Yeah, my fiance planted the seeds too closely together, we were going to thin then when they grew, but I've removed them and replanted given the leaf damage. Here's another pic from the damage I found yesterday (this is of the beans, while the first was of the squash). These also just have nibbles out of them (although it's worth noting that my radish and eggplant sprouts were completely demolished last week, not just nibbled). I'm 99.999% sure it's not rabbits, as we rent and our backyard is enclosed with wooden fencing. I do trust they could find a way in; however, we've lived here for 2 years and I've NEVER seen a rabbit. Furthermore, I planted veggies last year and I didn't have this problem. Not sure if this info is useful, but last year we planted much later in the season, and while we did have a bird feeder, the resident bird count has increased SIGNIFICANTLY! Also, the bed is right next to a large bush where the birds live, so perhaps they feel it's encroaching on their territory and trying to prove a point! :) Anyway, I've put up the row covers, so I guess we'll see. One more thing...does this look at all like it could be the work of a grasshopper? I saw a very large one in my yard last week (although not anywhere near the veggie garden), and I had trouble last year with hoppers eating my basil. If it is him, I'm a bit surprised because I have two small potted basil plants i on a fence shelf right now, and they are untouched. Thanks all so much for the continued feedback! I'm a newbie constantly running into issues - it's so great to have people to go to for info! Laura

I don't really know if its truly possible to "sterilize" the soil enough to stop diseases from surviving, and they're present everywhere, anyway, "the ubiquity of microorganisms" theory, it's called. But, I had a lot less disease on tomatoes planted in 'virgin' soil this year than I did where they'd been grown for many years past. I would think landscape cloth would be easy to sterilize, just either soak or spray with a bleach solution, 1 part bleach to 10 parts water should do the job. I don't know what effect it will have on the color -- the woven type is probably colorfast, but the spun-bond type I know is not, so it may bleach it an ugly beige, blotchy color. Or, in lieu of bleach, you could probably also spray it down or drench it down with a solution of Lysol.

Well you certainly don't want them to get hit with a frost. That will ruin them. So you may not have a choice except to pick them or plan on using really great protection coverage nightly. Since the peppers are certainly great eating at any stage - many on the Vegetable Gardening forum talk about how it is difficult and slow getting peppers to the red stage even under ideal conditions - so I wouldn't want to take the risk of losing them so I would pick them if they were mine. Whether they will ripen further after picking all depends on the variety - many won't. Dave PS: keep in mind that temps closer to the ground are often as much as 10 degrees colder than they are at thermometer height. So if you plan to cover them don't wait until the thermometer says 32. ;)

It's tempting to use landscape fabric but I've found that it's kind of a pain in the vegetable garden. It gets buried by mulch or soil and then roots may start growing from your plants above the fabric which will probably die. Going forward it needs to be removed and it's always a pain. If you want to keep down weeds the old fashioned hoe works well. If you want to use a barrier I'd recommend wet newspaper several layers thick and cover that with mulch such as straw.