We got the first tomatoes of 2024 two days ago - Sweet Million and Red Gold cherry tomatoes. For some reason squirrels pay little attention to cherry tomatoes but ruin all the bigger varieties.

We are trying a old variety called Brandywine because it is grayish purple when ripe, not red. We're hoping to fool the squirrels into thinking they are not ripe yet.

In the front garden (the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street) we have quite a few small, pretty zinnias. They can be pink, white or purple, and the flowers are about two inches across. Best of all, they are volunteers. The only care they need is to have the first flower bud nipped off so the plant turns bushy. Oh, and deadhead. I wish I could remember the variety name, but it's been several years now.