Victor Martinez wrote:

Victor,

Nice to see you still posting after my hiatus. Your advice remains as
sound as ever! G

Jonny wrote:
When's the best time to plant:
tomatoes?

Late march and again in late june.

Jonny,

I use March 15 as my target date for planting frost tender plants.
Don't be fooled by clement weather in February unless you are prepared
to protect an entire garden against an overnight cold snap.

leaf lettuce?

Now.

The lettuce I planted in November bolted due to warm weather; I'm hoping
to get a second crop before it heats up.

You should plant peas about now as well. I consider early spring peas a
treat on par with summer corn and tomatoes.

If the heat isn't too bad, can I expect more than one growing season for any
listed?

Chiles will keep producing until the first frost. Tomatoes sometimes do
the same, though most folks replant in summer.

I don't grow jalapenos because they're not as hot as I like and have
sort of a dull grassy note to their flavor. I prefer serranos because
they've got a "brighter" flavor and a bit more heat in the front of the
mouth.

That said, I always dig up one or two of my serranos to pot up for the
winter months, dragging them indoors when freeze threatens. They'll
keep producing albeit less prolifically than summer plants but enough
for an emergency batch of salsa now and then. I won't replant them in
spring as they don't seem to be quite as prolific and I get bug problems
from stink bugs that have "wintered over" otherwise.

I've been fighting a stink bug infestation for the last 3-4 years that I
let get out of hand due to sloppy sanitation and poor crop timing. I
saw light at the end of the tunnel last year but have been foregoing
late-season tomato crops and have been ruthlessly trashing rather than
composting much of my home grown organic matter.
--
Mike Harris
Austin, TX