Thank you leafhead, now you are just exhausting me! :-) I am out of room for any thing larger than Marigolds, snapdragons and yes, asters. I cannot decide which asters to get. They recommend Aster lateriflorus 'Lady in Black' and Aster novi belgii Alert (red), for my area. I did find a great plant list just for the Texas High Plains, so I think I will try their local varieties. They also sell plants, however it is a long drive, but they do have native milkweed, several varieties, I would like to try. Next year I will have time to put in more garden space, as I do away with more lawn, but for now I am full-up! I think I will learn alot this summer, and by next spring I should know more about what is good for me as far as natives, and if I see butterflies I did not expect, I will plant what I can to meet their needs. I am very excited about my first season. I don't think I have a chance of seeing either a Giant or a Tiger Swallowtail. The sulfurs we get are happy with grasses, so I have that covered. I do need Violets! The list never ends.... Thanks again, Debra

Islay -- those sound delicious. I love avocado. Pricey here, unfortunately. Sleevendog, so do you think it is the same variety? I have "Siam Queen" seeds, but I also think that is the name of the Thai Basil plants I've bought at nurseries and at W-m store. One of my neighbors just planted a pretty raised bed kit (I helped her). It is up on a cement terrace, away from marauding rabbits and woodchucks. She filled it with alternating layers of potting mix and bagged manure. It's been watered regularly, and the plants are packed in there (3' Sq box). Jeepers! I bet that anything will take off in that stuff. My soil is LEAN. I compost, but haven't added it to my garden beds for a while. My "garden" was (I didn't know when I dug it) an extra leech field or something. But the house was built in the woods on a slope and the excavator (I could ring his neck, but he's no longer with us), pushed the nice woodland top soil onto an adjacent parcel (that he bought <g>) and so the house lot/yard were pretty much gravel fill. There were piles of pond excavated "loam" here and there when we moved. A smart fellow with a small dozer spread the loam around for us, but it was not screened and there was only enough to give about 4" of topsoil. So I added feed bags full of horse manure, peat, forest soil and house/garden compost and leaves and clippings over the years. It must have helped because I at least have some worms in the soil and the structure is better than gravel <wan smirk>. But we are in the woods, so our place gets a lot of shade throughout the day. Nice for staying cool, but most plants want more light. I've planted cilantro roots from the store and as well as the ends of green onions. I've even planted punky Asian Shallots. A red onion too. The cilantro didn't work very well, too woody. Your idea to keep planting is it good. I'm short on space. I think I'm going to try to find a way to ELEVATE raised bed kits off the ground away from woodchucks and rabbits. To TEXAS new comer to thread: I have never tried jicama or fish tacos, but they sound delicious. (I've I've got the wrong thread, ignore. I have to work between mobile phone, PC and too much to do.)

Kay, Thanks for the compliments. The long green, white-ish vegetable is a snake gourd. 2017 was also a good year. The weather was not as favorable as 2016. Still We managed to get good yield. I did not post too many pictures this year because I changed my job. Now have to make a 60 mile commute one way. Bitter melons are very easy to grow. Well draining soil with a lot of cow manure and full sun are the only requirements. Also a sturdy trellis for it to spread out. I use cattle panels sold by Tractor supply Co. It is available in 4 feet x 16 feet size. My trellis just for bitter melons and Snake gourd are 8 feet x 40 feet. I am in zone 6. I start germinating the seeds indoors in April and will have it transplanted into my raised beds by end of May. They start to fruit by mid July and steady yield until the frost kills the plants by end of October.

With determinate tomatoes you can get by with closer spacing, say 18 inches. Indeterminates, if allowed to grow on their own, can get by with 2 feet but 3 feet would definitely be better. If you allow the plants to sprawl instead of staking/caging then 4 feet or more is needed. How close you can plant also depends on how you are pruning or training them, if you are. You can plant closer if grown as a single stemmed plant or if you allow just a few stems to grow. Rodney