What can I plant now?

[Davy Crockett]

Looking for ideas for something that I can plant from seed now, July 15.

Normally, I would have 75 days from now until a killing frost.

I could try to plant carrots (again), a few radishes, turnips and beets.

Acorn squash? or some kind of squash.

Right now, I have some crookneck and spaghetti squash if the critters stop eating the plants.

Thanks

[Summerthyme]

Peas will produce well in the cooler fall weather, and will stand some frost. Getting them to sprout might be a trick (same problem you'd have with carrots and lettuce- the soil may be too warm for the seeds to sprout)

IT's a LITTLE late, but you could plant some onion seeds, for sets for next spring. Plant them in a block or wide row, sown heavily... don't thin much. You want them crowded. They'll start bulbing quickly because the day length affects that, and you should get hundreds of dime size (the perfect size set) sets to plant.

Here is a chart that shows germination percentages in various SOIL temps. This is where a soil thermometer is VERY useful.
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page11.html

Summerthyme

[Davy Crockett]

I guess I'm going to have to get me one of those soil thermometers.

[Davy Crockett]

Any way to cool the soil?

Water and mulch?

[Texaslil]

Most bush green beans take 75 days and soil temp shouldn't be a problem. Also squash, okra and tomatoes for fall. You don't say where you are, but in Texas we have trouble with the soil being too hot for anything else other than what I mentioned. Won't work with beans, but many veggies can be started in the house to get them to germinate. It's immperitive that you get them outside the moment you see even the tiniest speck of green or they will bolt upwards toward the light and their stems will be too weak and spindly to live. It's just the temp. at germination that is the problem Many veggies germinate best at about 75-80 degrees.

You could also plant in partial shade. I almost do anyway since it is so hot here. I have lush herbs on a shady patio. It's not a hard and fast rule that all veggies need full sun. (Beets, lettuce, and peppers will tolerate shade,) Full sun is really a matter of lumins, not bright blistering sun. If you have high headed trees it often works well. When the seed catalogs say, "full sun" oftentimes they are talking about full sun in VT where people can't even go swimming 'til August. Full sun in Texas is as much as 119 degrees in July. And it stays there for at least 3 weeks at a time. You can water all you want, but everything just cooks in the ground, wet or not. Pots are even worse. (veggies and herbs grown in those don't even have to be cooked.) LOL

You can also use misters to cool the air without running a lot of water. They are cheap to buy and run as most of them will only use about 15 gallons a day. We use them on everything......livestock, chickens, plants and patios. We even have to have ceiling fans in our horse stalls. We use them on our swimming pool decks or otherwise we could never walk on them. The only way we can live in this hot climate.

[Summerthyme]

Davy... sneak out at midnight, drop your drawers and sit on the soil... if it feels warm, it's over 100°!! LOL!!

I don't know of much of a way to cool the soil, but I DO know how you can "trick" almost any seeds into sprouting, if you then think you can keep them well watered until they establish! Take a paper towel (or "good" quality TP, for regular rows). Unroll a length on your table, and spritz it with water to dampen- not soak.

Sprinkle your seeds on at an appropriate spacing (a lot farther apart for something like peas than for lettuce or carrots). Lay a second layer of toweling or TP over it, spritz it lightly again, then roll LOOSELY and gently. Put the roll inside an OPEN plastic bag, and stash it in the fridge for 48 hours. Then bring it out, and put it in the coolest area of the house for another 24- 48 hours. After 24 hours, start peeking carefully at the seeds you can see. As soon as plenty of them have started putting out roots, take the roll out to the garden, (pretill and water the soil) unroll it, and water it in.

IF YOU HAVE PUPPIES AROUND, this WILL NOT WORK. Ask me how I know!! LOL!

If you planted larger seeds using this trick (beans or peas) sprinkle some soil on top of the toweling. Smaller seeds can't handle much... maybe a little peatmoss to try to help hold moisture (or lay a single layer of newspaper over the sprouting seeds, to shade and hold moisture). That's the biggest headache with succession planting- keeping the plants cool and wet enough for the first two weeks.

Summerthyme

[Green Man]

Without a location and altitude it's tricky to make recommend anything. A lot of brassicas will tolerate a lot of frost that would wipe out tender vegetation.

Beets, Spinach, Kale, Collards, a lot of the chinese greens would work. Consider Mâche, aka Corn Salad/lamb's lettuce. It grows in northern Europe in the winter under snow even as a weed in grain fields (that's where the 'corn salad' name comes from). Mâche may be the green that Rapunzel's father was seeking when he climbed over the witch's garden wall.

I've harvested a lot of Spinach that's been underneath snow. In my area (western NC in the mountains) it will overwinter some years without extraordinary care. A little straw mulch in November would probably help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerianella_locusta

[Davy Crockett]

I am in western Pa 50 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Traditionally, zone 5 but new maps may now have me in zone 6 (I think)

I now need it to stop raining for a few days so I can work a couple empty beds

[bbkaren]

There's a ton of stuff you can grow if you're willing to do the work - this book is awesome!! Mache/lamb's lettuce is a winter crop and will germinate and grow in very cold weather. Many other items you can grow and then when cold weather comes, shelter them (cold frame/hoop house, etc.) and they're in a holding pattern waiting for you to come out and harvest them in the winter.

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Ha...season+harvest


I also have this one, and use it for general planting information.

http://www.amazon.com/Gardening-When...when+it+counts


Between the two, I hope to have a booming garden all year long (once I've got this clay soil situation sorted out, that is!).

I have them both in paper and kindle version; I love them on the kindle because I can use the search function, which is super helpful!

[Davy Crockett]

Thanks, Karen.
I have seen (and may have in my gardening library) the first but not familiar with the second.
Nut will check it out

After my impending retirement (July 30) I will be looking harder at extending my growing season.
I have a bunch of old windows that I may cobble together to a greenhouse