There are so many dreadful things that can happen to a garden (and in life) that one hardly knows where to begin listing them, but drought for me is one of the worst. (I suppose northerners and midwesterners feel this way about cold.) I feel for you Californians, and hope you get rain, in abundance. I recall Texas and Oklahoma had a horrible drought a couple of years back, and have wondered what the long-term effects of that were, thinking in particular of native flora and mature trees and drought-tolerant shrubs. How did they come through it? On the issue of water, here I don't worry so much about the garden as about the possibility of running out of water entirely at some point. Our water supply comes from the nearby Apennines with nothing further away to draw on, and a good-sized population depends on it, not just our township, but the towns and small cities downstream from us in the Po Plain. I've seen the reservoir get mighty low; what happens if a drought goes on longer than usual? Will we run out of water for cooking and drinking? I can understand why a gardener in Ingrid's situation has to water in order to have any kind of satisfactory garden at all, but here we have different conditions, a decent annual rainfall and heavy soil to a good depth. From the beginning one of my ambitions was to have a garden whose plants didn't need to be watered after the first year. I wanted to create an environmentally responsible garden: it was an experiment. The first summer we were here we had one of the worst droughts on record. The rains ended in January, as I recall, and didn't get going well until around September. It was an awful year, and not just in Italy but in a good deal of western Europe. Anyway, I made an interesting discovery. When it finally started raining again, all the wretched looking native flora came right back to life. Nothing died, even in a severe (as opposed to normal) drought. So probably one day we'll have an even worse drought and oaks and cherries WILL die. But this experience gave me a degree of faith in the resilience of plants. And I will say that I've killed a fair number of plants by now, but I believe have lost very few due to lack of water. Of course I'm tranquil at the moment also because we have had a wet, wet year and drought isn't lurking on the horizon. Rather in a year like this we worry about slumps and landslides. Pam, I hope you get rain! I have no words to say how beautiful I find your garden: what a glory. Florida, am I correct in thinking that your garden needs ongoing amendment? If you're gardening in Florida sand you'll need the horse manure. Good luck in finding another source. Enjoy your beautiful weather, Jackie, and I hope water doesn't become a major worry for you as well. Your garden is an inspiration to us all. Thanks for the good wishes, Ingrid, and your steady benevolence. Oh, I do get sour and crabby when I'm under stress. It's a good thing DH and DD are both such sturdy, sunny-natured types. Suzy, let's say you're right, but I do wonder how much wiggle room a gardener in a semi-desert or desert environment has? But...okay...if I were in such a situation, with drastically limited water and possible range of plants I could grow, yes, I would be growing something, and as many kinds of plants as I could. But some situations do require dramatic psychological adjustments. Trish, one of my ongoing desires for my garden is to get a great variety of plants in it. Art is long, life is short, and even sticking with (fairly) readily obtainable garden and local plants, no rarieties, nothing terribly difficult, I figure I can find and plant new plants in the garden for the rest of my life with no danger of running out. Subtle variety is part of my notion of Edenic garden richness. I wonder if it would be worthwhile starting a thread on resource-thrifty gardens? What do you all think? Thanks for the responses. Merry Christmas, or happy holidays as the case may be, to all, and may your gardens bloom! Melissa

Great information, especially on the new squash varieties you tried. I'll add some: Ground Cherries from Baker Creek grow really well in Simi and taste, well, funky. Sort of musky. I don't like them one bit. Really icky. No one liked them. Ichiban Eggplant is crisp, sweet, and delicious and I will never grow a large, spongy, bland eggplant again. Japanese Cucumbers (Soo Yoo and un-named) are sweeter and more flavorful than any others we have tried. You know it's good when people at a meeting are eating cucumber slices instead of Cheetohs and fudge brownies! Renee

More evidence of the influence and danger of multinational agricultural companies and their advertising and market control. I'm very interested in encouraging a grassroots/underground native seed and plant exchange that can produce and distribute native plants at a fraction of the cost of retail mono cultures. I plan to wintersow a huge surplus this year and see if my kids can set up a table at the farmers' market a few times next spring and sell native seedlings. Or just set up a table at the end of our drive. As long as they could still hook up to the internet, they'd be happy sitting under a tree in good weather. Plus, they want to earn money for their high school band trips and gas money. I don't expect the plants to be profitable, but I'm going to end up paying for part of their trips anyway, so I may as well have them do a little work for me in the process. I'm also going to do all I can to collect as many seeds as possible to participate in seed exchanges and contribute native alternatives for others to try in their gardens. I also make sure to purchase both seeds and more difficult plants from reputable native plant retailers to support them. Hope everyone is safe and warm this beautiful Christmas morning. Wishing all a peaceful New Year. Martha

All 133 of my garlic are doing well. Over 200 white, yellow and red onion bulbs are all up and growing green tops. I have harvested three ample meals of Asparagus from my 16 crowns. We plan on some rhubarb deserts starting this week. Apple trees, strawberries, black/yellow and red raspberries are leafed out and looking vibrant. Zucchini, peas, kale, lettuce, beets, carrots, arugula, spinach, and the perennials, as well annual flowers from seed have been up for awhile and growing well. Just planted potatoes, bush beans, cucumbers and basil yesterday. All 6 peppers and 14 tomato plants have been in the ground and caged since last weekend and doing well. I buy these at our local Ace Hardware. I set out all our potted flowers for our deck and front of the house this past week. We could use some rain, but things are not too dry yet.