Hi all, So I finally took my jade inside yesterday because of the cold weather here. The weather has not gotten to the "freezing" level, but I was afraid of it getting too cold. I would say that it was about 40 degrees (during the day yesterday) when I took it in, so I was assuming that it would be in the 30's when the sun went down, and I didn't want to take any chances. Anyway, when I looked at the jade this morning, I found that a bunch of the leaves were dark brownish in color and had turned to soft mush. They had a "rotten" kind of smell. Most of the jade is still very healthy, but go figure that the leaves that are in bad shape are the ones where the buds are! Most of the leaves in that area fell off when I gently shook the branches that they were on. So I ended up pruning the branches where these rotten leaves were. As for the parts with buds on them, I left those intact (with the exception of the leaves that happened to fall off), because I don't want to cut off the branches that have buds. I'm hoping for the best, but I'm assuming I'm going to lose the buds. Does anyone know what I did wrong? The soil wasn't too wet at all, and there was no frost in my area yet. So I'm not sure why this happened. I did what was recommended and left the jade outside for as long as I could. I'm not worried about losing the jade, but it's a shame that I had to prune so much of it off, and that I'm probably not going to see blooms. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated so that this doesn't happen next year - and maybe I can stop any further damage from happening to the jade. I will try and post a pic when I get home from work. Thanks in advance, Gabi

Cut open the "Gold" sapotes, possibly Suebelle. My thoughts- Flesh - Reminiscent of cherimoya, but rather sticky like honey. Flavor - I thought they had hints of sapodilla, hints of dates & hints of cherimoya. It was sweet with little to no perceptable acidity. I can see why some people like to give white sapotes a spritz of lemon before consuming it. Pretty good, though Seeds - The fruits had mishapen seeds. Some were plump & others didn't develop. Is this common with this fruit?

Hi there tomato growing friends! My list for 2015 is still in the works. I'm checking out what has already been posted. Some varieties I'm familiar with. Others I am not. I grow tomatoes from seed as a hobby. I wish I could do it year round but the weather/climate never cooperates. I try and select my varieties based on it's history. For example for 2015 I hope to germinate and grow the "Purple Calabash". Why? Well it happened to be Thomas Jefferson's favorite. He grew it on his farm in Monticello from 1806 to 1822. This past year I grew Livingston's Paragon which was the 1st tomato introduced to the public and commercial growers here in America back in 1870. It took him 20 years to perfect it. Ok it would be great if when you are adding your list for 2015 you could indicate why you chose a certain variety. It might be impossible to do it for all but even if you just picked out the one that interests you the most. I think by doing this it would add to the joy that this thread has created.

Love Baker Creek, but I also love Renee's Seeds - You can order online but I've found them available in local feed/farm supply stores in my area of So Cal. I notice different varieties in different stores (inland vs coastal), so I can't say for sure they are sorting them based on microclimates but it seems like they might be. I haven't had a bad crop with anything I've bought from Renee's at my local store. Also, not sure of your exact area, but there are an enormous number of really good nurseries in So Cal (especially in my area, San Diego County). I've found some really exotic things just browsing around...fun weekend trips as well.