Bees.... looking for plants and flowers that bees will be attracted to. Last year I had to play match-maker with my cukes...

Not much help, but the honey hoarders were really working the arugula that had gone to seed. Probably need to look for some sort of perenial, come to think of it Mexican oregano attracts bees. Has lots of lavender trumpet shaped flowers, grows well even in poor soil, and is very drought tolerant. Need to find me some. I've had similar problems with cukes.

Anything that has bright, but not red, flowers...I'd plant Zinnias, Marigolds, and the like...

I hear bees can't see red and are most attracted to blue so, I got some nicely colored flowers including several blues. Thanks

I really hope we get a lot of rain (just a steady rain is fine) today. I created a rain barrel and added a spigot to run water to the garden. I had to dump about 15 gallons of water to drill the hole out, so I hope to at least fill it back up to that point.

Why not just mulch ? That would stop the weeds and keep the moisture in the dirt better than plastic IMO. At the end of the season you can till it into the dirt or rake it off for next season.

I'll still be mulching the rest of the garden (regular mulch), but I had heard the black plastic does wonders for warming up the soil under tomato & pepper plants (also melons).

Mulch worked good for me last year.

But why bother? Nothing a few minutes a day with a hoe can't remedy without having to buy a bunch of stuff and worrying about staking it down. Grandma never used plastic or anything like that. Just a hoe and a little sweat equity!

Oh ok I got you your not really worried about weeds you want the ground warmed up by the black plastic in cooler temps, i think we are past that phase. IMO I would be careful what you wish for since we live in tx the heat can be brutal... I also remember Home depot haveing different shades of organic mulch. I believe plastic would be cheaper though.

Tomato plant pruning

I tried doing this last year but still am not sure If I am doing it right and could use a little insight from those that have. There are some videos on You Tube about this I will look and see if I can pull them up. Do you pinch all growth growing inbetween the main stalk and the big leaves? What if it has blooms?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WTCDFxPg8Y

heres a better vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eak7yj0tEvM&feature=fvw

Do you guys use soaker hoses or drip systems, just spray the whole yard? I used to just water and spray everything but I dont think thats the way to do it right. Last year I went to the depot and made a drip system with water lines going to the base of each plant, pretty cheap. I think i am going to do the same this year but install a timer on the faucet for even more convenience.