Zabby, If you go to: http://www.bridgekitchenware.com/search.htm and type the words "tomato shark" into the site locator, you will see a fuzzy photo of one. It basically is made like a melon baller EXCEPT that the opening of the small tool is all TEETH. A melon baller will NOT work for this task. I tried without luck. The tool is small but sharp enough to remove the core to the depth you feel necessary (shallower for small vs. deep for large tomatoes). I usually hate single use tools, but a cherry pitter and a tomato shark are both small tools that make the job go a lot faster when confronted with a large bunch of either cherries or tomatoes. As smooth as the skin of the tomato appears compared to many other things we can with skins in place, I have never worried about bacteria on the skins either with a good washing and proper processing. Hope your winter isn't too cold in your neighborhood (I think you are in Ontario). Been many decades since I lived in Ontario (born in Barrie) and shoveled snow. Oh but the glory of the spring when the snow melts, new spring growth starts again, and everything is bright and clean and new! Jim in So Calif

George, I bet you're right, but I hate going out on a limb like that. Merton, I thought maybe I could find a comparison of the cucurbita seeds that would help you, so I checked my copy of Suzanne Ashworth's book SEED TO SEED: SEED SAVING AND GROWING TECHNIQUES FOR VEGETABLE GARDENERS and here is how she describes them: Cucurbita maxima: Thick seeds that are white or tan or brown with cream colored margins and thin cellophane coatings. (As George pointed out, your Lakota is a maxima so should fit this description.) C. moschata seeds are small, oblong and beige with a dark beige margin. (Your butternut is a moschata so one of your two solid tan types of seed ought to match this description.) C. pepo seeds are cream-colored and each has a white margin. Your acorn squash is a pepo so its seed should match this description. The problem is that your spaghetti squash is a pepo also, so its' seeds ought to match this description too. C. agyrosperma (formerly mixta) seeds would be the easiest to identify because they usually have small cracks in them. (They are described as white or tan with a pale margin and cracks in the skin coat on the flat sides of the skins which are covered with a thin cellophane covering.) None of the squash in your packet are agyrosperma types though. If you have specific variety names for your spaghetti, butternut, acorn and Lakota squashes, you probably could google and find descriptions of each squash, including the approximate size of the mature squash and that size might help you figure out which of your pepo seeds is which. Or, you might e-mail the seed company and see if they can tell you, by description only, which seed is which variety. Dawn

Hi all, I read this thread with interest; I have an itch after watering the tomato plants in my greenhouse. I get an itching feeling like hundreds of thunder flies are on my skin and this does not seem to matter whether I touch the plants or not. I have tried with various magnifying glasses to locate what definitely feel like microscopic bugs on my skin but have never found anything. It only seems to affect the exposed parts of my body i.e. arms, legs head etc never get a feeling under clothes socks trousers shirt etc.... thats why I had the ides that it actually was a tiny bug of some sort - never get anything like it outside the greenhouse or in other parts of the garden - the greenhouse for most part is closed off and a relatively separate atmosphere which (again my thoughts) could be an environment where something either flies or microscopic parasites could thrive. Some of the comments on here also make sense - an allergy to something in the plants maybe a component that is in the air in enough quantity due to the closed environment such that it can "land" on my exposed skin?? Tomatoes do have a rather pungent aroma on a hot day in a greenhouse. Although I am not really affected by this nor am I concerned that it is a major health issue I would appreciate any further thoughts.

Have a look at the picture in the link I've posted -- sounds like it could be stinkbug damage. Here is a link that might be useful: cloudy spot/stinkbug