It's been over a week now since my last post and the garden is showing signs of neglect and "heat exhaustion." There will be no pictures of it in its current state. The weather in Arlington (TX) has been HOT and DRY. I've been busy at work and family duties to tend to the garden much so the desired plants are looking fatigued and the weeds are looking strong. I'd like to find a way to cultivate a market for garden weeds because I have that well under control.

The tomato plants have gone on vacation except for the Sweet 100s and the Pear varieties. I'm getting more Pear tomatos than I can eat. The Sweet 100s started out being a good size cherry tomato but lately have become more of a small marble size. I think the plant is tired. I'll have to take a cutting to root it and try for a fall crop. I have found out, too late, that tomatos should not be planted near pecan trees. The yard behind my garden has several pecan trees and some hang almost right over the tomato portion of my garden.

Lately, Theresa and I have been discussing the possibility or likelihood of moving to a more rural setting. We would love to have a place with 10+ acres to grow more crops and even some livestock. I've started looking into owning an organic, sustainable, grass-based family farm. I have found several in the North Texas area and will be making plans to visit some as soon as possible to see how they make things work. I know that some families make products that they sell for income but others have internet based businesses for income. I'd really like to live off of what we make or grow and sell enough to buy what we cannot produce.

After 2 weeks of no rain a big storm came through yesterday and wreaked havoc on the garden. The dill plants were almost flat. A pepper plant was blown halfway to the ground. Most importantly, I learned the importance of sturdy tomato cages. I've read about some of the structures that serious gardeners use to support their tomato plants and now I know why. I had one plant that was inside a triangular cage made of light gauge wire and it was blown clean over on top of another tom plant. It looked really ugly when I first went to assess the damage.