In many places there is still time to plant some vegetable container gardens. Since the critters ate all of my eggplants, I'm going to get some more seedlings and pot them up. I also love growing hot peppers, which are not only beautiful, a lot of them last well into fall. I haven't planted any yet, so I'll do it now.

If you are just getting started with vegetable container gardening, check out Vegetable Container Gardening 101.

Would love to hear what people are growing in their container gardens. You can either leave a comment below, or join the discussion in the container gardening forum.

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It's not too often that there is breaking news about tomatoes, but unfortunately this week there is, and the news is bad. Late tomato blight, a serious and deadly plant disease, has hit the East Coast and has also been found in Ohio, West Virginia and Alabama.

Though not a direct danger to humans, the spores from this disease can spread rapidly to both tomatoes and potatoes, and is the same pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.

The plants that have caused this alarm have been found at many "big box" stores. And though they have now been removed from the shelves, people who bought their tomato seedlings at Home Depot, Lowes, Kmart and Walmart, should be on the lookout for the symptoms of blight.

• A pale green often beginning at leaf tips or edges
• Brown spots or lesions on tomato plant stems or leaves
• If the weather is wet or humid, white spores may be visible on the undersides of leaves or at the edges of the lesions
• On green tomatoes you may see white mold or, according to Ohio State University, “large, firm, brown, leathery-appearing lesions, often concentrated on the sides or upper fruit surfaces”

The spores that carry the blight can easily spread on the wind, so it is critical to get rid of any infected plants. DO NOT PUT THEM IN YOUR COMPOST PILE!

For more info on how to get rid of plants with late tomato blight.

I have now put up two upside-down tomato container gardens and I would say my reviews so far are mixed. One I made from a Home Depot bucket, and the other is called the "Revolution," which I got from Gardeners Supply. They were both a little tricky to plant - think of stuffing a robust little tomato plant through a small hole - but the hardest thing was hanging them.

These babies are heavy. When soil is fully moist, the upside down tomato planters can weigh 50 pounds. I had two shepherds hooks, and I figured if I put them next to each other, it would increase the stability. Not so much. As soon as I hung my first upside down tomato, the post started list. My strategy was to hang the other upside down tomato bucket on the other hook. Bad idea. My husband was mowing the lawn, so I stood there yelling for help (and swearing) because I had to hold the pole, or both tomatoes were doomed. My dog thought I had lost my mind, which I kind of had.

Luckily a kind neighbor, hearing my cries of tomato distress, came over and helped me take down my upside down tomatoes. Then the question was, where to put them without either squashing the tomatoes, or dumping out soil. Fortunately I had two large, empty containers nearby, so I could rest the upside down tomato containers on the edges. So beware - if you have to take down an upside down tomato planter - before you do, figure out where you're going to put it.

If you are contemplating planting upside down tomatoes, here are some tips and more of the upsides and downside of upside down tomatoes.

If you want to make your own upside down tomato bucket, here are step by step instructions.