I gave up on trying to grow things in Houston. If you don't plant by mid February, plants will never get big and hardy enough to survive the heat to come. Birds will dive bomb anything red. Skunks love bell peppers..... plants and all. Whatever strawberries the birds miss, the snails will get. Possums will eat anything in sight.

You'd think I wouldn't have some of these critters in a residential neighborhood, but they seem to be here to stay. I've befriended a few feral cats by feeding see more them..... they have become quite friendly, and have established a no-fly zone in my back yard. If it flies, it dies. I do have to pick up piles of feathers once in a while, but I don't mind. The skunks, I just leave alone, and give them all the room they want. The possums just won't go away, although it is fun shooting them with a paint ball gun. It doesn't hurt them, but it is kinda funny seeing yellow, purple, red, and multicolored possums roaming the neighborhood.

Anyway, the one time I did successfully grow a few tomatoes, after all the money and effort I put into them, I figure those tomatoes cost me about 10 bucks apiece.