There are some long telescopic handled fruit picker tools. They have like a little basket cup on the end and it has a sort of scalloped edge or forked wire pronged edged to coax the fruit gently off the stem. I think you could do something similar by buying a fish pond scooper and taping it( duct tape again... soooo handy) to the end of a rake or a broom. You reach up and the ripe fruit slides into your little net... Fishing for fruit. Also you can borrow a tall ladder, but be careful. Sometimes it seems that all the good fruit is at the top... at least after you have picked what you can reach, all the fruit that is left is at the top.These fruit pickers work really well and I would recommend getting one if you have some good old tal fruit bearing trees.

You are lucky we have our special Mom Joanna who can tell you all about this.

I love the simple elegance of the sugared flower. It works well on pansies, violets, mint leaves and borage flowers.You take the lightly rinsed flower( pat dry or let air dry while you get the other ingredients prepared), an egg white lightly whisked, and some superfine white sugar. With a small paint brush lightly paint the egg white on the flower, then over a plate or a sheet of waxed paper shake some superfine sugar over your flower, getting it all over the petals. Be sure the petals are coated with the egg white or the sugar will leave gaps. You let the flowers dry on a piece of waxed paper in a safe place for a day or two. When done they last a long time ... a year even. Best when fresher though. They are like little porcelain flowers.

Ask Joanna...she will know.

Take a mason jar with a two piece canning lid. You don't need the inner lid piece. A local health food store will often carry the piece of round wire screen to fit in the lid in the appropriate sizes for canning jars (you could use a piece of cheese cloth, but it probably get yucky quickly when you are watering the seeds). You can buy seeds to sprout at your health food store also. Alfalfa, sunflower, peas. Be careful not to buy seeds for planting in bulk at the nursery for your sprouting, as many seeds are treating with fungicides to inhibit rot and also peas are inoculated with something... I forget what it is... get back to me on this... So best to use seeds that are sold for the purpose of edible sprouts.

You should ask your landlord before you touch his/her trees. If they are neglecting them then you need to research the variety tree you have or otherwise you could do damage to the tree.

Some fruit trees don't need to be pruned, peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots. You can shape them a little if they are sprawling and taking up too much space. Apples and pears need to be cut back annually. The general rule is to cut the new growth back 2/3. The new growth is the end on every branch. Citrus also do not need much pruning, just shaping and controlling. I have some lemons that go crazy with growth and I just cut when I need to control them or to shape them. Cindy is right though, you should check with your landlord before you do anything. He/she will probably be happy that you are willing to take care of the property.

Change the water frequently...your flowers will love it.

Put that little packet in that they give you with the flowers, and when you do change the water add a teaspoon of sugar, or an aspirin. They last.

When you are preparing a vase for a fresh flower bouquet there is sometimes a package of flower food that even helps retard the bacteria growth in the water in the vase. A drop of liquid laundry bleach works and doesn't hurt the flowers. I have heard that some 7up in the water helped keep the water clean and the flowers benefit from the sugar.

I don't know, where are you seeing them?  This has been a weird winter and while rabbits usually find a safe place to hide from the wind and cold, in a winter with little or no snow, they will come out and forage.  I throw fruit and veggies that have past their prime out back, bringing rabbits, foxes and deer to the property. (we live in the woods, in the middle of nowhere)  It drives the dog crazy when they come, but I enjoy watching them.  Check out this sweet little site, I checked my rabbit facts here. 

This is what I do. A great way to get some veges in a small space and it also cuts down the bending down to work. I like nasturums as they trail in a vine and are edible flowers. You can mix herbs like basil with tomatoes. Fresh mint in a pot is handy to grab for your iced tea.

That's a great idea - its called container gardening - I've done tomatoes and herbs before and they do well.

It is fun, decorative, and you can eat your patio garden with vegetables and herbs in your potted garden. Try planting a tomato and surround it with parsley, basil, and bush beans .These plants all "like" each other . Also you can put some cucumbers in a pot with a standing trellis , or even just some bamboo poles teepee style and wrap some sturdy twine around them for the cucumbers to climb or you can let them trail out of your pot. Larger pots are desired for this and buy a bag of chicken or steer manure and put a good amount of this in with the soil to feed your edible garden. Try some companion planting such as the tomatoes , beans and basil. I also have found that peppers and eggplant enjoy being together. You can plant three of each in a large pot and plant basil and parsley around them. Don't forget some flowers for color and to attract bees for pollination. Marigolds, calendulas, and nasturtiums.... A bit of allysum trailing to soften the potted bouquet. If you are in a warmer state ,Citrus are a great patio garden plants . There are dwarf varieties. When you have a potted garden, when you are young and nomadic, moving from one rental to another, you can take your garden with you! A nice potted fruit tree is also a nice gift for a friend who likes to grow things and is into a sustainable lifestyle. Also a nice gift for friends buying and moving into their first house and for friends having babies.

I like scented geraniums. They come in chocolate, rose, mint, lemon. Roses can be grown in a container and they always smell wonderful.

One of my favorite plants with fragrance in the summer are heliotrope . It has this funny shaped purple lavender to white colored flower. A friend just said that it smells like baby powder, but I think it is much much better. Sort of like a fresh soap. In some Agatha Christie mysteries I used to read I finally figured out that heliotrope is what the English gardeners called Cherry Pie... cute! ....Anyway other fragrant flowers are petunias... if you plant a few around the deck when they are blooming all around you, you will smell them ...A very potent popular flower is the nemesia in purple and white. They are too strongly perfumed for some of my friends. If you have the climate for a potted gardenia, they are a great plant for summer fragrance and the rich green looks good year round. The star jasmines are the epitome of the fragrant plant for a deck also... They both will last for years and years in a pot. Citrus trees on a deck will bring the wonderful scent of their blossoms and the fruit as a colorful decoration after. These last three are really for the areas with mild winters and can take temperatures just down to freezing, but even a little snow could destroy them.

Some tools to start your gardening experience with mighty be

• clippers
• trowel
• medium sized garden shovel
• lawn/leaf rake
• soil rake
• garden hose and spray nozzle
• garden gloves... they will save your hands!

There are endless variations. Try things that you would eat together like basil and tomatoes. Garlic and onions are good for keeping away bugs. You can also mix edible with non edible. Experiment. You will need to find plants that like the same type of soil and need the same type of light and water to thrive.  Roses with baby's breath.  Succatash...beans and corn is fun.  Rhubarb is pretty with flowers.    

One of my favorite ways to garden. Some plants are friendly with each other and even beneficial and some are inhibiting. My favorite book on companion planting is Carrots Love Tomatoes . More to come....