Check it out: I am pleased as a new parent over the success of our Victory Garden! These pictures say it all. It's mid-May and the tomatoes are coming along nicely. Daytime temperatures are already in the low 80's (nighttime temp's are low 70's) so this is perfect weather to grow tomatoes, which prefer nighttime temperatures between 68-75.2 degrees F. If you miss this window the tomatoes are reduced to vegetation and won't produce flowers. As our temperatures here in northwestern Florida are quickly approaching the upper range of acceptability I am thinking of installing some heat-resistant or heat-tolerant hybrids such as Sunmaster or Heatwave. I would love to find a heat-resistant heirloom variety, which I may be able to find locally through Everman's. But for now, there are a multitude of flowers on every plant, especially the grape tomato, which is also the biggest in terms of vegetation. 
The cherry tomatoes were the first to ripen and we've already eaten a few of the sweet, delicious fruits. I ate them right off the vine, warm and fragrant. The grape tomatoes aren't far behind in ripeness and the roma are coming along, obviously larger, they have a longer maturation period.The peppers are a bit slower to mature than the tomatoes. Peppers, regardless of the variety, like it hot. We starting our plants a bit early (March!) so it's taken them longer to reach reproduction. Currently we have a few inch-long banana peppers and the bell varieties are behind the banana in ripening. We have red and green peppers but I heard recently that the only difference between green and red bell peppers is that the green are unripe and will turn red given the chance. The peppers were also slow to grow b/c we had something eating the crap out of the leaves and small fruits. We were never able to positively i.d. the culprit but I think it may have been snails or other nighttime pests. Conditions have improved because a) the garden gets more direct light sunlight for longer (strengthening the plants) and b) we began using a combination of white vinegar, dish soap and water in a spray bottle. I spray around the base of the plants (never directly on the leaves) and in-between the rows. I am very happy with the results. Not only is the solution pesticide-free but has curbed the unidentified muncher(s) AND killed many of the weeds. I usually apply it between waterings once or twice a week or as needed.
My latest worry are the damn killer squirrels, which were quite a nuisance last year when I had tomatoes in planters. Once the tomatoes begin to ripen (redden) the squirrels would come and "sample", i.e. take a bite out of every one and leave the rest to rot on the vine. Much like humans and sharks, tomatoes aren't a squirrel's food of choice-but that doesn't stop them from tryin'. When and if squirrels become a problem I may use cayenne pepper, which I hear is a good, safe mammalian deterrent. Or I may possibly construct a circle master (scarecrow) which is a tried-but-true solution.Here are some great websites that helped (recipes) for organic or chemical free pest and insect solutions:
Here is a bit of what we are planning to plant: tomatoes (grape, cherry, possibly roma), a wide variety of peppers (banana, red, green), yellow squash (that we will trellis to the north near the cabbage palm) and a large variety of herbs (basil, Thai basil, dill, cilantro, sage, mint, and whatever else catches my fancy). Because we don't have a large area, we will likely install plants that have already germinated instead of from seed (the exception is the yellow squash). I am not overly concerned with going totally organic with the VG-growing and eating (very) local are good enough for me. I never use pesticides, etc... anyway.
