Thanks for posting the link. I do enjoy reading it, and I always find it interesting to see how much further along (usually, sometimes it goes the other way if they live in Alaska or Canada) other people's gardens are. Right now, my eggplant and tomato plants are about four inches tall.

plant as early as feb if it weren't for the one and only real freeze we get late in the season. lol

Thanks for visiting my site.

As for the nasty bloodsuckers, I swear by this stuff:


http://www.mosquitobarrier.com/

Keeps them at bay and, BONUS!, you can spray it on all your veggies, herbs and flowers to keep other insects from chewing on them. And, no, nothing ends up tasting like garlic. Magic stuff!

You can buy it online, but I've found it locally at both the natural foods store and an organic/hydroponic gardening store we have here, so you might look around locally to see if you can save shipping.

There are also recipes all over the web for make-your-own versions, but I find the super-highly concentrated formula of the MB beats any DIY stuff. And it will keep in your fridge for two years, so if you don't use it all this year it won't go to waste.

One more note, the area does smell garlicky for about one hour after you spray, but it goes away after that.