I am having a hard time finding info on less grown crops like black eyed peas lima beans sweet potaoes strawberries in the south (north texas) eggplant peanuts celeriac sunflowers shallots first companion ideas for the above would be helpful and good web sites or info on how to grow the above would be greatly appreciated Do sweet potaotes need something to climb on? If so, what do they like to clinb on? Do black eyed peas climb, or better left to sprawl? Are egg plants caged like tomatoes? I have read on strawberries and sweet potaoes, both have me stumped. I am having to learn so much already, maybe I will figure that stuff out later. I grew up on a strawberry farm in Vermont. But it was chemically grown, and vermont and texas two different creatures. We are hot hot hot here. 95-100 all summer. We do not have much of a spring or fall, so cool weather crops are tricky. Winters can freeze or be in the 80's. Hard to keep plants happy here I think. I am a brand new gardener and have no clue. Well no clues, beyond my mistakes I made last year with my only crop of squash, and what have read on-line. So many conflicting opinions. Plus most info is geared for the north or europe. I am planting the black eyed peas and limas in a three sisters garden with corn, squash, melons, cucumbers, green beans and radishes. Had trouble getting the radish to come up direct seeding, so I presprouted in a paper towel and that worked. So radishes are so small not to be of much help now. 4 beds, a different legume and differnet curcubit in each bed. It is an experiment at this point. So far I have had to pull the squash, all were full or evil borers. I replanted the squash. The corn is getting little tiny bugs in the stuff that is heading out at the top. And they are leaving a dust. Either it is too hot for the corn, it might be a northern variety (I have golden bantam, and country gentalman) or maybe soil fertility is not great yet. I am a no til gardener, so it will take a while for things to get just right. I have hilled the soil, but mised a hill and they fell over. I have those staked, and I put in pole there to help the beans climb, since the corn is weak. I wonder if any will produce despite the problems. Beans are not appreciating the shade of the corn, and neither are the black eyed peas. Melons are taking forever to sprout, so I am trying presprouting. Taking forever that way too. The pack was free with the order. Maybe they were old seeds. The cucumber pack was also a free with order thing. They are slow to sprout too. I am behind in my planting due to a bad case of poison oak I got on may 2 and I still itch. Almost gone, thank the lord. I am no longer doing any spring gardening. I have bad tree alergies in feb and march. So I can sart the corn in april and be ok. The spring veggies did not do well anyway. Too hot. I have nice sized tomato plants, only two small tomatoes now though. I think since it is upper ninties the fruit is not setting. I have in the same bed as the tomatoes, beets, scallions (not too happy in the heat), basil, borage, a 6" sunflower plant, chives, garlic. The chives and garlic are under the tomatoes someplace. They were not under there when I planted them. I had no clue tomatoes spread so. I wish I had paid the slightest bit of attension when my grandma gardened. I am just planting the remaining presprouts: beets, scallions, radish, borage, basil, cukes, melons. I know the cool veggies are a long shot. I just kept trying to get them to sprout, outside, and now that they have, inside, it is too late in the season. I directed planted them outside two or three times. By the time I got the idea to paper towel them, it was april or was it may? too hot. All those guys are mear babies, not even true leaves yet. I know to avoid the cool spring stuff now. I know I do not have enough humus from the mulch breaking down, for all that I am trying to grow yet, but I just wanted to get started. I do not buy compost and or manure from the store as most of theat stuff at the garden store is watse from the toxic factory farm industry. Some compost is now made from human sludge. They also pasturize all the good microbs out of it too. I find the idea of companion planting neat, but do wonder if it works. One can only experiment with it I guess. Have to try to grow with the companion plant and without to be sure the combo helps at all. I like the way the garden looks interplanted though. I do not have too many of the same kind of plant in any one place. I need to go on over to texas gardening to see how to get strawberries, sweet potaoes, and peanuts to work here. Celeriac is probably not going to do well here. I just want to try everything to find out for myself

John, The area of 'why' is a wonderful addition but still ventures into the folklore perception. Most of the on-line charts show the why. There are a few sites that offer plants in answer to a problem. The latter sources are likely how you generated your chart and the effort is appreciated. The companion plant relationships are one area of personal study. My goal is finding actual facts offering the biological, chemical and/or ecological contribution. Some of the obvious are know symbiotics. I have posted a few links in Organic and Vegetable topics that have been looked at. It is very hard to locate specific relationship studies and suppose that there are few actual such studies. One item of note is the marigold action against nematodes. In report I have view they credit the exudates but after residue is incorporated and decomposing. The effect is generally of advantage in the following year of the incorporation. Food for thought and example of the information I hope to provide in such a chart. Good effort. Thanks.

Lots of good stuff out there and lots of junk. General pond discussion forum; lots of experience and inexperience here. Take it with a grain of salt. http://www.awgs.org A link to an individual's page. They speak from experience. http://www.homestead.com/backyardpond/ Here is my little puddle. Third year and very little trouble. Very simple filtration system and low fish load. BTW, that's a snake on the rock behind the clueless cat. Here is a link that might be useful:

The instructions I have from the seed packets I bought were to give them a cold period (I don't think a prior warm period is needed), then slowly raise the temperature after about three months of cold (alas I haven't had time to start those seeds yet). A quick increase in temperature seems to be harmful. I don't remember a light requirement at all. If I remember correctly, they will start germinating in the cold (roots only), but you will not see leaves until they move into warmth. They will flower in about three or four years. There are instructions here and there on the web, but I can't remember where they are, and my hard drive with the links had died. :( Sorry about that, but I hope this helps.