@LAMasterGardener: I use and love Nature's Guide products. Stuff stinks but BOY does does it work! They are local to my area. Here's the URL to the Fish & Seaweed product: http://www.natures-guide.com/Natural%20Products/liquidfishandsea.html

I lived in Seoul, Korea for a couple of years when I was a boy. I just finished my first attempt at Korean kimchi myself, and it was a success! Got a handful of Chinese cabbage heads growing right now for some winter Kimchi. Yum!

'Green Zebra' was my first choice. Hmmm... my only other guess would be 'Aunt Ruby's German Green'.

Congrats on buying your property, BTW. My gut says, if you're not in a hurry, plant a cover crop... whatever grows well in that area. If you don't do that, I would continue to add amendments and organic matter through the Fall. I would also consider putting in an irrigation system. It's easier to do it now than when it's hot outside and plants are in the way.

"Shear" out? Good one. Yes, just the foil should work fine.

@Vicmark: Awesome! This site and Fine Gardening's site are great resources when you have any garden questions.

@jwr12: Good question. If the rope light and commercial heat mat you had provided a watt rating, that would give you some idea. Since you typically have the mats on for a long period of time, I suppose you would have to have a device connected to that outlet that could measure the wattage output. I've just started using this, so time will provide a better idea.

@radevers: Regarding bugs, I don't think it would attract bugs any more or less than grow lights would. I would have to see if the type of light the rope emits is as attractive to light-loving bugs as, let's say, your porch light. Regarding safety, the rope is rated for indoor use as well as outdoor. The heat/light energy given off of the rope simply isn't enough to burn. You would obviously not want the plug to be in an area that could be wet.

@lonejack: I would say you could try it as a light source, but I don't think it would be as powerful as a grow light would. And, like you said, the layers would have to be very close to the seedlings to effectively give them enough light to not make them 'leggy'.

@thebrez1: The temperature of the room this is in is between 66-70 degrees. It would probably have to work harder if it was in a colder room or garage; for example, but I still think it would provide a boost of heat right at the soil where the seeds are germinating... which is the goal. I did not cover the trays and typically don't, due to damping off issues that I had in the past. I have the lights on a timer that turns them on for 12 hours a day, which is a recommended amount.

Wow... a fan of the podcast... sweet! I am quite humbled, thanks. I stopped it due to time and other priorities. I still have the microphone, so it isn't totally ruled out for the future. We definitely have our challenges growing down here in Texas. I don't want to think about the fact that this year is the new 'norm'.

@Turbotee: This year I spent about $200 and installed a drip/spray irrigation system. I wished I had done it YEARS ago. WOW, what I difference it has made! Especially with how bad Texas has been hit this year.

My garden is pretty large (approx. 25' x 50'), so that $200 was actually a STEAL, considering the lack of stress and time saved watering it. That said, I still am out there on a regular basis, looking at everything and keeping up with various maintenance tasks. In other words, the watering system is NOT an excuse to ignore your garden. Any help with watering is good in my eye.

Connections:
I have the larger tubing connecting all of the raised beds and the in-ground areas (vine crop beds and tomato 'cages'), and it all terminates at the main city faucet.

Timer:
I have a timer on it and it goes on every day (unless it rains or I am spraying/foliar feeding the plants) for an hour twice a day (6am & 6pm).

Watering Method #1:
At each raised bed, the larger tubing runs along one side of it, and then smaller drip hoses run perpendicular to that, forming a 'fork' shape.

Watering Method #2:
The vine crop and tomato cage areas (areas that are not planted in raised beds) have the larger tubing with spray nozzles placed right at the main stem areas. What's nice about these spray nozzles is that they are adjustable. I have them set to only spray the water about 4-5".

So, to get back to your situation, you would definitely need a good timer. The plants that needed more water could use the spray nozzles and the plants that needed less water could use the drip hoses.

I also have a line and spray nozzle going to my compost pile to keep it moist. It's usually off, but every 3 days or so I turn it on for that day, then shut it off again.

You should also consider shading the plants that can tolerate it (mainly your 'leaf' crops). It will keep the soil moist longer.

The construction or hardware cloth is a good solution to keep the big critters out. Don't skimp on the price and get the thicker 'gauge' stuff with smaller diameter mesh.

Don't know if any of that helped. Good luck.

Congrats Jillian, you've got the first year under your belt. It only gets better from there! If I may offer a green bean recommendation... Bush Blue Lake 274 has never failed me... very productive.

@marnieplunkett - No. That would be the famous (I mean infamous) squash vine borer. Second & third questions... Yes & yes. They say to cover your squash plants until it starts to produce a lot of flowers, particularly the female ones that produce the fruit. Then the nets have to come off to allow critters to pollinate. At that point you can either try to cover or wrap the primary stems, or just be very vigilant about checking the plants often. You could also try an organic pest control powder such as spinosad.

This is a great idea and application. I'll be covering my lettuce in a similar way when I plant it later this month. I would question however, how well this would work in hotter climates. Denver has nowhere near the heat factor that we do in North Texas. We are "baking" down here! I've recently lost a couple of native perennials... ones that can usually handle the Texas heat.

Our lovely state bird, the mockingbird, is the arch nemesis for tomato-lovers in North Texas; and, by the looks of the bite marks, is probably what caused your damage. Here's the bad news... the ONLY thing that works (that I've seen) is a semi-permanent cover enclosing your tomato plants. You can see what I did here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hvgarden/5728542075/in/photostream

It was a lot of work and wasn't cheap, but the tomatoes are certainly worth it.

I would lean towards the 5-gallon bucket. Tomatoes, when healthy, put out very deep and long roots. Consistent moisture and drainage are very important, and you're not going to get that with a smaller container.

@MDGarden - That's definitely good to know... I've been wrestling with the "treated lumber" issue ever since I started using them (raised beds, that is). The wonder and concern of the Internet is that you can find both new and old information.

Absolutely, assuming it's the time you'd be starting the seeds anyway. Depending on how long the stems were, it could be tricky getting the 'leaves' part above the growing medium. That's not imperative, but would surely help the seedlings out a little. I had an oriental veggie that took forever to sprout in growing medium, but sprouted much faster the 'bag' way. Go figure. Good luck.

alethor: I had mixed results with my peppers this year. My banana, cayenne and serrano peppers did very well, but the larger square varieties were also small. To answer your question, I feel you can't go wrong with the undisputed bell champ, California Wonder. I also put in some bought transplants of the variety Big Bertha, which did OK.

I like (and can relate to) the points made in your last paragraph, Ruth. Unless all of our gardens were "farm" size, there is no way any of us will ever be able to try all of the different varieties out there. I have six "beds" where my tomatoes are grown. At least half of them have the tried and true varieties growing in them, while I leave a couple open to audition varieties I haven't tried yet. Kinda like the veggie garden version of American Idol.

Shame on them... they didn't seem to want to compost it! LOL.

Also in Zone 8a (Plano, Texas)

My "starting lineup" was:

Jetsetter
Celebrity
Keepsake
Bush Early Girl
Big Beef
& Rutgers

Of those, Celebrity, Bush Early Girl & Rutgers made it to full transplant size (I'm growing my own transplants again), and continued on to become full size and produce.

I grew a "backup" crop (glad I did) from 2009 seeds which included:

Celebrity
Jubilee
& Roma

All did pretty well except for Roma and Jubilee. You can't go wrong with Celebrity, which is why it owns a permanent place in my Victory Garden.

I've uploaded high-resolution photos of the composter project online:
http://gallery.me.com/gregsgraphics#100133

Thanks for the garlic info Ruth. I haven't grown it yet in my home garden, but it's grown at the community garden I volunteer for. I'll have to tap their heads on when exactly I can plant it down here.

Cayuga75: By not burying the composter in the ground, you are severely reducing the amount of surface area for the worms and other critters to get in via the holes. I would strongly recommend burying it.... even just a couple of inches would help. Plus, it would keep it from getting accidentally knocked over.

lisalisa545: Mine are in the shade half the day, then in the sun for the rest of it. The lid helps to keep the soil from drying out from the top, so you're OK there. The metal can get pretty hot if left in full sun, so if possible, opt for shade.

onyourmark: From the back to the front - tomato plants, pepper plants, bush cucumbers, and beans (seeds).

hometopo: For the 5x5-foot bed, we used about 4 bags of compost, 3 bags of manure, 4 bags of regular garden soil, 1 small bail of peat moss, and finally smaller amounts of molasses, coffee grounds and Epsom salt. The bags were the 2.x cubic feet or 50-pound size. We had an extra bag of compost and peat moss left over, which was good because the soil in the bed would settle in a couple of months and need to be 'topped off'.

I knew I left out something (scissors and a knife). That's what I get for relying on my memory, rather than doing a yard and house walk-though with my notepad.

First of all, I'd like to say, "Howdy neighbor!" On to your question. If you've lived in this area for very long, you've already noticed that once Spring gets rolling, it gets warm in a hurry. This of course presents a problem that folks up north that have a longer cool season don't have to worry about. In the Fall, we're planting when the weather's still warm, but going into cooler weather. Although lettuce is a "cool season" crop, it gets a better start in warmer soil.

That said, my best recommendation is to avoid the varieties that have a long maturation time, and/or the "head" or "iceberg" varieties. Save those for the Fall. We usually don't get our really bad weather until late November. By then the plants will be large enough to handle it. So stick to the "looseleaf" or "crinkly" varieties.

I would also, if at all possible, plant them where they can get partial shade. Afternoon shade would be ideal. That's something I'm implementing this year as well. In addition to putting pest covers around them, I'm also going to put a shade screen over them. This will help discourage them from bolting.

Here some varieties that I have tried and/or researched that are heat-tolerant:

Oak Leaf
Black Seeded Simpson (bulletproof!)
Romaine (Green or Red)
Grand Rapids
Lollo Rosa
Buttercrunch
Nevada
Sierra

There are more, but these will hopefully get you started. Good luck and let me know if I help with anything else.

Regards,
Greg

Hi Ruth. My mouse clicking skills must be off today... I can't find a link that goes to the actual movie. I did find this one online:

http://www.cityfarmer.info/2009/01/27/jane-gorsuch-now-83-was-16-in-this-1942-victory-garden-movie/

I assume it's the same one.

Absolutely Chris. Definitely the most beautiful seed catalog I own. Deserves to be on each green thumb's coffee table (to admire while you're doing your armchair gardening). I just ordered some seeds from them for next year.

As Homer Simpson would say... "Mmmmmmm... worm poop."

Seriously, I crashed and burned on my first attempt at vermicomposting, but have an interest in trying it again.

Growing "Little Caesar" romaine and "Black Seeded Simpson" leaf varieties down here in the Dallas, Texas area. Like you, our winters haven't been that harsh the last few years and I expect to be able to grow through the winter. I have a cold frame but won't need it until early Spring.

To BCDE Jones:

Send me an email to yourownvictorygarden at gmail.com and I can send you the higher resolution files and explain how I did it.

Regards,
Greg

Here in North Texas, we don't really need to fear a frost until early November (at the earliest). My garden is fairly empty right now from the Spring/early Summer stuff having been finished and yanked out weeks ago. Folks down here are starting to plant Fall stuff with a vengeance.

I'm not much help here Chris, except to tell you what I've done in the VERY trying and unpredictable North Texas climate.

The bush variety Blue Lake 274 has always done well for me every year except one. I grow it in Spring and Fall.

I've been wanting to do more pole varieties since I already have a couple of trellises to use. This year I tried Kentucky Wonder and it flopped. I may have planted it too late or the soil in the new raised beds I've build hasn't 'matured' yet.

I grabbed a packet of the bush variety Tendercrop and will try it in a few weeks, as soon as we're safely out of our yearly 'heat spell season'.

I suppose beans are just like tomatoes in that there are so many varieties you can try, and hopefully succeed with.

Sounds Rob, like you have the same dilemma we have up here in North Texas (zone 8) - two 'real' growing seasons separated in the middle by a very oppressive and unforgiving heat and drought period. Here's the good news: for the most part, we don't have a killing winter anymore. That means that you can start a second crop of many of the things you planted in the early spring. As I write this, I am starting pepper and tomatoes seeds - INDOORS. The ones I tried to start outdoors last week died instantly, in spite of my efforts to keep them hydrated. Then in September I will start the usual Fall crops (lettuce, Spinach, Onions, et al.). Hope this helps and good luck.

Great article Chris. Plano, Texas has a vibrant community garden and has been very aggressive in the green movement. I manage a couple of plots there, as well as my home garden.

One a month, a group of volunteers get together to clean up and work on various projects in the garden. This group consists of the coordinators (most of whom are Master Composters), garden plot owners, and a bunch of students who need to earn college or scholarship community service hours.

As you said, it is great solution for people who are either unable to have the garden they want in their own home (size, sunlight, city rules, etc.) and/or who want to benefit from others in the community with the same passion for growing and sharing their knowledge.

Our community garden and it's volunteers donate a huge amount of produce to the local food banks and pantries. Everybody wins.

If your city or area doesn't have one, you're missing out. Starting one can be a big undertaking, but with the help of others, it can someday be a reality.

Here are some photos of a 'workday' we had in the beginning of the year. Talk about some frozen green thumbs!:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/planocommunitygarden/

So true Chris. Also referred to the action or scuffle hoe, this tool can kick some major weed butt! A must for any gardener's tool arsenal.