It's getting hairy in the tomato patch

  It's hot out and I can't say "already" because it IS July.  While this is the time to hibernate in Florida, I am faced with a plethora of unmanageable projects in my backyard that require me to venture out in the brief period between dawn and 9 AM when the yard begins to feel like the surface of Crematoria.

     A few years ago I built 4'x4' raised planting boxes with untreated pine boards I got for free but I don't have the budget to completely revitalize the soil every season so nematodes immediately began plaguing my box-grown veggies.  This season I cribbed an idea I saw in someone's backyard, and planted all my tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets (drill a few holes in the bottom, fill with cheap topsoil and manure).  What a difference!  The plants have been very productive but the increase in temperature has seen a comparable increase in insects, vermin, and split skins due to heavy rains.  The plants are well over my head, surrounded by chicken wire to, well, protect them from chickens, and reaching into that hot mess freaks me out but the tomatoes taste fabulous and while I can't claim they are organic, I KNOW they are better than what's for sale in the grocery stores.  Meanwhile, I now use the planting boxes for edibles that are tough and grow in less hospitable environments.  Currently I'm nurturing gandules, calabaza, cucuzzi gourd, volunteer butternut squash, and papayas (we'll see how well that works).