The usual recipe for soapy water spray is 1 tablespoon of soap in 1 gallon of water to which you may add 1 teaspoon of oil if you wish (I don't). Your mix was far, far too strong. It coated the leaves so that no transpiration could take place and it is the spray that did them in. Aphids just don't bother established tomato plants that much - they tolerate them fairly well - and just blasting them off with plain water is quite effective. Also, as others pointed out, spraying of any thing should only be done in the early morning or late evening - never in the heat of the day or in the direct sun. You also are supposed to only mist the bugs, not drench the plant. Sorry for your losses but consider it a valuable lesson learned - even if it was learned the hard way. Dave

Those "stems" are flower spikes and looking at them for me, I'd remove them as close to the base as possible to allow more energy for the plant to grow. Next, can't appreciate the soil from your pic so won't comment, if it is too organic based. Yes, it is normal for the leaflets on the spike to shrivel and die. Next, this is as stated E. 'Topsy Turvy' and will require much more direct light than where you currently are displaying it; this goes for the Euphorbia in the background as well. Without more light, in time, it will become leggy or etiolated. As for pics, you might want to try uploading them to photo bucket or flickr and then to the forum.

Welcome! A lot of good questions here. My number one best piece of advice for you is take a trip up to Austin and go visit the Natural Gardener nursery. Ask to talk to John Dromgoole (the owner), and just tell him that you are starting your first veggie garden and would love to hear any tips he might have. He is an amazing wealth of info, and he's a super nice guy. The nursery is worth an entire day trip, as there is a ton to see with multiple gardens. They even have a veggie display garden that you can learn a lot from. 1. Earthworms are always a good sign. I have one lasagna bed that I started in the fall/winter of 2012. In Spring of 2013, I topped it with about 4" of finished compost and planted it with peppers, zucchini, and beans, and everything grew pretty well. I think my results this year will be better though. It does take a little while to break down, and I think some of the nitrogen was tied up by the decomp process. your length of time to good results could vary, and it will greatly depend on the depth of the bed. If you can build up at least 9-12 inches with your layers, you should get results quickly. 2. Grubs are bad. Whenever I find them, I toss them onto the concrete for the birds to find. If you have the means, buy some beneficial nematodes to get the grubs under control. 3a) It's still pretty early in the season, at least it is up here in Dallas. I have not started my squash yet, and I ALWAYS start squash from seed. If your plant was root bound in the container, it could be suffering from transplant shock. The problem could also be from the weather, over watering, nutrient deficiency... lots of possibilities. A picture would help. Next time, try seed. Most of mine sprout in less than a week (some in 24-48 hours) and grow very quickly. Also, be on the lookout for the dreaded squash vine borer. They are not fun to deal with. Because of SVB, I almost exclusively plant Tatume squash now, which holds up better than most others. 3b) again, pictures will help. Are you noticing any bugs on your plants? Even little itty bitty tiny ones on the under sides of the leaves? Aphids can do a lot of damage... 3c) Pictures! It really does sound like you have a watering issue though... how often are you watering? 4) I use cages. Depending on which varieties you are growing, tomatoes get BIG and HEAVY. Mine tower over my 6 foot privacy fence by the end of the season. If your support system isn't strong enough and a bad storm or heavy wind comes through, your plants are gonners. those standard wimpy cages at most of the garden centers are typically good for peppers and eggplant, but not tomatoes. Do a youtube search for galvanized fence tomato cage. In the garden, you will quickly get over the creepy crawlies. It's a part of gardening life. Just wait till you encounter your first tomato hornworm. :) You will also need to quickly figure out how to differentiate between good bug and bad bug. Baby ladybugs look really scary, but you should NEVER EVER EVER kill them. They are your best defense against aphids. Baby lacewings also look really creepy, but they eat all those nasty whiteflies. 5. I'm not a peat moss fan. I know a lot of people use it, but there are some issues that you should be aware of. Peat is not a renewable resource, and once it dries out, it is difficult to re-wet, so it doesn't really maintain the moisture levels in our Texas summers. Better options (IMO) are coconut coir and expanded shale. However, I have gotten to a point where I don't use either in my beds. I now just use compost, decomposed granite, lava sand, green sand, dry molasses, and zeolite. Find a local dirt source that sells compost in bulk, and you will save a ton. I use Soil Building Systems in Dallas. There is a good raised bed mix on the dirtdoctor website. The only miracle grow product I ever use is their organic potting soil, and even that is a rare occasion. 6) Herbs do great here. Dill, fennel, parsley, and cilantro are cool season herbs that die back during the summer, but if you let them go to seed, they will come back. I think chamomile falls in this category as well. Basil is a summer herb that loves the heat, and it will die once the fall temps are regularly at or below 40. It is easy to root though, so just take a cutting in early fall to overwinter. Oregano, sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, and germander are all evergreen for me in Dallas, and they all do fine in full sun. Mint is one of those things that you have to be 100% sure that you want before you plant it. It will invade every bit of soil that it can, and it's very difficult to get rid of. It's best planted in pots, and not in your veggie beds. If the herbs have been in pots indoors, be sure to harden them off by slowly acclimating them to the outside temps and sun exposure. The best resources I can think of will be John Dromgoole (Natural Gardener), Howard Garrett (DirtDoctor), and you local county extension office and/or master gardener association. You can grow a ton of stuff in Texas. Just don't try to grow lettuce in the summer or tomatoes in the winter. Oh, and don't forget to plant stuff for the bees!!!! Take a look at the seed exchange forum too. You will frequently see posts by people looking to get rid of older seeds. You just have to send them postage. Last thing - be sure to remove any grass from the area BEFORE you fill your beds. If there is any Bermuda grass in the area, it will grow up through your beds and eventually take over.

It is certainly feasible to make modifications to accommodate limitations. For example, Matthew Stanford is a fairly well-known yoga teacher who has been in a wheelchair since he was a teenager. There are plenty of things that you can do sitting in a chair or standing. From the pelvis upwards, a seated spinal twist is very similar whether you're seated on the floor with your legs twisted into pretzels or are seated on a firm chair with your feet flat on the floor. Even without the legs, there are physical benefits and plenty to learn. I taught yoga for many years. Frankly, everyone has limitations or one sort or another. A basic idea in yogic philosophy is that each of us has to start where we are now - physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc. Finding modifications for physical challenges is a piece of cake compared to getting a student who approaches everything as a competition to be addressed through brute force to see that "doing less" works better. If you can't find a yoga teacher who is willing to work with limited mobility, try to find a Fendenkrais teacher. The movements are slow and require attentiveness. They dovetail nicely with the way I preferred to teach yoga, so I often used them to make certain yoga postures more accessible.