plant. I think you do not need to add more soil, it looks perfect to me. I think there are so many varieties of "standard red chili peppers". According to the different variety the sizes of the plants are also different. Bigger container grow bigger plants and yield a lot of fruits. If the container is small the size of the plants usually compact. I have read 5 gallon is a good size for chilli but most of our chili enthusiasts here in DK use about 2 gallon, they are doing pretty good. Some times my small container plants have early flowers and pods, when I re-potted to bigger containers they grow bigger/healthier and produced a lot of pods. Some of our forum members may have better opinion, so just wait. Good luck Caelian

Way too many variables to give you decent answers. Reading the FAQ at the top of the page will help a lot.