That said, the birch tree beside the patio lost one small dead branch - and wouldn't you know - it fell right onto my poor tomato and pepper plants! The biggest and most promising bell pepper that was turning a lovely shade of brick red was crushed into pieces by the branch. I lost a couple tomatoes and another pepper plant as well, but none had set fruit anyway. I took the opportunity to sort the plants into ones with fruit that needed to be checked for ripeness, and ones that didn't flower or produce at all. I've got a handful more tomatoes coming, but it looks like all of the bell peppers are deformed and won't be edible. This upsets me most because one single pepper plant turned out to have the beautiful chocolate brown peppers I had wanted so badly (bought a mix and they were a possibility) and all of the peppers on that plant are tiny and misshapen.
On the plus side, my mom grew morning glories this year and isn't interested in keeping seed (it's easier to go buy them then try to remember where they got put I guess). Freebies for me, and more to share in the seed bank! On my way out the door I picked eleven seed pods and ended up with 65 seeds. I plan to go back again tomorrow to get the rest (it was dark so I just grabbed a few). They should be for blue, purple and pink (though I never saw any pink flowers on hers this summer).