Jill Dyer

I've just noticed small cabbage plants in the "Save the Aloe Vera" pot - so bonus.  Hopefully I can get them moving over autumn and winter.  Last year I got a whole lot of silverbeet (?chard) plants where the tomatoes were - so don't know what's up with that  They were, however, very welcome.   Not so successful- volunteer sprouting broccoli  (known as broccolini in the supermarket)  they must have been from a modified seed stock because nothing much happened except they grew 50 cm tall, leafy and the hares found a way under/through the fence and ate 'em up. No sprouting heads at all.

First thought on looking at the image - lack of light.  I get the same result when starting lettuce seeds indoors in the sunniest spot - they still go "leggy".  I wonder if one of the varieties with dark red leaves would do better?  - e.g. Lollo rosso.  An opportunity for an experiment!  
Cos (?Romain) with darker green might work too - the darker the leaves on all sorts of plants means they can cope with less light

As kids we used to sprout "mustard and cress"  Parents supplied seed and it was already mixed . . . sprouted on cotton wool in small containers.  Cut with scissors and used in sandwiches.
This was a timely post because yesterday I found a fairly local Asian grocery and bought Belacan (dried shrimp paste for nasi goreng etc) and found bags of mung bean seeds - the classic Chinese sprout.  Dead easy, takes 4 or 5 days depending on temperature, using a jar, wetting out a couple of times a day and then washing off the green husks before use in stir fries, raw in sandwiches or salad. Will keep in the fridge for several days in water in a covered container.  Also they can be grown in the garden . . . definitely going to try that.

I knew I'd seen this somewhere!

https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/how-to/controlling-codling-moth/11230948

Hope this helps.    As it says nothing worse than finding half a caterpillar in your apple. 😒

At home using a machine that looks to have come from NASA.  I don't have my certification yet . . .  Travelling either a French press (for Motel stays) or when camping, the Italian expresso pot (that's a 3-part device, water in the bottom, coffee grounds in a small container in the middle and the 'receiver' on the top.   I've also been a fan of the single cup drip-filter - now re-purposed for my dyeing exploits.   Whatever device - always taken  black.

As one who is sudden death to houseplants, I can recommend African violets. My first was given to me by a friend and was in a do-it-yourself self watering arrangement.  Plant was in the pot with suitable soil, there was a thick string from a drainage hole which went into a covered container of water - small hole cut into the top for the string.  Just needed an infrequent top-up of the water when I thought of it. They really liked the south-facing window (Southern Hemisphere). The garden center sells "proper" self watering pots . . . but there's pride in the DIY versions!
I've also used the bricks-planks-rag wicks in the bath with water for the shade-house plants when we were away for an extended period - worked a treat.

I wonder what happened to all that pumpkin flesh ...

I wondered that too - consensus seems to be that the larger the pumpkin the  stringier it gets,  and less tasty - probably animal food or a contribution to the compost.  Perhaps someone who has grown super-sized varieties can enlighten us.

" I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry, and if the moonshine don't get me I'll live 'till I die."  Irish Traditional song.
Pretty much sums up daylight "saving" for me.  [Well, maybe not the moonshine bit]   My eyes open when the light level is right . . . then the day goes from there.  Only time the clock means anything is for appointments, which are few and far between.  Maybe I've always been out of step with the rest of the world

In this case "there is only try"  -  general recommended sprouting temperature for seeds is 18°C  (60°F approx)   some seeds like less, some more.  So. give it a go - some will surprise you for sure.