These are merely my suggestions, do with them what you will

Jay wrote:

This year was my first attempt at vegetable gardening and I have
learned some lessons the hard way.

1. Tomato cages are only good in theory. I went with 6' tomato cages
because I live in Texas and wanted as much foliage to grow as possible
to shade the fruit. Yesterday, my 8.5' tall tomato plants fell to the
ground because the cages wouldn't support them anymore. Next year I
will get out the table saw and the brad nailer, buy some fence boards,
and make some super-sturdy 8' teepee trellises to hold them up. My
solution this year was to drive some cedar spikes in to give the cages
some support, then hack back the tops of the tomatos. I will maintain
them at 6 feet this year.

Tomato cages can be suspect with large tomatoes but you can stiffen
them, as you did, with a single stake which saves the construction. We
dont use cages, we use two stakes with a short stretch of 5' woven wire
inbetween and grow 6 plants, 3 on each side.

2. People plant in rows for a reson. I planted my tomatos in a 4-3-3
cluster for aethetic as well as shade reasons. However, it makes
picking the fruit a bitch. Also, the ones in the middle aren't making
it. This is fine because of the next point...

Esthetic gardening often times interfers with production. Though it is
not always the case it is most often true.

3. Plants yield more than you think. Our household is just me and my
wife. 10 tomato plants are WAY too much. Luckily I know how to make
sauce and salsa and I know how to can. The neighbors and co-workers
are loving me, though.

This isnt necessarily true if you start canning. When you can you
usually want enough for a batch or two which may mean you need a LOT of
ripe tomatoes at once. Sometimes ten plants wont always yeild enough
ripe tomatoes to can in a single harvest.

4. Cucumbers keep growing and growing and growing. And growing, and
growing. I'll have to learn to pickle, but these would be big-ass
pickles. 10-12 inches long or so.

Picked too late. Again, same as above, if you want to can small to
medium pickles you may actually have to put MORE plants in the ground to
allow for harvesting enough young, small, cukes to make a batch to can.

5. Cilantro, yes. Lettuce, no. Home grown cilantro is great here. I
think it is too hot for the lettuce. It was bitter, so I yanked it.

Plant lettuce earlier, and then late in the fall. You will enjoy lots of
good lettuce.

9. There is no shame in planting from seedlings. Our seed planting did
not turn out so good. Only the cukes and cilantro came up well. I'm
sure I could do the research and get better results, but one step at a
time. Maybe I'll build a greenhouse "wing" onto the shed I'm building
for doing seedlings.

Planting from starts is what 90% of home gardeners do. To try grow all
your own plants from seed would be a major endeavor for most gardeners.
Starting a few plants is always fun but as you say, there should be, and
is, no shame in buying starts.

Mark