What can I plant now?

[Meemur]

i just did that a little while ago....

Does your DH know about that?

Or maybe you were sitting there sharing a cuppa . . .

[Lo Echsar]

I just planted two rows of cowpeas, okra, winter squash and some beans. Everything is up and looking good. I'm in zone 8, almost 9.

[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!

[hunybee]

just wondering......

i have never done any planting mid-season because we have such a short growing season that i just need as much time as i cn get

but i wonder if i planted some broccoli seed right now, would they have enough time to grow and produce before frost? they do better when they are producing heads in the cooler weather, i just don't know if i will have enough time now

thoughts?

[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

[grower]

Where I am, you can grow turnip greens year-round. A good frost just improves the flavor! As far north as you are, you would probably get some good harvests in before they freeze.

[Davy Crockett]

If it ever dries out, I'll put some carrots, peas, turnips. Beets?

[Summerthyme]

I'll second the "Four Season Harvest" book... It's not exactly simple, but it can be done (I don't worry about harvesting every month out of the year... I'm really happy if we can have fresh greens for Christmas (in my small, unheated greenhouse). I shut it down until late February, though...

Another book I'd suggest trying to find (it's out of print) is Joy Of Gardening, by Dick Raymond. He loves TroyBilt tillers, but aside from that, there's a ton of information on growing all the food you need. I've used his wide row techniques since I read the book in the 1980's, and it works. He's got lots of useful charts on succession planting, and also he was experimenting with a "sustainable" garden without using commercial fertilizers, and the soil test results looked great...

Huny... it's getting late, but it's worth a try. Most cole crops will survive some frosts, and for sure, they taste better if they mature in cool weather. If you can find a short maturity (50-55 days) broccoli seed, I'd start it indoors and then transplant at the 4 leaf stage...

Summerthyme