Starving bacteria (cyan) use a microscopic harpoon—called the Type VI secretion system—to stab and kill neighboring cells (magenta). The prey burst, turning spherical and leaking nutrients, which the killers then use to survive and grow. (Image Credit: Glen D'Souza/ASU/Screen shot from video)NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsBacteria are bad neighbors. And we’re not talking noisy, never-take-out-the-trash bad neighbors. We’re talking has-a-harpoon-gun-and-points-it-at-you bad neighbors. According to a new study in Science, some bacteria hunt nearby bacterial species when they’re hungry. Using a special weapon system called the Type VI Secretion System (T6SS), these bacteria shoot, spill, and then absorb the nutrients from the microbes they harpoon. “The punchline is: When things get tough, you eat your neighbors,” said Glen D’Souza, a study author and an assistant professor at Arizona State University, according to a press release. “We’ve known bacteria kill each other, that’s textbook. But what we’re seeing is that it’s not just important that the bacteria have weapons to kill, but they are controlling when they use those weapons specifically for situations to eat others where they can’t grow themselves.” According to the study authors, the research doesn’t just have implications for bacterial neighborhoods; it also has implications for human health and medicine. By harnessing these bacterial weapons, it may be possible to build better targeted antibiotics, designed to overcome antibiotic resistance. Ruthless Bacteria Use HarpoonsResearchers have long known that some bacteria can be ruthless, using weapons like the T6SS to clear out their competition. A nasty tool, the T6SS is essentially a tiny harpoon gun with a poison-tipped needle. When a bacterium shoots the weapon into another bacterium from a separate species, the needle pierces the microbe without killing it. Then, it injects toxins into the microbe that cause its internal nutrients to spill out.Up until now, researchers thought that this weapon helped bacteria eliminate their competition for space and for food, but after watching bacteria use the T6SS to attack their neighbors when food was scarce, the study authors concluded that these tiny harpooners use the weapon not only to remove rivals, but also to consume their competitors’ leaked nutrients.“Watching these cells in action really drives home how resourceful bacteria can be,” said Astrid Stubbusch, another study author and a researcher who worked on the study while at ETH Zurich, according to the press release. “By slowly releasing nutrients from their neighbors, they maximize their nutrient harvesting when every molecule counts.” Absorbing Food From NeighborsTo show that the bacteria used this system to eat when there was no food around, the study authors compared their attacks in both nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor environments. When supplied with ample resources, the bacteria used their harpoons to kill their neighbors quickly, with the released nutrients leaking out and dissolving immediately. But when resources were few and far between, they used their harpoons to kill their neighbors slowly, with the nutrients seeping out and sticking around. “This difference in dissolution time could mean that the killer cells load their spears with different toxins,” D’Souza said in another press release. While one toxin could eliminate the competition for space and for food when nutrients are available, another could create a food source, allowing bacteria to “absorb as many nutrients as possible” when sustenance is in short supply.Because of all this, this weapon system is more than ruthless; it’s also smart, and important to some species’ survival. When genetically unedited T6SS bacteria were put in an environment without food, they survived on spilled nutrients. But when genetically edited T6SS bacteria were placed in a similar environment, they died, because their ability to find food in their neighbors had been “turned off.”Harnessing Bacterial HarpoonsAccording to the study authors, the T6SS system is widely used by bacteria, both in and outside the lab. “It’s present in many different environments,” D’Souza said in one of the press releases. “It’s operational and happening in nature, from the oceans to the human gut.” The study authors add that their research could change the way we think about bacteria and could help in our fight against antibiotic resistance. In fact, the T6SS could one day serve as a foundation for targeted drug delivery systems, which could mitigate the development of broader bacterial resistance to antibiotics. But before that can happen, however, researchers have to learn more about bacterial harpoons, and about when and how bacteria use them, both to beat and eat their neighbors.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Sam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.1 free article leftWant More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/monthSubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In1 free articleSubscribeWant more?Keep reading for as low as $1.99!SubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In

Binding mechanics are reworked to allow freedom of movement. New features include blade recoil for beats, improved AI, the addition of spears, and experimental LAN. Banking mechanics are conceptualized to add realism in the game's story mode. Posted by khiemgluong on May 17th, 2025 0.5.0 Combat Physical Binding I had touched on how fluid movement is important for engaging gameplay in a previous post, failing to realize that the way binding would freeze you in place was contradictory to that point. The previous approach to binding was a matter of programming limitation rather than technical. I couldn't figure out a way to allow blade movement tangent to another blade without tunneling issues, since weapon movement was only relative to the character, rather than relative to its own collisions. The solution was to enable a minimal amount of physics to control the blade, torqued by an angular force enough to keep the weapon oriented upright, while base movement would still use kinematics. It will only be in play when another object is acting upon it, rather than be the driving force of the weapon (unlike that one physics melee "game" that's shilled everywhere). This meant that in the event of a bind, the weapon would align itself to the blade it's bound with, and as demonstrated in the video, maintains the pressure necessary to keep the weapon in contact without tunneling. With a more stable and consistent binding mechanic I was able to unrestrict weapon and character movement, allowing for a new combat paradigm where opponents would wrestle each other for the most ideal attack angle. Blade "Recoil" To add another layer of reactivity, the blade that receives the attack would "recoil" opposite to the direction of the blade that struck it as demonstrated in the video. This technique allows you to strike your opponent’s blade to create an opening for an attack. It's based on a real sword-fighting strategy where, instead of targeting the opponent directly, you first displace their defense by "beating" their blade out of the way. Combat Movement A new set of root motion animations for combat have been added to accompany the more aggressive AI. In previous versions, NPCs wielding shorter swords rarely stood a chance against those with larger ones. But now, a katana wielding gladiator can stand his ground—even without chest armor—against an opponent armed with a zweihander, and go on to win the rematch. In summary: size doesn't matter (anymore). The only current limitation left is how to handle dynamic target locking. It's fine when you're in a 1v1 duel, but against several enemies, especially now that each team gets up to 8 people in the arena, then it becomes an impediment rather than an advantage. Models Armor Speaking of chest armor, the Lorica Hamata (chainmail) is now part of the gladiator loadout. As far as Roman themed items go, this might be one of the last to be added. Spears Spears have been a near universal weapon in the ancient world, yet rarely receives representation in games in comparison to swords, likely something to do with the fact that it's really overpowered. I included it irregardlessly because I wanted to experiment with a new melee control system. Spears do not rotate like swords, instead it only pans, where the panning controls the spear tip. It's the perfect weapon against armored opponents or for fighters who prefer fighting from a distance with precise thrusts. Just keep in mind that spears still inherits the drawbacks of its real life counterpart. Scripts LAN Play Networked gameplay—something that's been on the backburner for a while, and something I’ve always wanted to implement—have now been developed into something barebones but functional. To start a LAN game, it's as easy as choosing LAN in the arena dropdown, and if you're starting the game, choose the host or server and share the IP address that is displayed to your clients. The host will have to spawn in the arena before clients can join. Story Mode The starting town in Story Mode is composed of simple, geometric structures, built with the Placeable system. Not every buildings will be created with this system, but a good portion of generic buildings will be, so apartments, barracks, or anything with a blocky form. Unique or curved structures, like the Colosseum, will be modeled instead. Banking Money (gold) in the world of Blade Ballad will have tangible weight, so it wouldn't be smart to go adventuring while hauling your entire fortune everywhere, as it will slow you down and draw unwanted attention from bandits, thieves and scam artists. Instead, you would make use of the many banks and deposit boxes located throughout the world to store your coin, whether earned or stolen. These banks would allow deposit, withdrawal and transfers to other banks, and will attempt to keep your wealth safe, with varying degrees of success. However, ancient banks (which were not globally centralized) came with their own problems. One would be its vulnerability to raiders. Since FDIC wasn't a thing, your money is effectively gone if it was looted. Corruption would be present as well (no different than modern banks) and would come in the form of "misplaced" funds, usury, embezzlement, preferential treatment to families of bankers, etc. This is intended to help you realize that you don't need all that gold. In most open world games I've played, I've always finished it with a massive pile of money in my inventory. All that time finding and selling items and I ended up not spending most of it anyways.

New Research Nimble-Minded Neanderthals May Have Used These Wooden Spears to Hunt 200,000 Years Ago New research shows that the weapons found in Germany are much younger than previously thought, suggesting they were made by skilled Neanderthal craftspeople The Schöningen spears on display in Germany Julian Stratenschulte / Picture Alliance via Getty Images In the 1990s, archaeologists working near the German town of Schöningen made a remarkable find: a set of well-preserved wooden spears crafted from spruce and pine, along with stone tools and the butchered remains of more than 50 horses. Researchers initially thought the Schöningen spears were around 400,000 years old and later revised that estimate to roughly 300,000 years old. They suspected the spears—which are among the oldest known complete hunting weapons—belonged to an early human ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis. Now, however, they’re revising the timeline once again: According to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances, the spears are around 200,000 years old—much younger than previously thought. The new date suggests the weapons may have belonged to Neanderthals, instead of H. heidelbergensis. This theory makes sense to some researchers because, around the same time, Neanderthals were starting to exhibit more complex behaviors, like making stone tools and deploying sophisticated hunting tactics. During this period, known as the Middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals also began living longer, which suggests that they benefited from these lifestyle and behavior advancements. Based on the horse remains found at the site, it appears that hunters cleverly trapped them near the edge of a prehistoric lake. Researchers think the spears were carefully hand-made by skilled craftspeople. “They offer compelling evidence of sophisticated hunting strategies which would have required better cognitive abilities and the development of more complex communication, planning and social structures,” says lead author Jarod Hutson, an archaeologist at Germany’s Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie, in a statement. “The updated timeline for Schöningen now aligns it with a growing number of sites which together indicate a significant leap in early human hunting capabilities during this period.” If the spears were created and used by humans’ closest prehistoric relatives, this revelation would add to the growing body of evidence that “Neanderthal brain development and social structure were more advanced than previously believed,” writes Austin Harvey of All That’s Interesting. However, not everyone is confident of the new date—or the theory that the spears belonged to Neanderthals. “For the moment, I find the arguments interesting, but not absolutely convincing,” says Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany who wasn’t involved with the research, to the Associated Press’ Adithi Ramakrishnan. To determine the new timeline, researchers analyzed fossilized freshwater snail shells found in the same layer of dirt as the spears. They honed in on amino acids that were locked in the shells by tiny “trapdoors” called opercula. Because amino acids break down at predictable rates, researchers could use them to estimate the age of the fossils. This method is known as amino acid geochronology. It’s one of the tools researchers have at their disposal for dating artifacts, along with radiocarbon dating, which measures the amount of radioactive carbon-14 present in organic materials, and luminescence dating, which measures the last time sediments were exposed to sunlight. Even with such techniques, however, precisely estimating the age of artifacts can be challenging. Anything scientists can do to narrow down the timeframe helps make historic sites “more useful for answering archaeological questions about human evolution and cultural development,” says study co-author Kirsty Penkman, a geochemist at the University of York in England, to Science’s Andrew Curry. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

The Internet has greatly shortened product life cycles. Objects that stood the test of time offer lessons for today. So do designs that are intentionally ephemeral.Designing applications or websites means your designs don’t survive very long. Even if your product or app survives for a decade or more, there will be pressure to update the design every few years. This got me wondering how long designs of other things stay around. So here is a curated survey of how long our designs survive.Sticky NotesThe sticky note… a lab experiment gone awry(average lifespan: several hours) — The ubiquitous sticky note famously emerged from a lab experiment gone awry. Glue that wasn’t very sticky. Although sticky notes have been around for 45 years, the life of any single sticky note is probably measured in hours, not days. Nevertheless they have been a boon to brainstorming sessions and design sprints around the world. Their ephemeral nature is the key to their value. Don’t like what you wrote? Throw it out and write another one. Don’t think it belongs in this group? Move it to another. Sticky notes are the rare object that is as easily used digitally as their physical counterparts.Sand MandalaA finished sand mandala — Attribution: By the original uploader was Colonel Warden at English Wikipedia. — Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by SMasters using CommonsHelper., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16371236(in use for a few days or weeks) — A sand mandala is a symbolic representation of the universe made of colored sand. Creating them is a ceremonial act practiced by Tibetan monks and nuns and takes a few days to several weeks to create. Constructing one is an act of meditation requiring immense focus. After the mandala is finished, it is on view for only a short period of time. It is then destroyed in a dissolution ceremony meant to emphasize the impermanence of all things. Finally the sand is released into a river to transfer the spirits embodied in the mandala back into nature and the rest of the world.The first time I saw a video of this process, it shocked my world. The design was vivid, ornate, and beautiful. To see something so beautiful then destroyed by the people who made it jolted me. When swept into a pile, the vivid pigments quickly become a single gray mass. They are an amazing lesson about the nature of our lives and the world of things.WebsitesThe SF bay area edition of Craigslist.com barely changed from when it launched in 1995!(in use for 32 years) — The lifespan of your average website is about 2 years according to this post. Many sites are up for much longer but even those tend to need a refresh. Craigslist is the notable exception by still proudly sporting its original 1995 web 1.0 look and feel. I’ve worked on around 14 websites and apps. Of those, only 2 (7%) are live and still reflect the design I worked on. As dominant as the Internet is in today’s culture, “built to last” simply does not apply. Permanence is an anti-pattern.Thonet №14 ChairThe Thonet №14 Chair — Attribution: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.(in use for 166 years) — Michael Thonet’s №14 Chair is a design classic. Simple and minimal. Introduced in 1859, It was the first chair to be mass produced but does not look like an industrial product. It is sometimes called the cafe chair due to its strong association with Parisian cafes. It was also sometimes referred to as the “lion-tamer chair”. You can see one in use in this post.BicycleThe ‘Flying Pigeon’ bicycle. Since the 1950s, over 500 million of these bikes have been produced and sold.(in use for 208 years) — The bicycle was invented in Germany and introduced in Paris around 1817. It is an amazing design object matched only by its engineering simplicity. The basic triangular geometry is minimal, strong, and still recognizable 200 years after being invented. There have been many improvements to the underlying technologies but the basic design remains.BuildingsThe Pantheon of Rome — Attribution: By Macrons — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49683083The Pantheon in Rome was completed around 126 AD and has been in continuous use for almost 2000 years. It is widely considered the oldest building still in continuous use today. It began as a Roman temple. For the ceiling of the Parthenon, the Romans used cement mixed with ash which kept it light but strong. In the 7th century, it became a Christian church, the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs. Adaptive reuse helped preserve it through centuries of war, weather, and regime changes.“Built to last” is a phrase sometimes used for things like old cars, buildings, and walls. It certainly applies to the pyramids and the Pantheon. It is much less frequently applied to objects today. It doen’t apply to the majority of objects we use in our daily lives. Consumer culture has driven us towards a throw away culture. This impacts the environment and our ability to build things to last.What does it take to build something that will last?This is a question asked by Louis Kahn, one of the great American architects. His Exeter Library is his answer. He wanted to pursue an architecture that would stand the test of time. He wanted to build something that would be monumental, strong and, like the pyramids, remain beautiful even in ruin.The interior of the Phillips Exeter Academy Library showing the raw, monumental cement building structure. Image source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArchitecturePornCities(in use for 11,000 years) — The title of oldest continuously inhabited city is a subject of debate but Damascus is often credited as the oldest city still in use today. Jericho is older but was not in continuous use. Jerusalem & Athens both date back about 5000 years. From a design perspective, I marvel at Venice. It’s been in existence for over 1000 years. Its lasting beauty is amazing when you realize it was originally built to escape invaders on the mainland. The buildings, plazas, along with the canals and bridges that connect them are an amazing experience.The Bucentaur Returns to the Pier at the Doge’s Palace (c. 1730) by Canaletto — Attribution: Google Arts & Culture — mwEV7sO9uSFCpw, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22572210Mortar & PestleThe mortar & pestle — symbol of the pharmacist — Attribution: Image by Evan-Amos — Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12038229Beyond using our teeth, we’ve been grinding up food and other materials for about 37,000 years. The Mortar & Pestle was likely used initially to prepare grains and seeds to be more digestible but they had many other uses.They are still widely used today (guacamole anyone?) and have come to symbolize the pharmaceutical profession. As someone who cooks, I’m glad we figured out ground spices makes tastier dishes.Pyramids(built 4000 years ago) — The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest human-made structure in the world for 3800 years. I’m including pyramids for age reference only. How long they’ve been “in use” raises tricky questions. Should we measure use by the initial construction; as amazing ruins we only look at; or as a tomb for a dead pharaoh? They certainly were amazing feats of engineering.Bow & arrow / stone arrowheads(in use for 37,000–74,000 years) — These two designs are best taken as a connected journey. Arrows are an evolution of the stone-tipped spear. The bow & arrow was a leap in the efficiency and precision of throwing a spear. The innovation allowed hunters to remain farther away from their prey. The bow, arrow, and stone arrowhead built on the previous technology (an interesting concept known as “the adjacent possible” richly described by Steven Johnson in, ‘Where Good Ideas Come From’). Each element required an increase in precision and skill and offered advances over the previous tool. Older arrowheads were mostly focused on the general shape and cutting edges. Later versions were shaped to be more firmly lashed to wooden spears. As the first to enter the battlefield, U.S. Marines sometimes refer to themselves as, “the tip of the spear”. A 74,000 year old metaphor that is still understandable today.Hand axeIllustration of a hand axe.Imagine designing a product that was so good it was used for a million years. That’s 1,000,000 years! I remember seeing a hand axe in the “Tools: Extending Our Reach” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. I pondered it as a design object that dwarfed my career as a designer. The hand axe is a physical testament to both the slowness of early hominid evolution and the enduring utility of the object. The key innovation was the ever more skilled chipping away of flakes to create the cutting edge. Older versions of the axe are barely recognizable as being intentionally created. Later versions however, show two distinct functional requirements. The part that you held needed to be broad and round so as to be comfortable in the hand. While “the business end” had sharp, carefully-shaped cutting edges. I marvel at anything being used for this incomprehensible span of time.Final thoughts“If you want to go quickly, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.” — African ProverbAs I wrote this post, I thought about the lessons of these very different objects. Here are my takeaways.Monumental acts take monumental teams — It takes incredible effort by many people to build something that has great impact and will last. Monumental achievements are never accomplished by one person. Each hand axe was likely created by one person but the concept we now know as the hand axe happened over a million years of usage. Venice is a singular experience. But building it required the work of many people over centuries.Adaptation is key to survival — The Pantheon survived in part because it is a space flexible in use. If your designs are to survive, you must hand them off to others. Loving caretakers are as important as passionate creators.Celebrate the ephemeral — Sand mandalas and sticky notes allow us to create something without becoming too attached to it. Having worked on lots of long-term projects, I’ve always found making dinner to be a positive antidote. Chopping vegetables can be meditative. A meal is finished in an hour or 2 and then you get to enjoy the creation. Simple acts are still creative.A graph showing how long these designs have been use. The hand axe was excluded because its million years of use reduces the other objects to tiny, barely visible bars.ReferenceTimeline of oldest human inventions — WikipediaOldest still standing buildings — WikipediaHow long designs survive was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There is no place more joyous than a garden center in May. The shelves are full of annuals, vegetables, and perennials ready to go home with you. Gardeners everywhere are waiting with bated breath, trying to find the perfect day to get plants in the ground. Pops of color are emerging as tulips, irises, peonies, and lilacs fill yards. What you do this month will determine how successful your summer garden is, so strap into your overalls, grab your sunhat and spade, and get outside. Let's install a summer garden. I'll go over the maintenance tasks you should tackle first, then get into the details on what you should plant and how to do it.Perform a few garden maintenance tasks firstYour watering systems may have taken a hit during winter, so it's vital to check each line before you turn on irrigation for the summer. Often, I've found that I am the problem, having nicked lines while weeding or digging around in spring. Ensure that the controller is working by standing outside, testing each zone and walking around to check each end point. You can usually hear a leak, so keep an ear out for loud gushing or hissing while also scanning visually. If you use a hose bib setup, check that as well. We've had a hot spell early on the west coast, meaning my irrigation went on earlier than ever this year. (For plants growing in full sun, water in the morning and aim for 1 to 2 inches of water per week.) Credit: Amanda Blum Your established beds can benefit from a layer of compost, which will act as a general fertilizer, as well as create volume back in your beds if they’ve experienced erosion during the winter. Follow the compost with a layer of mulch. Spending this time spreading the compost and mulch will give you the opportunity to size up each part of your garden, so take notes as you go for which areas need weeding, are experiencing pests, or have plants that look like they might not have survived the winter. Shrubs, trees, and vinesA number of shrubs go through blooming cycles in spring, like lilac and forsythia. Once they’ve bloomed, you can prune them back, and in some cases, like lilac, this may trigger a second bloom later in the season. In either case, it will take one fall task off your list and keep the garden looking tidier.  Lilac in bloom. Credit: Amanda Blum This is a good time to plant new woody shrubs and trees—the weather is mild and the ground should be soft from the rains. For your existing trees, make sure you feed them with a fertilizer that is appropriate for them this month. Your garden center can help identify which fertilizer is best for the trees you have. Each of these trees will be creating shoots this month, and you should prune them back as necessary to maintain the shape of the tree and to keep fruit to an amount the tree can reasonably support. Ensure you are only using clean pruners or loppers—carry diluted bleach or Lysol with you in a spray bottle while outside. Cleaning your tools in between plants ensures that you do not transmit virus, fungus or disease between plants. Clematis plant climbing the wall. Credit: Amanda Blum Finally, climbing perennial vines like clematis, roses, and honeysuckle should be coming out of their slumber at this point, and you’ll want to ensure you’re supporting them by tying them loosely to their trellises as they climb. Annual flowers Annuals at the nursery. Credit: Amanda Blum It is finally time to put some annuals in the ground, which provide pops of color and can last all summer if you treat them right. Garden centers should be full of annuals at this point of the year, including petunias, lobelia, marigolds, and begonias. Annuals are a bit more tender than perennials, so you want to wait until you are past the risk of freezing to plant. Annuals can fill an area with color in the space and time between perennials blooming, and are ideal for window boxes and planters, where it might be hard for annuals to survive the winter. Most hanging baskets have annuals for the same reason—they’re too exposed for perennials or anything else to survive winter. Make sure that the beds you're planting into have a slow release fertilizer like Osmacote in them, and that they will get regularly watered. Perennial flowersMost people will have tulips in bloom or just completed at this point—remember not to cut them down after bloom. Tulips need their leaves in order to come back next year, so let them compost in place. Once the foliage has yellowed, it’s OK to divide or move the bulbs. Once the tulip has bloomed, it’s a great time for a bulb fertilizer, so they’ll be strong next year. You can also plant summer bulbs like dahlias and cannas now, if the risk of frost is gone. You can divide irises now. Credit: Amanda Blum If you didn’t get new perennials planted in April, you can still do so now, or divide the perennials you have. The ground should be very workable now, and you may be noticing which plants are ready to be divided as you move about the garden. If you’d like them to bloom this summer, you’ll want to get this task done in May. As you plant, ensure you’re using slow release fertilizer in the ground where you plant. This time of year, be vigilant in checking your garden center, grocer, and anywhere else that has a "sad plant shelf" (SPS). Stores will discount these plants that don't look especially happy at 50% off or more, and because they're perennials, that's a deal. Plant them as you would any other, and while they might not come back this year, they will next year. Delphiniums and agastache are my favorite SPS finds. Your roses need a spring fertilizer and might need some shaping at this point or help attaching to the trellis. Look for signs of stress or pests and ensure you’re treating them with appropriate treatments. Your garden center can help. VegetablesOnto the main event! Gardeners across the country wait for the precise moment to put their tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants into the ground, and sometime this month, that day will arrive. Here on the west coast, it's usually Mother's Day, but what you're actually waiting for is steady overnight temps over 50 degrees. If in doubt, join a local gardening group, because this will be the main topic of conversation this time of year. That means it's time to begin hardening off vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants as appropriate. Credit: Amanda Blum Perennial vegetables like asparagus and artichokes should be active now. Remember to harvest asparagus daily, taking only spears that are larger than your pinky. Once spears become thinner, it’s time to leave the plant alone for next year. Watch your artichoke plants for ants or aphid infestations, which may be sprayed off, but will return without further treatment like neem oil or nearby trap flowers like nasturtiums. Both asparagus beds and artichokes will benefit from a spring fertilizer.  Nasturtiums are excellent trap plants. Credit: Amanda Blum By mid to late May, almost all regions should be planting their warm weather crops. Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, but also beans, corn, cucumbers, and everything else. Your beans and corn can be direct seeded, as can melon, pumpkin, and both winter and summer squash, but using starts will give you a leg up for the summer. If you planted potatoes in the spring, it’s likely time to hill up earth around the sprouts.  Strawberry plants that need to be thinned. Credit: Amanda Blum Thin out your strawberry beds of runners and give your strawberry beds a dusting of fertilizer. Strawberry plants can either focus their energy on producing these runners or on fruit, but aren’t very good at doing both. Each spring the beds must be thinned to create better and larger fruit. You can give away the runners or plant them elsewhere. Pest controlReduce snail and slug populations by putting out traps and going on regular evening hunts. Doing this now, as the rains cease, will greatly reduce problems later this summer. Hang pheromone traps in your fruit trees now, which will control pests this summer and protect your fruit.