Hi sthlmgreen and welcome!!! I know how you feel regarding wind on the balcony. I am on the 18th floor and have found that the place on my balcony with the most sun is also the windiest, but that is the only place where I can grow my veggies (due to the area having the most sun and enough room to grow these plants). This is what I just planted last Tuesday (the 2 large and 2 medium containers with shredded newspaper as mulch): I had started these from seed - the tomatoes - "San Marzano", "Big Beef", "Snow White" (a cherry tomato) - and am growing tomatillos from seed. I started them in plastic yogurt cups that had clear lids and then I transfered them to 16 oz plastic drinking cups, and finally to 1 gallon nursery containers before planting. I had some extras after I gave one of my sisters some so I ended up jamming 2 plants per container, trying to keep the larger plants in the larger containers and smaller plants in smaller containers when crowded together like that. The containers I am using include storage bins from Rubbermaid - the 14 gallon size. The smaller containers are Rubbermaid containers made for vegetables that I bought years ago but that they no longer sell. The one thing about the storage bins is that when filled with soil, they are very stable and don't blow over on days when it is very windy. I do know what you are talking about when you mention how the plants can snap in the wind or the leaves can wilt. Every year I try to put something on the windy side of my veggies that will block the worst winds, and this year I am trying my paniculata hydrangea (the shrub in the corner in the above picture). It is now 4 years old and is getting somewhat battered, but so far it has done the best as a wind block of anything that I have tried in the past without much damage to itself. Plus it is the type of hydrangea that does best in full sun, so it is getting alot more sun than it used to get on the other end of my balcony. I want go to the local large hardware stores to see if I can find some plexiglass that I can use to be the windblock instead of my hydrangea. The one thing that I want is something that won't block the sun but will block the wind, and the plexiglass should do that. In your case, I would just remove the withered leaves and any totally broken branches - BUT tomatoes are amazing plants and sometimes you can tape up a broken branch and secure it in place and the branch will heal and grow just fine! When I was hardening off my tomatoes in their small pots, one of my Snow Whites had bent in half and after I kept tying it on a stake and it kept flopping, before I finally planted it, I taped the bend with some tefllon tape (used by plumbers) and planted it so that the taped portion was under the soil in the big container. It totally wilted the rest of that day (you can actually see the wilted plant tied to a stake next to the rail in the gray container closest to the date on the picture). The tomato remained wilted like that the next couple days (it was also very hot here), but as of this morning, after we had some windy rain that soaked my balcony and the plants, it has perked back up again and looks like it's almost back to normal now (don't have my camera available at the moment but will be taking a picture later)! You can actually root broken tomato branches in water or in soil because they can form roots along the stems.

wow,a real pair of denim shorts,huh?? lol no,i've never seen that before! Looks like they're growing great,too! Are they hanging with suspenders?

It sound like you had a great garden season. Wish I was one of the recipients of your bounty, since I had puny crop this season. I agree that the taste in tomatoes could be because of the weather. They are very "temperamental". Yes, my summer garden is winding down also, but the Orange and Lemon trees are putting out new blooms and fruit, they will be ready in December/January. I planted some asters for fall color and I'm looking to plant some cool season crops. Enjoy your bounty and your hard work this winter.

Plants "harden" as the end of the season approaches. And, I'm not really talking about the rinds of winter squash. I had never really thought about it before. I haven't yet read Charlene's question about over-wintering plants. I don't really do much of that. What comes in is what went out with warm weather -- house plants. But, I just happened to read something that was written about 50 years ago about bringing in peppers and such. The writer said to bring them in before much "hardening" had occurred. That way, the plants would still be in their growth processes rather than having been "shut down" because of the cold. It was only 63ðF for an afternoon high on Friday! I darn near froze! But, 63ð isn't really cold. Despite some very cool days, the nights weren't especially cold - not down in the 30's. My garden sat there for a couple days but with more warmth - it is right back to actively growing!! Often, plants can come back from a light frost but . . . by the time they've recovered, and it may take days and days, it usually is freezing again! Usually, when the season ends, it doesn't really have to do with smashing cold temperatures. I'm willing to let things go out with a whimper - it gives me a little more time to scrounge around out there and gather anything that has value. It gives me time to grieve over the loss, and celebrate the bounty of the past season as well. And, the inevitability of it all . . . Steve