I have some remarks. I grew a grapefruit from seed in circa the late 1980s. I'm not sure of the exact date but this tree definitely did already exist in 1991, although it was little more than a shoot at the time. I live in Switzerland and at the time was living with my parents who had a garden. The tree would spend the summers in the sunniest spot in the garden and come indoors in the winter. When I was at university my mother took care of this tree for me. However, circa 2000 the tree suffered a vey nasty attack by sticky mites and I had to prune the tree back quite heavily as washing or spraying didn't help. The tree recovered from this remarkably quickly, with new leaves sprouting out of the stubs within weeks after pruning. In 2003, the opportunity arose to move the tree to my parents' holiday home in the south of Spain. Basically this was a container with a lot of furniture and the tree didn't take kindly to being locked inside that dark and hot container for several days while being knocked about on the back of a truck and so lost most of its leaves. With days of being planted in the garden there it lost the rest of its leaves and I left it for dead. Returning the next year, however, it had sprouted fresh branches. Some years later, during my absence, my father had a gardener in who pruned the tree back heavily. The gardener also wanted to rip it out and replace it by a nice one from his garden centre and I had to do a lot of arguing to make him understand the significance of that tree and my dad wasn't exactly helpful. Then things went from bad to worse as in 2006 my mother passed away and she was the only person besides myself to really care about the tree (or in fact anything in the garden). The last time I saw the tree was in 2007 and that year the tree had about 4 blossoms (the first in its life), one of which had already swollen and there was the beginning of a grapefruit, already half an inch in diameter. The tree was no more than about 4 foot tall and to me it was a very happy sight. However, my dad picked up a strange girlfriend who hated anything that had anything to do with my dad's previous life including the fact that he had kids or that anything was important to us. The house was sold even though the guy who bought it put in a lower bid than I would have bid had I known it was up for sale. The new owner ripped out the garden for a swimming pool. A very sad story. But I decided not to give up and I have a three year old grapefruit grown from my seed on my balcony right now. I hope one day to see it flower and bear fruit. I also have a miniature orange tree which I bought from a local garden store. It is laden with fruit all year round. I guess it must be grafed but I cannot say where as I think I can recognise a graft when I see one but this tree doesn't seem to have such a place. My next project is to get a three-leaf orange. I understand this is the only citrus tree that can be planted outside in my type of climate (sustained sub-freezing temperatures in winter plus plenty of snow). Does anybody have any experience with these? Here is a link that might be useful:

I used the Kitchaid strainer for years. It was a big improvement over what I was using before. With constant use the motor heats up. After about thirty minutes of use mine started dripping motor oil into the sauce. I think the screen is a bit too close to the screw. I run the tomatoes through several times and only end up with seeds. The skins also get pushed through the mesh after a few passes. However the final passes are the most work for the machine. I upgraded to a dedicated tomato squeezer. It is much faster than the Kitchenaid and the machine does not struggle. The first pass leaves a wetter waste product than the Kitchenaid. However after several passes the final waste is just about as dry as the Kitchenaid waste after several passes thhrough the Kitchenaid. I have a 1/2 HP model which is a bit big and heavy. I should have opted for one of the 1/4 HP models which run about $300. A google search for tomato squeezer seems to work better than tomato strainer if one is looking for a dedicated machine. I canned a little under thirty quarts (about fifty quarts before boiling down) in my first canning session this year. I'll probably do about eighty by the time the season is over. I have to can more because my son has taken a liking to the sauce. And now I make my own ketchup. I dedicate an entire day to making sauce. Speed in the squeezing process is a big help. Zeuspaul

Hi grizzman, At about 6 weeks a seedling will have 4 true leaves & be ready to transplant; it can have 2 - 3 stems. Prune seedling to only 2 stems (in a Bell pepper these can then grow to over 12 feet or 4 mt., if supported). Allow the plant it's vegetative development & see explanation (farther below) on pruning side shoots, once they develop. To shift vegetative growth into mature fruit productivity (later on) pruning will essentially be an ongoing tactic, done 2 times a month. This keeps pepper plant from yielding in flushes & relapsing into vegetative growth. No reduction in adult plant fertilizer Nitrogen & no increase in Phosphorus is used; a large plant needs it's N & extra P can cause problems that impact on yield. When the plant begins to put off side branches from main stem nodes it is time to begin pruning vegetative growth. Each node on the 2 stems of the pepper plant gets all it's "excess" leaves pruned off it, so that just a single (1) leaf remains at each of it's nodes (ie: main stems have 1 leaf at every node). Later on, when plant is about 4 months old from seed ( & after some leaf pruning on the side branches, which is explained shortly) you can let a 2nd leaf grow out at each node on the main stems (ie: 2nd leaf/node by then will not push plant back into vegetative mode). The plant will likely be fruiting at this age ( when keep 2nd leaf/node) & needs more photosynthesis to bulk up the fruit. You want to take plant into fruiting mode progressively & have those hormonal signals stabilize. Since you are trying to control the plant there is some strategic early flower pruning, to get fruit set occurring how you want it synchronized to lock in that hormonal shift. In the crotch, or fork between your 2 stems, pinch off that flower. Likewise, going up each stem you pinch off the flower (if any) at the 1st node above the fork. What you want is to stagger the first 2 peppers on each stem & allow the plant to definitively transition into a continuous (not flushes) fruiting cycle. The plant is made to "work" to replace the lost flowers & this helps condition that response. It is not a question of giving it more time for vegetative/root development to make a better plant; it is a tactical sacrifice that means more total productivity. So, after pruning the 1st flower that develops above the fork, let the next higher flower grow & set fruit on the 2nd node of each of both main stems. Then, get rid of (prune) the flower at the 3rd node of each stem. At the 4th node on each stem you stop pruning away any more of the main stems' flowers. (If your plant suffers an "accident" & loses it's lowest flowers then just start the pruning sequence of no flower/yes flower/no flower/yes all subsequent flowers where you can on each stem.) Returning now to keeping vegetative growth under control. The plant will put off side branches at each of the nodes, on both main stems, for as long as it is growing. These are to be controlled, as they develop at any age, to avoid pepper plant getting bushy.( Yet keeping some minimal leaf growth for photosynthesis & preventing the sun burning the pepper fruit.) As a side branch develops (when it starts is not important) it is is important that each side branch is dealt with before it's vegetative growth begins to send growth hormone signals. And, please do not confuse a side branch tip with the tip of a main step (do not cut off either main stem apex or plant will only be bushy.) On each of the growing side branches (not main stem,now) you want a leaf to develop at it's (the side branch's) very own 1st node. Once you see a leaf point of growth, prune the side branch back to it's 1st node (ie: side branches get to stay & keep a leaf at a node, but can not have a 2nd node for their own continued bushy growth). The only thing to add (about side branch technique) is, that about 4 weeks after you have pruned a side branch back to it's 1st node (& left it with just 1 leaf) it is good to let a 2nd leaf come out & remain (on each side branch). By originally holding down the number of side branch leaves to only 1 it keeps the vegetative cycle from resuming. After a while there is no side branch vegetative hormonal signal when you allow the 2nd (& no more) leaf at it's first & only node. It is preferable to have that extra photosynthetic capacity & the leaf cover for a pepper crop that is commercially planted at the density of 1 pepper/ 3.5 square feet (1 pepper/ 0.33 square meter). One final look at the main stem (only): you pruned it to 1 leaf/node ( when got side branching), let it have 2 leaves/node (at +/- 4 months old, fruit growing). If a plant is getting a lot of sun (or peppers are planted far apart) you should let a maximum 3rd leaf at each node on both the main stems develop; it will protect the fruit & deal with factors stressing the plant (this last leaf is not required for photosynthesis capacity, but those side branch leaves are).

I am not answering a, b, c, etc. because I just have some general points to make. First off - we are lucky over here in that our seasons are very elastic. If you look at the backs of seed packets there is often a period of 3 months over which you can sow seeds. So don't count your delay from the first possible sowing date. It is often far too cold and wet to start sowing in March. Count it from the end and you are only a couple of weeks out. 2. You can't reliably grow apples from seed - are you sure that's what you meant? (You can grow apple trees from seed but there is no way of knowing if they will have fruit worth eating and you won't find that out for years.) 2. What sort of Broccoli is it? Summer or Winter? I haven't sown my Purple Sprouting or Kale yet. I should have done but I know from experience that it really doesn't matter that much. I'll just get the crop a bit later next year. I'm still picking last year's. 3. Celery is very tricky for a beginner. You can certainly try sowing it now. Spring has been quite cool so give it a go. I don't even try to grow it now. It's such a faff and we don't eat that much so it isn't worth it to me. 4. Cucumbers are touch and go outdoors. You can still sow inside and transplant into the ground. Or you can sow outside under a jam jar or plastic bottle. 5. There are cabbages for all seasons so you need to follow the instructions for the ones you have. I suggest you Google each of your vegetables and 'RHS' to get instructions for each type. Here's an example: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/cucumbers I would also suggest you direct sow some easy stuff like Peas, Runner Beans and Lettuce because you have picked some challenging types for your first attempts and it would be nice to get some successes. You can also start some Courgettes under a jar or indoors. People are only just planting them out now so you are not too late. p.s. note that most people on this forum are in the US. Many of their seasons are much more sharply delineated than ours. Many of them have far hotter summers than we do and far colder winters. For example, you cannot germinate Aubergines outdoors here, at least not until about mid July, under a jar, when it will be too late to get any fruit. In fact you can't really grow them outdoors at all with any degree of success. When US posters talk about 'cool weather crops' they are talking about stuff we can grow throughout the summer. UK seed packets don't give days to maturity. Given our weather that could easily be 100% out. I still have my central heating on and am still sowing peas.