10 x 10 seems very small, so I would say this would be one of your biggest factors in choosing what to grow. You mean 10 x 10 feet, right? Given your small gardening space, I would say stick with things that really taste much better when they're home grown. A lot of gardenwebbers may disagree with me, but I find a lot of veggies at the supermarket to be sufficient - I can't see how carrots or celery or onions or broccoli etc. could be so much better when home grown (unless you wait for them to sweeten after the first frost, which some vegetables do - you'll learn about that as you read about gardening) On the same note, you could also focus on things that are overpriced at the supermarket compared to how easy they are to grow. Furthermore, you live in a pretty cold part of the country, so you'll be happy to know that there are a few vegetables that laugh heartily in the face father winter. In the taste department, the big ones are tomatoes. Nothing compares to a real ripened garden tomato; the tomatoes at the supermarket are little red lies - they're picked green to be able to ship well and then made red with ethylene (the ripening hormone). Ethylene ripening works well for most (botanic) fruits, but it's pointless if the fruit (the tomato, in this case) hasn't even MATURED yet! Tomatoes are definitely the one thing that all gardeners and even most of the general populace would agree taste so much better when you grow them yourself. I also find that peppers (capsicum) that I grow are much tastier than the supermarket kind. They're much sweeter and more flavorful. But I can get good peppers because it regularly gets pretty hot and humid here in NJ in the summers, and peppers need that to be really tasty. In the price department you've got shallots and leeks. Definitely overpriced at the supermarket. With shallots, you grow them like garlic, plant the "cloves" during very cool whether when the spring is starting and the days are lengthening (alliums are instigated to grow their bulbs by increasing daylengths). With leeks, you'll need to shore up the dirt or provide some kind of cover to blanch the stalks, but otherwise similarly easy to grow like other alliums. And leeks are one of the cold-hardiest crops. You can leave them in the ground throughout the beginning of the winter and harvest as needed. You plant them in the summer to mature in the autumn/winter, just remember they take a long time to mature, about 4 months. And that increasing daylengths rule doesn't apply since the leek is a stalk, not a storage bulb. All aliums have the added benefit that wildlife don't generally eat them. For cole crops/brassicas, I would recommend you start with collards and/or kale. Both these are closer to their wild ancestors and much more pest/disease resistant than their more refined cousins. Kale also laughs in the face of winter. And both these will be sweeter after a frost (by the way, by frost we mean frosty weather, generally when the temp goes below 40). I would also recommend radishes just because they're easy to grow and have such a fast growth rate - they're mature in three to four weeks. I disagree with the previous poster about beans/peas. They're easy enough to grow and save the seed, they're important to the garden because they add nitrogen to the soil, and they're generally well liked by everyone and quite nutritious. Peas can handle a decent amount of cold weather, so they can be planted when it's cold, before the bugs/pests come out. Green beans/snap beans are well liked by most people, but they are somewhat susceptible to garden pests. I would reccomend you try a more unusual, pest-hardy bean, like runner beans, which have the benefit of also being gorgeous. Most beans can be eaten in the "snap" or "green" stage like green beans if you pick them early enough. And like I said, it's easy enough to save the seed - just wait until the pods are dry and collect the dry peas/beans and save until next season. And just remember to soak the seeds/beans/peas in water to speed germination before you plant them next season. You don't need to worry about cross-pollination of different varieties because most legumes (beans/peas) are self-pollinated, ESPECIALLY peas (I just looked at a pea blossom for the first time here the other day in my grandmother's garden - all the flowers parts are protected inside a flower petal shell, so bugs can't ever get to them). Also remember that legumes usually need a support structure to climb up. You might also want to put in some herbs, which are pretty easy to grow. Mints will definitely grow in your area, as will sage, though I think you're at its cold-hardiness limit, and maybe thyme. You can forget keeping rosemary as an outdoor perennial in your bitter cold. I myself love the smell of lemon balm, which I think is hardy to zone 4, but like mint it is a spreader and can become weedy. Lovage is a nice herb that you could grow, though more susceptible to pests than other herbs. And of course the annuals parsley, dill, and cilantro (though parsley is a biennial and I think might survive winters in your are - so you might be able to save seed if you're interested) Above all read up on gardening as much as you can. If you don't understand something, try googling it. Buy some books. I, like you, don't have much room to garden, and have only gardened two seasons, but I read nonstop so I'm pretty well versed on all the how-to's and what-to-do's.

I had a feeling that is what you said..:-) Just a suggestion. I would pot them up as soon as you recieve them, and leave them outdoors in a shady spot for a bit. Then introduce them back to the sun gradually. They are use to this treatment at the nursery since they are grown outdoors. This was suggested to me by my friends at the citrus nursery. As for how long before you put them back in the sun, I am not sure. Maybe someone can gives us an idea. I just transplanted 4 and I am not sure how long before I can put them back into full sun. Last year when I recieved mine, I potted them up and then I stuck them right back out the in the after a couple of days from adjusting from shipment and potting up. I might of gone against all odds, because they never reacted badly. In fact they did quite good..So unless someone suggests different, I will do same. Take care for now. P.S I just realized that we hijacked ladymarmalades thread!! Shoot. It can be so easy to do. Brancto, if you wnat to, just e-mail me, or I will catch you on another thread about this... Sorry ladymarmalade! My top 5 again. Pondorosa Lemon.... Washington Navel... Lemon Meyer.... Oro Blanco Grapefruit.... Key lime....

The easiest graft is a splice made to a vigorous annual shoot that can later either be spread to near horizontal to create a branch or, if it is a very upright shoot connected low enough on the trunk, to eventually replace the entire tree above the graft. However there are many other ways to graft that don't require a great deal of skill and are easily learned from Youtube videos freely available. Different folks have different opinions about the best way to graft and the only methods I've ever tried are the cleft and the splice. The splice is so easy, quick and affective I haven't bothered using any other graft besides the cleft when I need to graft on thick wood. I'm beginning to think a bark graft might be better for that. You don't need a grafting knife for any graft but for some it can be useful, but hold off on the purchase, that is not a very good offer anyway. A splice graft can be accomplished with any good pruning shear although I use a special double bladed one for the purpose that I've only seen supplied by AMLEO.COM. It is manufactured in Italy. I had good success before I found this tool just using a high quality standard hook and blade bypass hand pruner. You have lots of time to learn about grafting because you need to wait until the tree is established and growing vigorously before you begin the process. Figure spring of 2016 at the earliest. Plums should be grafted well after the mother tree begins growth in your zone, judging from my experience, others suggest warm weather needs to follow the grafting for best results as well. Apples and pear grafts grow more quickly if grafted just before or after first signs of growth but early stonefruit grafts tend to dry out before having time to heal if you graft them before they leaf out.

HY, you are not alone! We've all soooo been there. And time after time, we go there again. And again. We persevere and find joy and beauty in our gardens before the next infestation or plague...which occurs right before another frantic forum post and more pest eviction or disease fighting strategies and then more joy and beauty. We gardeners are nothing if not resilient. For the record, your garden looks 1000x more glorious than mine during its low points. PAOK is gorgeous! Somewhere, I have a stack of really embarrassing photos of my garden at its worst. I'll see if I can dig it up so we can all shudder together. Ha, ha. I'm firmly in Jeri's camp where chemicals are concerned, but I also know that sometimes, one-big-hit before organic methods can produce immediate practical and psychological relief. IF I hit a few plants with something toxic, I'd be very selective and then water thoroughly after success. These days, I'm more likely to cut something way back, douse with the strongest but least damaging environmentally friendly solution (Safer products and others) and repeat while bulking up natural predators and plant nutrients. My current antagonists are cane borers that I'm battling with Elmer's Glue All. For #%}€*&$! aphids, I use insecticidal soap. For squirrels, I cage small plants and rose starts. For years of persistent blackspot or rust, I rip out the rose and choose a resistant variety. I (almost) never use toxic chemicals in my garden, but once or twice, I've been cornered into the unthinkable. There was once a ground wasps nest in the parking strip and under our sidewalk where oodles of kids run by and strollers roll by all day long. It couldn't be easily or safely removed, and the situation was looking very risky. My husband and I resorted to chemicals. I mourned each time I saw the straggling wasps trying to return to their poisoned and blocked nest. In TX, I know that fire ants can be a real danger in a garden. I once stepped in a nest. Enough said. I hope more forum members from your region join in with suggestions. I wish I could offer more in the way of advice, but my climate and my pests are temperate rainforest ones. In the meantime, know that you are not alone, and you and your garden will survive and thrive! Carol