Intro

My name is Gordon and I live in Abilene, TX. I moved here from SW IND about 4 years ago. This is my first real garden here, so I am a real novice to this climate. And we are experiencing an extremely dry and hot year so far.

I was first introduced to SFGing several years ago on a local PBS station. I bought the first book and liked what I saw. Haven't done much gardening because of being busy. But the economic times and a desire to preserve heirloom varieties has piqued my interest. Last year I tried a tomato plant in a Topsy Turvey. Got lots of blooms but no tomatoes. Heard the same complaint from ground gardeners. Praying for more success this year. Just have to water almost daily as our local winds dry things out quickly, even with mulch.

Hey there...welcome aboard!

I sure can't help much with your climate...other than to offer my sympathies this time of year. Quite the change from Indiana.

As for the tomatoes, maybe the heat got them? I can tell you that the year I grew toms in containers we had a wicked amount of heat for up here, and I saw a horrible season. Every blossom dropped. I think we got 4 fruits in 3 plants. I was also told that I had to water more often in containers. But, I was also told that that much water served to boil the roots alive in that heat. So, it was sort of a lose/lose situation imo.

Probably not the same thing that happened to you, but likely the heat. Many of the southerners will plant in later summer or earlier spring to try and avoid this. Personally, I would opt for light shade and mulch.

Either way, jump into your Regional Forum and poke around. Ask questions. Get involved. This is a great community. I hope to see more of you.

Gordon

Glad to have you join us.

Good that you have read the original Square Foot Gardening Book, Those shows and the original book were full of so much information. Have you read the ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING book? The improvements are great. After you have built your box and filled it with Mel's Mix, there is no more tilling, very little weeding and if you like, you can even build Table Top gardens so it is much easier to reach the plants and water and nurture them.

I am in a completely different climate, very mild both summer and winter. Our summer highs are in the mid 60's to mid 70's so we have our own challenges when it comes to tomatoes, due to the lack of heat.

Please keep us posted on your progress and share pictures if you will.

Again, Welcome!

Glad to meet you, Gordon. After living in Texas for twenty-some years, I learned to ask neighbors about varieties of plants that would do well. Idaho's varieties of plants just never learned to speak with a drawl. Now I live in Oregon and am trying to force it to accept some Texas-type plants: ground cherries, garden huckleberries, hot peppers. We'll see if we can bring it off. BTW, I seem to remember there are some tomato varieties that LOVE the Texas heat and do well. Still, I envy that you can grow okra. Best of luck to you in your upcoming fall garden (something Oregonians have to fight tooth and nail to succeed at). Nonna

ghayes,
So glad you found us. I too was introduced to SFG by Mel's show on PBS and started with the org. SF method. I wore out my copy of the old book and my dear mother got me a copy of the new one. I now use that method and I am so glad I do it is even better than the old way.