Hi SPF, The squirrels are probably eating your tomatoes because they are thirsty and we've had no rain. Try putting a water bowl at the base of the tree that they live on. See if that helps? I have two glazed 12"saucers at the top of the arbor, they drink their daily, then raid my cherry tomatoes :-( Also, the cukes you gave me are doing great! All but one survived. It's a miracle! If you want another cuke plant, I can give you one. Just let me know. I'm glad yours are doing well, mine did too until the worms set in. I've pulled them and started my first succession of Super Sugar Snaps in five of those buckets. Are you spraying with anything? I sprayed with BT and the worms just laughed at me :-( You enjoy them, trust me, I've got cukes coming out my ears before the worms showed up. Tom

Thanks for posting this, it's very helpful. This is my first year gardening in the PNW, and I'm feeling a bit at sea with all the tales of tomato disappointment I've been seeing. Not that it wasn't difficult growing them back in South TX, where I had to hope they'd produce before the blast-furnace heat and disease stopped the plants. :( I'm glad to hear Sungold does well, as that's one tomato I don't ever want to be without. I would like to ask -- how large do Sungold plants get here (say, in the Willamette valley)? Back in TX, mine were easily over 6 ft tall. I'm wondering how big a cage I'll need here. The others I'm considering are divided into two groups: Ones I'm considering b/c I've heard they do well here: Anna Russian Legend Willamette Momotaro Carmello Bloody Butcher Northern Lights Japanese Black Trifele One's I don't think I can stand not to grow b/c I love them: Aunt Ruby's German Green Ananas Noire Old German/Pineapple/some other red/gold bicolor (suggestions?) If anyone's got opinions on these, I'd love to hear them. I tend to like low-acid tomatoes with a sweet/savory flavor, meaty flesh and not many seeds (like ARGG and many other large, oddly colored heirlooms) so suggestions on that type that might be successful here are most welcome. Also, what tomato and other vegetable cultivars can I expect to see in the nurseries and garden centers come spring? I'm not used to what people tend to grow up here, obviously, so I don't know which tomatoes I'll have to order and which I'll be able to find. As for what else I'm going to grow, well, I just planted sugar snaps today, and will probably plant trombocino/zuccheta rampicante once it warms up. I'd love to try more vegies, but honestly, I suspect a large part of my very small garden is going to be filled with the ornamentals I could never grow in TX -- dahlias, peonies, delphiniums, and annuals like nasturtiums and sweet peas.

Double digging in one section of my yard uncovered a tirod, a hub cap, and various jagged car parts. I've also dug my fair share of boulders from the garden beds. We use them for borders and edging. Twice during our ownership of the property we discovered a micro-sinkhole. Both gobbled up their unsuspecting victim like quicksand because of how saturated the areas became. I now landscape to prevent these problems from happening again. Digging up larger, unknown objects can spark a chain of events in the garden's evolution.

Keepers: Spacemaster cucumbers: Vines are only 3 feet or so long. I had them planted in the same hill as the hybrid Salad Bush, which are MUCH longer vines. The Salad Bush cucumbers are delicious and prolific, but every single one has little worms in them (is that Cucumber beetle?), but the Spacemasters do not. (They are very good tasting. No bitterness at all.) Next year, cucumbers are going on a trellis, as I have read they produce more heavily that way. I should think they'd be easier to find that way too. Pung Tung Long Asian Eggplants: Wow. I picked 5 or 6 every single week from my one plant. And they are absolutely delicious. I doubt I will ever grow any other kind. The plants are nice looking too. Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans: This was my first year for them. They make really long vines, but they waited much longer than my others to stop producing in the heat, and have picked up again even though temps are still in the low nineties. They're yummy too. (not stringless) The vines still look super healthy. Louisiana Purple Pod Pole Beans: Still my all-time favorite tasting and beautiful looking beans. However, they looked so bad by July that I pulled them up and re-planted. I am going to try Fortex next year, but I will always grow these too. Zipper Cream Crowder peas: They are lovely plants, easy to pick, and crop up fast. I had two complete crops this summer. Love them. Still looking: for a tomato that doesn't get early blight, but is productive and delicious. I've had lots of fruit, but the vines are so ugly... SVB resistant yellow crookneck squash....sigh. Maybe next year I'll grow them under row covers and pollinate them by hand... Won't mess with cantaloupes again. What the worms didn't eat, the critters did. Not a single edible ripe melon. The vines were LONG, Long, long, and messy. No way did they earn their space. :( All in all, it was a beautiful and productive garden this year. I started planting fall veggies this week.