Whoa! Thanks for the feedback folks! The ripe ones are mostly from the older wood but there are some that appear to be ripening on greener shoots. Thanks again. Just did the first attempt at drying them in a dehydrator. Eh. I really just like to eat them fresh off the tree. Otherwise it's just a tease. Chris

We've all been there, Renee; it happens to me every year, it seems. Things that were gangbusters last year and a bust, or a partial bust, this year are a part of gardening. And yes, I'm talking to YOU, you nonblooming Princess Victoria Louise poppies, who put up lovely clumps of leaves, but nothing else! And YOU, "reblooming" tall bearded iris Clarence. (You can't rebloom if you haven't bloomed even once.) And the less said about you, TB iris Rosalie Figgie, the better. Although sometimes it's difficult, I try not to let it get to me -- to see the overall loveliness and not dwell on the individual disappointments. Especially since I'm more than willing to accept the reverse -- plantings that were mediocre at best one year and become Stars of the Garden the year after. (Brava, Bolero, finally ecstatically happy in a pot!) So mebbe this year they are Dwarf Somewhat-Less- Than-Imperial Larkspur. They are still lovely. Kay

Tomatoes are virtually impossible to kill once they're going. Seriously, as long as you've got a couple inches of green, you can regrow the entire plant. If its got any roots left at all, it'll be fine in a few weeks. Last year I had a windstorm that knocked one of my container tomatoes over, rolled it around, snapped half the thing in two. I just stuck the broken limbs in some dirt in a bucket, and not only did the limbs survive, they went on to bear fruit the same year. Heck, several of the limbs had tomatoes still on them and not only did they survive, not only did the tomatoes not wither up on them, but they were even GOOD tasting tomatoes at the end. Basically, nothing short of weed killer or ripping it up by the roots and tossing it on hot asphalt will kill a tomato plant.

Thank you for replying telling me how thing's are for yourself's. When my grandfather past away in 1978 we all knew it was coming, seen his health decline from heart problems. Grandfather was my first lost from illness and I was specially close to him. My granny, grandfather's wife lived 19 years past his passing away and I would go over and sit with her for a few hours, she'd talk of how much she missed him and was so alone without him. I was very young at the time plus busy raising my two young kids, didn't realize just how bad it was for her being without her spouse. Not only having to deal with her loss she also had to put up with my uncle her first born son, he wanted to put her into a nursing home right away just to get her out of her own home so he could do as he pleased. My dad and her would not hear of it and she wasn't ill nor was she having any health problems at that time. Later on in the late 80's she started going down but it was slow she started forgetting the great grand kid's names till it came down to not even knowing her own kid's names. My dad would go over to see her and she'd ask who are you...well, where do you live. It is sad and so hard to see and watch a loved one go down. My dad has his up's and down's. When he is feeling good he loves to tell jokes and friends of his beg's him to tell them. Here lies one problem: being that he does live so far 23 miles from me it is not easy going over everyday like I do. My own home is suffering some cause I cannot get around that good myself. Like the other day I left dad's house around noon time so I could come home and do some house work but I had a bad bout with my leg and foot, the pain was so bad that it kept me up at night, I could not get comfortable no matter what I did. I'm going to the doctor today to see if something can be done for my foot, It might be a spur in my heal. Plus my husband keeps me up sometimes with his snoring .... he's going for a sleep study tonight. My DH also has a bad gall bladder and will need surgery and we've been checking out trying to find a good surgeon for him. First one we went to had the personality and a wet noodle LOL, Really that surgeon left us feeling very unsure about letting him do surgery on my DH. It is wonderful to have an outlet an outreach like this where as long ago it was much harder to find someone to reach out to. Thank's again for listening to me ramble LOL