Fall Gardening

[CM]

Summer is beginning to wind down but it's still not too late for a fall garden crop to be planted. Swiss chard, lettuce, peas, broccoli (and rabes) some types of cabbages, chicory, escarole, radishes, kale, windowsill herbs, spinach and ornamental biennials and perennials can still be planted in many sections of the country.

Head lettuce grows especially well in the Fall, and cabbages won't split from heat. Chinese cabbage can take a good deal of frost and most greens are very cold hardy. Keep leafy greens well watered to face the heat of the day. In warmer climates, starting lettuce for baby cutting greens is best done in the shade, then small plants can be transplanted into sunny beds as the weather cools down in the Autumn.

Fall is a good time to plant hardy perennial herbs to get an early start on the Spring.
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CM

http://www.cooks.com

[norsen]

With a good cold frame, the right location, the right soil , the right seed or seedling,you can start many things early or grow late in the season. Plant next to a building with good morning sunshine. Brick works the best. It stores heat in the daytime and releases it at nite better than wood or vinyl siding does. Even a block or stone foundation works good. Parking your car close to a brick building can keep frost off your windshield even.
I used to start hundreds of flowers, tomatoes and peppers from seed. Luckily I worked with a bunch of different kinds of gardening nuts. We exchanged tips, seeds, plants and info.
Besides gardners and farmers I found another source of usefull info.
A book called Gardening by the Square Foot. Most priciples and tips in it can be applied to any scale gardening. Just modify to fit your situation..