My experience: My eggplants did not produce a single fruit allllll summer! THey had tons of blossoms but had blossom drop. As soon as it started to cool in late august that thing started setting fruit like crazy and did all the way up until I rippedd it out when it got frost damage at about 30 degrees F. It still had 4 baby fruit on it at the time. So I'd say as far as the eggplant, mine performed best in that temperature range without any protection and even with shortening days.

Jay, I was in a really cranky mood by late afternoon yesterday because our high temperature once again over-achieved. Our forecast was for 98 and we hit 106. This constant over-achieving on the part of our high temps is driving me up a wall. However, rainfall finally arrived accompanied by much lightning, wind, thunder, etc. and we had several little showers run through one after another. We ended up with a tiny bit less than 0.7"....maybe 0.65 or 0.68". It was wonderful to have rainfall again, and the temperature plunged from 106 to 79 before dark. I know that the less than 7/10s of an inch is only a drop in the bucket compared to what we need, but eventually all those drops in the bucket will add up. Today is supposed to be cooler--only the low to mid 90s, and then 98 again tomorrow (wonder if I should expect 106 again?) before another cool-down arrives. This morning has remained cloudy and cool, so the house is quiet, quiet, quiet because the AC hasn't been running. The clouds are burning off now, so I guess the AC will kick on in a little while. Were it not for the near-epidemic levels of West Nile Virus around me, I'd have spent the cool, cloudy morning outside working in the garden. Since the mosquitoes that transmit it are most active in the early morning and early evening hours, I guess I'll go outside at midafternoon and work when the mosquitoes are less likely to be out. I haven't seen many mosquitoes, but I sure don't want to be bitten by one carrying WNV. The news stories of the horrible West Nile Virus aftereffects occurring even to some young people in their teens through their 30s make me wary of taking a chance on being bitten by one of those skeeters. Normally the older you are, the harder the WNV hits you. In recent tests of mosquitoes trapped in the Dallas area, 50% of the mosquitoes tested were carriers of WNV and I don't like those odds. If we hadn't had rain, the prospect of having mosquitoes around wouldn't bother me as much. But then, if we hadn't had rain, I wouldn't feel like I should be out doing anything in the garden. The rains, skimpy though they may be, are reviving some plants, but others are just too far gone and I might as well yank them and clear those areas for fall planting. Dawn

Like the Bhuts, the Uba Tubas seem to take their sweet time putting out fruit and take a while to ripen. Worth the wait though.

Mary, you both deserve a junk food night!! Enjoy every single bite :-) Georgysmom, since I've read through this, my first thought was "Oops!". But looks like you saved the day with the marinara. Good thinking! Angelaid, wow, that's a lot of choices for dinner. What do you do with your huckleberries? Jasdip, you sure are enoying your cooler weather. Dinner sounds delicious. Sure would like even a sniff of that homemade bread. Pam, a nice long ride sounds like fun. I bet your mother enjoyed it. Nice dinner to go with a nice day. Glenda, I really don't like even riding in the car during one of the south's famous pop-up storms. Hope you didn't get caught in it. Glad your fish was good. Raven, the best dinners in this heat are the easy, but tasty ones. I love those rotisserie chickens. What a life-saver they can be!!