My peas are up about 3 inches since sowing them on April 15th and I just sowed string bean seeds. I think I will think of some way to shade the peas if it suddenly gets hot and hope that helps. I wonder if I should mulch them to keep the soil cooler? We do enjoy lettuce and bok choy so I am going to go ahead and plant those and eat them young and if they bolt early, I will leave one or two to go to seed for the fall. Brassicas will have to wait for a fall crop I guess. I wonder about Kale? I grow in raised beds organically and the soil is constantly mulched with leaves and grass clippings and I often add kitchen scraps around the edges of the bed under the mulch, so there are lots of worms and the soil is good and loose. I shld get some quick growth. Oh good, beets and chard. IâÂÂll give those a try in the next few days. Nila, I often put tomato starts out early but I always use a Wall of Water around them and that works very well for me. HavenâÂÂt had a frost damaged tomato plant using those. pnbrown, I was lucky enough to be able to stop at that vegetable garden of JeffersonâÂÂs. Just a gorgeous location with so much space and rolling hills in the background and they keep the veggie garden immaculate. Yes, I donâÂÂt really get how someone in Virginia can be zone 6b or 7a and spring starts the same time as Massachusetts? Makes no sense to me.

I plant rye grain and hairy vetch as a fall cover and it germinates well in late September or early October. The rye has a dense and fibrous root system. I seriously doubt that vetch will germinate later this month unless we have some unseasonably warm temperatures. If you do chance planting the vetch remember to coat the seeds with an appropriate innoculant before sowing. A single cover crop is beneficial but don't expect miracles. Soil building is a slow process and requires perseverance.

I have had cabbages, kale, collards and radiccio all winter, uncovered, and mixed lettuce, chard, and spinach under a frost blanket. The spinach is starting to go to seed. I planted them about October, but you can plant the kale and collards now. They will grow slowly until it warms up, then take off. Kale is biennial so you can keep it through summer. Check with your nursery what date to plant snow and English peas...its pretty quick. This is my first year doing a winter garden and I love it! No going out to water, and virtually no bugs. Also have sorrel, parsley, mustard and rosemary. Thyme,sage and oregano are alive, but look ratty. If you are doing just ornamentals a good nursery should have early flowers like poppy,snaps, dianthus,wallflower,bellis,diacia, arctotis, etc.

Well the Brandywines were gorgeous, but the Burpee Buck's County Hybrid is a tomato that I will definitely do again. They slowed down during the heat, but never really quit. I still am getting a few, at least enough that I haven't cut them down. They even bounced back from a major hornworm attack. I just watched those green monsters munch away, influenced no doubt by Susan and her caterpillar garden :) (Gotta admit they were interesting.) The Buck's Countys even outlasted the cherry tomatoes. Maybe someone ought to start a thread on good tomato varieties for Oklahoma? Maybe tomorrow. I am still getting tomatillos and more tomatillos. I had never done them before and didn't know what to expect so I planted six plants maybe 18 inches apart. The vines sprawled to a mat about 5 feet wide, hard as heck to harvest. I've given away lots of salsa verde. I even mailed a box of fresh tomatillos to a cook I know.