pnbrown, Getting two crops may not be out of the possibility. As little as 10 'grow' weeks might get you there. Of course, what I observed in reduction in days to maturity (DTM) may have been a fluke that I will not be able to duplicate. It wouldn't be the first time. Things under consideration as a cause of the reduction in DRM are: 1. A change in the root system caused by being constricted to the container size. 2. The even distribution of fertilizer in the soil at transplanting. 3. The extra aeration from a deep fluffing of the soil at transplanting and immediately before the corn makes a growth surge. I have another trial underway with the same variety where the container time was extended to 36 days. The corn is just starting to show tassels. The DTM seems to be reduced but the plants don't look as well developed and I wonder if there will be a harvest. I also have started another variety with a listed DTM of 72 days. Hopefully I will see a reduction of DTM to something around 65 days. For starting early, I have a great micro climate of shelves on a south facing concrete wall. Next year I'm going to push the start date back to 3 weeks before last frost date. With the corn in containers I can just bring it inside for the probable hard freeze. If I can duplicate the reduction in DTM with some certainty, I propose to do corn in 4 small locations next year as shown in the calendar below.

Hey Nila, thanks! That weird looking tomato is a Blush, kinda like a roma, really tasty and made for eating right off the vine. I don't really cook with tomatoes, just eat them straight. Definitely going to try those veggies for winter! Terrene, seems like whenever i look at tomato seeds or advice about toms it's always 8 hours or more. The white poly film I have up really helps, makes the grow area feel more like a greenhouse. If bright sunlight is between 30,000 and 100,000 lumens, I'm guessing I'm getting 5,000-15,000 of indirect light for most of the day, which is comparable with indoor grow lights. The grow bags are reusable and look like they'll last a number of years. The Root Pouch ones are much thicker than the Smart Pots and have better handles. I get them locally for $4.50 for a 5 gal. I'd like to have a raised bed but there's just no way to do it. My entire space is 4x10 feet with a little walkway in the middle. Total I have 4-6 pots on each side. And I reuse the soil, mix it in with some mulch and water it when I'm not using it to keep the organic bacteria alive. Here's today's harvest from 3 plants. Not huge, but this would probably go for $4 at a grocery store:

Keep the plant as healthy as possible (mildew season) and you may be back in biz. The heat here a week or two ago has aged my fruits considerably...30 day old fruit that were doing 30 a day are doing 12 and look like they are 60 days old. I don't think theres a recovery ahead. Some years are good, the years where the heat wave acts up, drought, or too much rain at the wrong time....well...its a character builder. Have backups in "other" crops....so when pkns don't do it the watermelon will (ours is huge..at least WE think its huge). Once you're resigned to the fact that its hard to grow cool weather crops in hot weather years you'll be ok....you can still do it and pray for that special weather year but be comforted in the knowledge that everyone in your nieghborhood has the same weather....you can beat THEM---, maybe not the Canadians.

Drought tends to feed on itself. So..., once an area gets into drought, it tends to persist, grow in extent and worsen. (That part is normal enough.) It will take a MAJOR pattern change to alter what has been occurring in the West for a last few years now. Meteorologists have coined the phrase the 'Ridiculously Resilient Ridge' to describe the abnormally persistent heat dome in the West. As the West has experienced this, the Midwest and Northeast have been cooler and wetter than normal (seen most clearly the last two winters which were both brutally cold in theses regions, and offered record snows to many). We are still stuck in the same weather pattern and the beat goes on...