I want to plant a raised vegetable garden in a corner of my backyard. I plan to plant tomatoes. What else do you recommend for the hot Wichita Falls summer? The spot gets direct sunlight in the mornings.

What kind of tomato plants should I get?

It all depends upon the length of your growing season. You can find that out under the 'Tools & Apps' bar above. Put your zip code in the 'vegetable planting calendar' and it will give you estimates on your growing season plus all sorts of good information.

Choose tomatoes that will be ripe before they freeze. For instance, if your growing season is 75 days, don't plant a tomato that says 85 days. And remember, the days until you can expect fruit is usually counted from when you put the plant out in your garden.

I think reverendcher's problem will be finding tomatoes that ripen before it gets too hot to set fruit. The only tomatoes that reliably produce through the summer here are the cherry types.

Yes, I grow only cherry types also. First for the short season and second, because they produce reliably in hot weather.

Rev :
What do, you like ? Theres so much. Lenght of growing season matters.
Peppers, eggplant, green beans.

Yard-long green beans !!!
Yard-long, pole, green beans take 80 days, from planting, to start to prouduce.
I'll plant bush beans ( 50 days to produce. ) At same time, as yard-longs.
When bush beans start to peter out, the yard-long start-up, and grow till cold weather kills them.

Oh ! Shoot ! Summer Squash.
When summer squach start to bloom, its time to plant more.
Then, when second planting of squash start up, pull 1st planting up, and plant 3rd.
That all depends on your growing season time.
😎😎😎

reverendcher wants to plant tomatoes.

I cannot imagine there is any tomato variety that could not be planted in that location. Stick'em in the ground around May 1st and enjoy eating tomatoes.

Here is a link with recommendations for tomatoes...and lots of other things...for your area.
Good luck with the garden.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu...

Welcome to NGA, @reverendcher .

It looks like you're in zone 7b -- it seems to me that tomatoes would grow quite well there, and I definitely wouldn't limit myself to cherry types (unless you just don't like larger tomatoes).

As far as what other things to grow -- plant things that you love to eat... peppers, onions, herbs, eggplant, summer squash, lettuce, cucumbers... lots of possibilities!

I wasn't suggesting that reverendcher can only plant cherry tomatoes, I was saying that is my preference. I plant different colors of cherry tomatoes (this year, Artisan Pink Bumble Bee, Artisan Green Tiger, Chocolate Sprinkles and SunSugar) because I love all those colors (and flavors) in my salads.

I'm also impatient to eat fresh tomatoes so like the shorter season varieties. And I choose indeterminiates because they keep on giving right up to the first hard frost.

- And Cherry Tomatoes are just the right size to eat right off the plant! Many of mine never make it into the house.

Rev. Hi again 😁
Earlier!!! I forgot to even talk about tomatoes. I allways grow 'determine' varities, they only grow 3 or 4 foot tall, they do just as well as the
'indeterminate'. That can grow 12 or more foot tall. Patio tomato, grows short, and compact.
The other day, i couldnt belive my eye's !😮! A determinate cherry tomato plant.
Get something that has resistance to resestance problems in your area.
Rutgers and Cherokee Purple , are heriloom, determinate, and have natural disease resistance.
Check-em out.
😎😎😎