It's been below 55F for few days now and I just checked them and they look great. When you say "anything below 55 and they stop growing" does that mean they're still alive, just not actively growing? Will they die if left out all winter? They never looked this good indoors ever. They finally look like they are alive and thriving. I don't have any locals to seek help from so I'm asking here. I was thinking that by the end of november I should insulate them in some way...but not bring them back in the house with the dry heat. They really don't do well in my house.

They aren't really immature I think- Most of them have been this size and just hardening up for the past month. After reading around, I've decided to just leave them on the vine to continue drying for now.

I'm doing our seed orders and crop planning for this year and wanted to update my thread. Last year's plowed and tilled area is about 35x90. We did plasticulture and had a few other raised beds right around the greenhouse. The market was pretty tiny and really only worth it for selling starts, but I've done a lot of networking and let people in the community know we're farming, so I'm going to try a twist on the CSA model: Since we don't need money up front for start up costs, instead of a traditional CSA (which excludes most of the nearby residents who can't come up with $200-400 upfront) I'm going to set up online ordering so that folks on my Facebook page and mailing list can pre-order a box for pickup at the Saturday market on the square. The ecommerce software does inventory management, so I can allow folks to choose what they want in their order and if it's not available, it won't display. I have about 10-15 people interested (not enough for a CSA, really, which makes it perfect for this experiment) and have sent them a survey asking them what their highest priority veggies and herbs are (what they use the most). For us, our favourite garden produce ended up being potatoes, corn, beans, broccoli, swiss chard, onions and watermelon. We grew all kinds of stuff, but including any of those items in our meals made it feel as convenient as fast food. The potatoes especially - I know they're cheap to buy, but pulling a handful out of the garden to make french fries to go with a BLT on homemade bread and with homemade mayo from our own eggs was AMAZING. Deeply satisfying. We grew too many tomatoes but we knew that going in (partner was having cabin-fever issues in February and sowed about 400 tomato seeds. Every single packet I'd bought for the past three years. Our germination rates were TOO GOOD, BAKER CREEK! :)) We raised 4 pigs last year and sold 2 of them, and plan to do 4-8 this year. It was extremely easy to find buyers for the pork! We sourced non-GMO feed and had no idea how to price it, so we basically charged just above cost and naturally we sold out right quick. I've since figured out more appropriate pricing based on nearby producers. The pigs did really well on beets, other garden produce, and tons of apples from our old apple trees. Grass was their absolute favourite (and free!) so we are investing in electric fencing and additional hog panels to make movable pens for the pasture. Last year they were in two stationary pens of about 50'x100' (2 pigs per pen) and so we have nice fertilized and pig-tilled areas to expand this year's garden. There was only about 3-4 weeks that grain made up the bulk of their diet - for most of their lives, they ate grass and vegetables and apples. And occasionally eggs. Our eggs are popular and I didn't even start enough hens to be selling eggs - we have about 10-15 people interested in weekly eggs and we are producing only about 3 dozen a week, so I'll be expanding the flock this year. I only went to market for the first six weeks of the season; this year I will be able to attend more regularly. I was careful about writing down feedback from the customers - everyone was extremely pleased with the quality of our starts, three or four people were looking for Sungold tomatoes or yellow pear tomatoes, and a few folks were really excited that we offered tomatilloes (I'm from California and wanted to make salsa verde!). Our patron, my father-in-law, wants okra and asparagus this year (we have six or seven mature asparagus plants, but I just set aside an area for a permanent 100' bed) and five or six peaches. So I'm drawing maps and calculating costs and occasionally visiting Planter's in KC for instant-gratification bulk seed orders and seed starting supplies. Lastly, we purchased remnant plastic from A.M. Leonard for our hoop house and I could not be happier with the quality or the service! The price was awesome too - our 12'x20' experimental greenhouse ended up costing about $250 in salvaged

I need some serious advice, and all of you seem like very good people with sincere approaches to coping. My brother took his life eleven months ago today. I so dread the one-year anniversary. This was not his first attempt, but was the only time he tried that he really meant it. The other times clearly were a call for attention. This time, there was absolutely no stopping him. I'll spare you details and get onto my two issues. First, I have been paralyzed from having any relationship with my sister-in-law since my brother's passing. I know I need to reach out to her, but I simply cannot. About three weeks after Chad's passing, my sister-in-law called to ask me a favor, which I quickly performed. During the conversation, though, she digressed into telling me about the last conversation that my brother had with Mom and Dad. It was very clear that my sister-in-law blames my Mom and Dad and my brother's upbringing. This caused two problems for me. First, it really made me question who I am ... if Chad and I shared the same upbringing and Chad took his life, what does that mean for me? Second, we all have to have our own "reality" about why Chad passed in the way that he did, but my reality cannot be to blame my Mom and Dad in any way whatsoever. In fact, my relationship with my parents is stronger than it ever was before. The day that my sister-in-law and I had this conversation was absolutely the most difficult day of coping that I have had. I was literally in the car on the way to work when she called, and I had to pull over, get out of the car, pace and cry while we talked and for a long while thereafter. I could not make it into work for two days following. Hence, I have not been able to make myself call her in months. At forced family gatherings, there is a tension but we're cordial. But, we have no relationship. I hate that, but I'm so apprehensive too. My dad is begging me to call my sister-in-law, and I cannot tell him that I can't call her b/c she blames him and Mom. I've written eight letters to her in an attempt to explain why it is so difficult for me, but I haven't had the courage to mail any of them yet. My second issue is that a couple of months before Chad's passing, he announced to the family how proud he was of himself for quitting smoking. He said it was all because of the anti-smoking pill Chantix. Now, I've learned that the FDA has linked Chantix to suicide. I've carried a ton of anger since Chad's passing and now I'm mad at hell at the pharma company. To make Chad a class rep in a class action against the pharma company may give me an outlet for my anger and grief, but I don't want to be the selfish little sister that drudges the rest of the family through even more pain. Of course, my sister-in-law would have to be on board and that would require my talking it over with her. I'm an attorney by the way.