A recent video from Marjory Wildcraft had some interesting suggestions for what we can grow in our vegetable gardens during the long, hot, dry Texas summers:
Gardening in the Heat with Marjory Wildcraft of Backyard Food Production
Her plant suggestions are:
Eden’s Organic presents Barn Aid 3, a benefit to raise funds for Feed Texas First. Local Cheese and Wine Pairing from Scardello and Calais, ans guest speaker Amanda Vanhoosier. Free concert featuring Lorynn the Redhead and movie screening “Urban Roots” too! — October 9, 2011 — 
An alternative to buying pots for starting seeds or making pots out of newspaper is to use a clump of soil with no container at all by using a handy little tool like the soil cube. There are several benefits from starting seeds like this:
Keeping the soil cubes moist is a little more effort, since the force of normal water droplets will melt the cubes. You need to use a spray-mister bottle to water with.
Jason Akers’ presentation “Composting: What You Need to Know” given at the Mother Earth News Fair 2011:
His slideshow is also available at http://www.theselfsufficientgardener.com/Composting.pdf
A super opportunity for people in DFW to get some immersion into the world of Permaculture for 2 days is coming up next weekend. It can be hard to dedicate the time and money needed for a full PDC course, but for 2 days and $100 you can get the in-depth basics of what it is all about with Patricia Allison. She is well-known in the Permaculture world for her inspiration to her students and for her excellent Permaculture introduction week-ends.
She brings a 2-day Introduction to Permaculture course to Dallas on October 8 & 9 from 9 until 5, both days. The course is a combination of lecture, hands-on experience, hope, and delight. The class location will be in the Dallas area around White Rock Lake.
Go to the events main webpage for more info: http://cyberparent.com/dfw/permaculture/class.htm