Leave the flowers on. Odds are the plant will choose to abort some anyway. Pepper fruit grows slowly enough that the plant will be larger by the time they are ready to harvest. I hose my pepper plant foliage with a watering can, just water, early every morning, not a lot of water, enough to wash off the dust and bump up the humidity. But then again I live in the desert where relative humidity is single digits during the day. And I have enough problems with high pH that I would not want to add salt to anything. Common sense and knowing how to work with your own climate and growing season characteristics will get you a lot farther than any "miracle" gardening hokum. And it's worth noting that a lot of the garden Epsom salt recommendations around the interweb can be traced back to... the manufacturers of Epsom salts.

This is the answer...here in British Columbia, we're seeing hose bibs in garages, the frost free types. You can also get them in hot/cold. One caveat, garages also have a mandatory baseboard heater or more, the idea being to keep them at least a little above freezing. A sink would be great, but, unless you're absolutely certain that it will stay above freezing (say, for example, you drive off, and garage door encounters an obstacle and opens again...) you would want to winterise it, and put drain cocks underneath, or use a frost free bib as I described. You'd also want to put RV antifreeze in the trap.

" Do you think people using this forum are more thoughtful about function versus form" Yes, I think most people here, at least the "regulars" are function-first people. This does not mean that form/look is not important -- it just means that they consider function more important. In all honesty, it's easy to make or find something functional that looks nice; it's almost impossible to make something that's dysfunctional but looks nice functional without replacing the dysfunctional item (or design). My opinion...I hate side sprayers. I grew up with them, so I speak from a lot experience! But, as you can see from above, others like them -- so it's personal preference. I agree that bridge faucets look nice, especially in period Kitchens, but they are not for me b/c of the sprayer issue. I also like the fact that I can set a one-handle faucet to a temperature I like and then just turn it off with the temp setting till set...and I know that when I turn it back on, it will be at that same setting. This also shows you that functionality preferences can vary by person as well as looks/form. I really like the look and general function of my Kohler Vinnata, but over time I have realized that I do not like Kohler's spray/stream "button". Switching back & forth is not easy b/c you have to hit just the right spot -- and that "spot" for both options is quite small! It looks like the Kohler Artifact may have a different system for changing b/w spray & stream -- maybe Kohler realized their old design wasn't working as well as they hoped. Questions for those with the Artifact.... (1) Does it "remember" what type of spray/stream setting you used last? I.e., if you turn it off while it's on the "Berry Spray", will it still be on the "Berry Spray" when you turn it back on? That's a key feature for me! (2) Do the buttons work well? Do they last long? (I've already replaced the head of my Vinnata once b/c the "button" wore out -- it was free b/c of Kohler's lifetime guarantee, but I'd rather not have to do it!)

Well, @frostedsleet and @Beverly... I had an interior designer come and look, and what do you know, she looked at all my paint samples, then went to her own bag of samples she brought and pulled out none other than Accessible Beige! I was SO hesitant/not onboard at all... and then the more I'e thought about it, the more I am so in love and feel like it is the right choice!!! And that just like I'd hoped, a designer saved me from a mistake. One of my main goals in my home is to draw attention AWAY from the high ceilings and have a more cozy feel. I realized with a darker color, it's hard not to notice how much WALL there is and in turn draws attention TO the high ceilings. (I know many people love high ceilings... they're not my cup of tea but I thought I'd get used to them!). So, about 99% certain this is what we'll go with and will probably order the peel and stick sample this weekend. The only thing I'm worried about is if it will take more paint/prep work and be significantly more expensive since I'll be coming from a slightly darker color, Sherwin Williams Argos. Any thoughts there?