myluck, I was going to say that my DH also likes to weed, but I think he used to like it more than he does now. (g) It's relaxing if you can keep up with it but when you fall behind, it can be a little much. Oh, thanks for reminding me of 'Royal Burgandy' beans. I used to grow those religiously and haven't for a few years. I couldn't find them one year. Then I tried pole beans and I did find a purple one called 'Trionfo Violetto' which are very good too. I'll have to try those again. I haven't tried 'Jet Star' either. I have less than full sun and cherry tomatoes do better for me. 'Sungold' or 'Sunsugar' cherry tomato is my family's favorite. 'Marconi' pepper has been the best pepper producer for me so far. I buy starts for the warm season vegetables, because my garden is pretty small. This year they were out of 'Giant Marconi' and they offered me something they said was a real producer. It was a dud. 'SugarSnap' Peas are very easy and trouble free and very sweet and crunchy. 'Parris Island' Romaine Lettuce. I've tried a couple of other varieties and have come back to that one. 'Waltham Butternut' squash has performed well for me. A lot of tried and true varieties. When I want to try something new, I usually take a look at the reviews on Cornell's Vegetable Varieties site. I'm trying to preserve tomatoes. I'm thinking of making up some spaghetti sauce tomorrow with some of them and freezing that. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Vegetable Varieties

Well, Peggy, if you say so too, then it must be true! I'm very glad I only grew one plant. I can't believe there's such a thing as a home-grown tomato that isn't even worth bothering to eat, and I grew Celebrity for several years, before I learned better. As for variability, the much-praised German Red Strawberry and Green Grape are ok, though nothing to inspire any excitement -- but I am holding off on judgment for these varieties until we get some decent tomato weather, or maybe I'll even try them again next year before deciding. (Of course, even in a bad year, Arkansas Traveller is always good.) But why on earth would a company send out free seeds for a yucky variety, thereby PROVING that their catalog descriptions are hooey?

Keith, I don't plant by an almanac or moon pnases or whatever, as I find the more important factor to be whether soil temps and air temps are in the right range that each plant needs. I plant based on knowing what our air/soil temps are likely to be at any given time, the DTMs of plants I am planting, etc. and I seldom have a problem getting a crop. When I do have trouble, it tends to be related to some sort of weather extreme....flooding that leaves the soil too wet for weeks or temps that get too hot too early in the year and shut down flowering, fruit set, pollination, etc. If using the Farmer's Almanac works for you that's great, but I find it hard enough to make sure we have the right air temp, soil temp, moisture level, etc. to plant anything at the 'right' time. Trying to wait for the right phase of the moon in addition to all the above just makes gardening more complicated than I want it to be. I like to read Farmer's Almanacs for historical data, averages, etc. but I ignore the moon phase stuff so, since I don't use it, I cannot comment on its effectiveness. One of the local 'old timers' here told me from the first year we moved here that I should ignore all that 'outside' info, including most lists of recommended planting dates, and learn to 'read' my own microclimate (he didn't use that word but it is the one that best describes what he meant), weather conditions, soil temperature, moisture level, wildlife clues, etc. For example, he told me to wait until the native pecan trees had leafed out before planting tender heat-loving vegetation in order to be sure the last freeze or frost has occurred. I've tried it, and it seems to 'work' about 9 years out of 10. I think we've only had a hard freeze here after the pecans leafed out once or twice in a dozen years, making his method of forecasting the last freeze more accurate than local forecasters, almanacs, the NWS, etc. So, every year I try to observe and understand what is happening in and around my garden and adjust planting dates accordingly. It works better for me than planting by any other method, although of course I have the planting dates memorized for reference purposes. There are a couple of folks near me who try to plant by the moon signs and I don't know how good they are or aren't at doing it, but they have not had highly productive gardens. However, you know, we don't know if their gardens would be any more productive if they weren't planting by moon signs, now do we? Dawn

I agree that its possible and that it takes more work in feeding and watering and that choosing smaller utlimate size of plants will help a great deal. A couple other suggestions. Rather than drilling holes in the bottom, try making just one horizontal saw cut, maybe 2" long, a couple inches up from the bottom. Much better water retention and it will still drain if you used a potting mix. If you can get 20 gal containers for anything like that price, I'd get several. Pots that big, in my climate serve lrg indeterminates very well. I dont even cut drain holes in them but if you have a very rainy spell you might need to build a mini well point to syphon excess water. If you don't have that rainy spell though, they'll be just dandy and your watering chores are much reduced. Again, only with potting mix, which confused me quite a bit when I started hanging around here. It must be regional thing. We have many products, and always have, labeled "potting soil" but has a light texture due to compost, humas, vermiculite etc. Many refer to this as soiless mix and can get kinda touchy about it :-) We do also have a few products that are labeled potting soil but you can tell from the heft, that un-ammended, are much too dense for containers and will not drain properly.