I had a similar experience with broccoli here. I think they're called cabbage moth larvae, and eventually turn into a white butterfly (I think). We grew all this beautiful broccoli growing here the first year we moved to Northern California. A friend warned me that you have to put Bt out for the caterpillars, but I hate spraying anything, and didn't do it. Anyway, I picked some, anticipating some delicious fresh broccoli, put it in the steamer, and when I though it was about ready, I looked in and it was COMPLETELY covered in cooked little green caterpillars. Aside from being a bit grossed out, I was mortified because I had offered to take some to a friend's place to cook for dinner, imagine if I had! LOL I think we can grow it here in the winter when the little moths/butterflies are not out laying eggs on every cole crop in sight or ever invented. --Ron

Hi and Thanks everyone. GH I dont have any trouble with the plumbago suckers probably due to the bad soil, that plant up top has taken four years to get to that size around 1.2mts wide X 90cms H.The big clump if I see it suckering I just go around the edge and pull them out, that keep them in check for at least one year. Jan the Julia's rose is prone to every insect here and disease , also much too tall for a Standard it would have to be a metre or more higher than the graft and still reaching for the sky and I chop it down short after each flowering. Thanks Alison, and Greencroc, Barbara dont forget I have 3/4 of a acre here to play with and a lot of time, you work dont you that makes a difference and thank you I am trying hard to learn this camera.....Cheers..MM.

There's another thread running with a discussion of different types of bottles. I'll put the link below. If you have excess tomatoes that have to be dealt with *now* - you might be better off chopping them up for a quick simmer and freezing them. I bought a whole bunch of 500ml containers just for that. Even when I'm bottling there's often some stuff left in the pan - too much to eat - not enough for another run through the bottler - I freeze 'em!!! That's how I know that frozen skins go skanky and bottled ones don't. Still fine to eat either way! I just follow the recipe in the FV book - the one I have is called _Australian Preserving with Fowlers Vacola_ published in 1980. Is there a newer book than that? ********************* 1. Put citric acid in the bottom of the bottle. The quantity varies with the size of the bottle. The No.36 I used in the picture needed 1 tsp. 2. Chop up the tomatoes into a big pot. Crush the first few to make a bit of liquid in the bottom of the pot or add a little water to just cover the bottom. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Allow to cool. 3. Soak the rubber rings in warm water for 15 minutes. 4. Fill the bottles, leaving 12mm head space. Wipe the rims. Put on the ring, lid and clip. 5. THERMOMETER CONTROL: Place the bottles in the preserver with enough water to come 3/4 of the way up the sides of the bottles. Bring temperature slowly up to boiling point - 100ºC - this will take at least 45 minutes and maintain at boiling point for 15 minutes. Then switch off heat source and allow bottles to stand with preserver lid on, undisturbed for another hour before taking out. THERMOSTAT CONTROL: Turn thermostat dial to HOLD BOIL, switch on at power point and leave on this setting for 1 hour. Then switch off at power point and allow bottles to stand, with preserver lid on, undisturbed for another hour before taking out. 6. Take out the bottles. Press down firmly on the centre of cover and clip being careful not to disturb or knock either. Leave them on cake racks or folded towels etc to cool for at least 12-18 hours. Remove clips by sliding sideways. 7. Test for a vacuum by placing a pencil or rule across the top of each bottle. The cooling down process should have pulled down the centre of the cover. If the seal is faulty, take off the lid, clean the rim, check the rubber ring or fit a new one. Repeat all the above steps. If it's just one bottle, I would probably put a plastic lid on it and put it in the fridge to use! *********** Here is a link that might be useful: Home preserving stuff

Our chest freezer has built-in sliding blue compartments that look sort of like milk crates. They slide back and forth from one place to another so you reach items stored beneath them. There's always two open slots where there's no sliding compartments on the upper level, which allows you to slide those compartments back and forth. I try to organize the siding storage compartments....tomatoes in one or two, beans in another 1 or 2, corn in others, etc. but even when I start out organized, I don't always end up that way by the end of the season. At a certain point, if I'm swamped with produce I'm just processing it, packing it into freezer bags or freezer boxes, labeling them and tossing them into the freezer, figuring I'll get it all organized on a slower, quieter day. Sometimes that day is slow to arrive, but when it does, I always find things I forgot were in there---like frozen peaches from the previous summer or something. In that sense, it can be a treasure hunt. When Tim's dad retired (and his mom was still working), he about drove Tim's mom berserk. First he reorganized the kitchen, which was a big mistake since the only cooking he ever did was to grill things outside. She testily told him he had better put her kitchen back the way she had it unless he was planning to take over 100% of the cooking chores. It was hysterically funny to us 'kids', who of course, all were married and had our own kids by then. He quickly restored the kitchen to its proper state, but then did proceed to try to do the same thing with the rest of the house. I'm not sure why she didn't just kill him then and there because she was steaming hot. He eventually learned that she had a system that had worked for them for 40 years and he'd better not mess it up. He got more involved in community volunteer work to keep him busy and to avoid ruining their happy home life. I am thankful that I do not have that problem. I won't say that Tim never interferes in how I have things organized, but when he does it, he learns not to do it again. The first time, I patiently explain "I had things like that for a reason....." and explain the reason. If he messes up the same thing again, I tell him to stop moving things around where I cannot find them unless he intends to take over that particular household chore. Since he has no desire to take on more work, he backs off and leaves things alone. I don't go out to the garage and rearrange his stuff and he doesn't come into the house and rearrange my stuff. It works for us. My husband is smarter than the average bear. (Remember Yogi Bear? I loved Yogi when I was a child.) He particularly understands the garden is my domain and doesn't touch anything in there. Ditto with the greenhouse, potting shed and the weight room during the months it becomes the light shelf/plant room. He is bad about putting stuff in the garage fridge (like an extra gallon of milk or something) and forgetting it is out there, so I try to keep an eye on that fridge in winter. In the summer, I use it enough that I know what he has in there. We have used an old refrigerator (bought on Craig's List for $50 as an extra freezer) by setting the temperature settings so low that everything in the fridge compartment also freezes, but we haven't tried using a freezer as a fridge.