I am desperately struggling to get any fruit out of my purple tomatillos, I have tomato fruitworms galore, not a single fruit is working. I have sprayed spinosad and nothing, today I am giving a try at neem oil. I tried to plant parsley near the plants and no effect. Don't plant alike with alike, I have american nightshade and had cape gooseberry near them and thats what attracted the the stupid fruitworms. Now I am having to resort to pesticides. I am also going to plant a bunch more purple tomatillos so I can at least try one fruit. Anyone know the best plants that deter these stupid fruitworms?

For baked (fried) okra without the oil... - I can't stand it just tasting like breading, so I cut off the ends that connect to the stems, and to minimize any slime, I slice them longitudinally in half. You do not need to cut them into quarter inch or half inch things, which once breaded will simply be heavy breading! Here is a Paleo recipe with some suggestion for regular wheat etc.: 15-20 okra, about 2-2.5 inches long. Remove tops, cut them in half lengthwise. If they are longer than that, you can cut them once again crosswise. Usually, the smaller okra are more tender. 1/4 cup arrowroot powder, coconut flour or AP flour. Prepare to need more... 1 egg, beaten, 1/3 cup coconut flakes, or corn meal, or pulverized bread crumbs. Salt and pepper to taste - you can add other seasonings as desired, perhaps a hint of cumin. Just please don't ruin the okra by chopping them into small bits that will turn them into a Cracker Barrel misery. Preheat oven to 350 F/ 177 C. Set up bowls or plates for the arrowroot (or flour), egg, and coconut flakes (or breadcrumb/cornmeal). Either season the last bowl now or wait until the okra is in the pan. Roll the okra through the arrowroot or regular flour, then the egg, then the coconut flakes or bread crumbs/cornmeal. Lay outside surface up in a baking pan, one layer only. Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until coconut turns gently brown. Keep an eye on the oven. Conclusion: this recipe does not at all taste like that from Cracker Barrel, so if you were wanting that, please seek elsewhere. (Note, after 20 some years, I still remember how greasy and awful that breading-thing tasted… and the fact there was absolutely NO okra taste, slimy or not, whatsoever!) You could deep fat fry them, but I tend not to do so.

Yeak, Skeip I was thinking all those veggies would be good as egg roll filling too. I make mine with cabbage, carrots, onions and tofu, but you can use pork or shrimp. Then stir fry the broccoli with the red peppers and squash and jalepeno for a spicy stir fry. Add other seasonings to your taste--sweet and sour, thai, schezwan (sp?). Then carrot pudding for dessert instead of carrot cake. Or go eastern european and stuff the peppers with the rice and veggies, or stuff cabbage leaves, tomatoes for a sauce or a lemon white sauce, and then bread and fry the squash or bake it with oiled breadcrumbs like escalloped. Roast the jalepenso and a few more peppers and toms and make a bruschetta for an appetizer, or mix the jalepenos with blue cheese and cream cheese and scallions for a different take. Or go Moroccan and combine as many veggies as you dare, some preserved lemons and dried fruit of your choice, lots of good spices like ginger, cumin, cinnamon, tumeric, corriander, garlic and I can't quite remember what all else, and add chicken thighs and do the whole thing as moroccan stew in the crockpot. Serve over rice or cous cous to be traditional. I do this with chickpeas for the vegetarian version.

Lucky you to be in Vegetable Heaven! I would be attacking that basket. First, broccoli-cheddar chowder for your friend. I'll take the cabbages and use them, along with some of the carrots and peppers, to make one of our favorite coleslaws. I'll leave the jalapenos for someone else. COLORFUL COLESLAW 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup cider vinegar 3/4 tsp. celery seeds 2 tsp. dried mustard 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper 1/2 head green cabbage, cut into thin shreds 1/2 head red cabbage, cut into thin shreds 1 carrot peeled and coarsely grated 1 small onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced 1 green pepper, seeded and halved crosswise and thinly sliced 1 sweet red pepper, seeded and halved crosswise and thinly sliced Put red cabbage in a storage container in the refrigerator. Combine oil, sugar and vinegar in small nonaluminum saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 5 minutes and add celery seeds, mustard, salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl except for red cabbage. Pour dressing over vegetables and toss. Chill covered for at least four hours, or preferably overnight, stirring occasionally. Add red cabbage about an hour before serving. 12 servings. Note: You can add the red cabbage at the same time as the green but since the color will bleed out of it over time (no change in flavor), the presentation is prettier if you add it right before serving. Next, the green and yellow squashes would be "stringed" and steamed in the microwave. When done, stir in some of the chopped scallions and parsley. (squash in the pic has dried cranberries) Some of the tomatoes and the rest of the cabbage and carrots would go into a bean soup made with turkey kielbasa. A half recipe of this salad would use up the cucumber, some of the tomato and parsley, and you could substitute lime juice for the lemon. TURKISH SHEPHERD'S SALAD 3 large tomatoes 2 medium size cucumbers 2 medium size Green Peppers 1 large red onion 1/2 bunch Parsley 7- 8 sprigs fresh mint 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt (or less to taste) Sumac powder * (This is not a marinated-type salad and is best when all the ingredients are chopped and mixed close to serving time.) Wash the vegetables; peel and halve cucumbers, removing seeds; remove stems and seeds of the green peppers, and remove the surplus parts of onion, parsley and the mint. Chop the onions, green peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers into cubes about 1 cm. in size (between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.). Finely chop the mint and parsley. Add lemon juice and salt to olive oil, whisk well and pour over the salad immediately before serving. Sprinkle lightly with sumac powder. *Note: if you don�t have sumac powder, increase the lemon juice to 2 Tbs. Gellchom, have fun with your lovely basket ingredients.