Well, that's the thing about cool weather (and, really, warm weather) crops in the Great Lakes region. You just never know what kind of weather the seasons will bring. I would hate to make a hard and fast rule about "don't plant cool weather crops after such and such a date" because our weather is so variable, and depends so much on where the jet streams and other weather patterns set up. There are years that it is so cool all summer it's a real struggle to get warm season crops to perform, but cool season crops thrive even in July and August. And then, other years, its turns hot early and cool season crops are basically finished by early/mid June. You just really don't know here. I say hedge your bets, plant away, and be prepared to rotate crops and use alternates if the weather doesn't cooperate.

yes I was thinking beans myself. Companion planting rules favor them next to carrots so that would work. Thanks! Now to check my seed collection and see if I have any or if I have to buy some.

Sorry, I think it's too late for most of the things on your list. You CAN definitely still plant lettuce, spinach, many of the Asian greens (various mustards, etc.), radishes, mache, escarole and endive. Broccoli and Cabbage probably wouldn't do anything now even from transplants -- they should go into the garden about mid-July for a fall crop. Beets and fall carrots should be planted by about August first. You wouldn't have a whole lot to lose by trying, but I doubt you'd get much of a root on either, since things grow more slowly in the autumn. If you had a coldframe to give them an extra month of growing time, it might work.

Hi Tom, I'll try to answer your questions, but keep in mind that my weather/climate is wildly unpredictable, so some years it is every bit as hot and humid as yours, while other it is much, much drier and drought-like with very low humidity. Thus, my plants perform differently in different weather, and I have to change my gardening practices to suit the weather. To answer your questions: My seed-raised fall tomato plants don't get too tall and leggy because they receive sun in the summer from about 6:30 a.m. to around noon. If I think they are getting leggy, I move them out into full sun a couple of days a week. If they STILL seem to be going for the tall, leggy look, I cut them in half with pruning shears. They put on new growth quickly, and seem to get even stockier. Think about your plant whose stem broke in half....and look at how well it is growing now. Well, this is similar to my plants after I cut them back. Also, I keep them in plastic 16 to 20 oz. cups, water them twice and day and don't feed them until I put them into the ground. I think that keeps them smaller and more manageable. The cutting-raised plants are in gallon or quart-sized containers and do get larger and a little leggier if I don't get them out from under the patio cover a couple of times a week. I still try to keep them slightly dry and that helps prevent them from getting too leggy. At times they seem like they are just sitting there and not growing much, but that's OK with me. I want them to grow a lot after they are in the ground, but not before. If they are too big and lush while still in the containers, they suffer from transplant shock when I set them out in the garden in June or July. Some years, generally when I have more fall tomato plants than I have room for, I neglect all the fall tomato plants seriously, giving them only enough water to keep them alive until the spring-planted plants decline enough to be removed. Such tough-love keeps the fall tomato plants alive, but not growing tall and leggy and not getting too lush and full. Once they are in the ground, they are so happy to have all the soil and sunshine, and they just grow like weeds! I want slightly starving, toughened plants that can handle temps in the 100s and beyond from the moment they are transplanted. When I transplant them, I do a modified Earl's Hole method, adding a few handfuls of compost and manure and a little Espoma Tomato Tone plant food to the planting holes. I water them in well, give them a quart or two of water to which I have added liquid seaweed or fish emulsion per the bottle's instructions, cage them, mulch them and then leave them alone. If it is too hot, I won't see much topgrowth for a few weeks, but the roots are growing. ANY cool break in the weather, even a brief one, kicks them into high gear, as does any rain that falls, at least in the years when there is rain falling in the summer months. I water only with soaker hoses and mulch heavily. It took me a while to learn not to overwater or overfeed my tomato plants after we moved to Oklahoma from Texas a few years back. In Texas, I had black gumbo clay enriched with organic material and I could grow anything in it. Here, I have red clay that bakes hard like concrete and requires a lot more amending to make it well-draining. I tried, in my early years here in Oklahoma, to water and feed the plants more to make up for the fact that the soil was so 'bad' and all it gave me was huge, lush tomato plants covered in flowers and fruit.....but also with every kind of foliar disease known to mankind and all kinds of pest problems too. Once I cut back on the watering and focused on feeding the soil and letting the soil feed the plants, I had smaller, less lush plants but still a good amount of tomatoes, and significantly less pest and disease problems. In other words, to a large extent, I believe my overwatering and overfeeding led to the abundance of pest and disease problems. If you are doing ALL your growing in pots, you probably need to do some things differently. For example, my container-grown tomatoes get fed more often and I may give them a water-soluable fertilizer like Miracle-Grow Tomato Plant Food once or twice a month in July and August of very hot, dry years. The constant watering of containers in our summer weather seems to leach out nutrients so the extra feeding is necessary. I have a few container-grown tomatoes in 30-40 gallon tubs and they require more water and more food than plants that are in the ground. If I grew ALL my tomatoes in containers, I think I would invest in a good drip irrigation system to keep the plants well-watered and growing. I grow tons of cherries because they will produce in our 100-plus degree heat even if the larger tomatoes shut down for a few weeks. My favorite cherries (and I have grown all of them in the ground AND in containers) are Dr. Carolyn, Ildi, Sungold, Sweet Million, Riesentraube, Coyote, Black Cherry, Snow White and Rosalita. A friend of mine here on the Oklahoma Forum (where I spend most of my computer time!) has grown Husky Red Cherry this year and has been thrilled withs its' productivity, flavor and toughness in very adverse conditions. I am going to try it next year, and perhaps a couple of other short internode varieties as well. I grow a huge number of varieties every year because I am always looking for the best flavor and best productivity and best disease-resistance in our climate. Some of my favorites for our climate include Little Lucky, Lucky Cross, Nebraska Wedding, Persimmon, Kellogg's Breakfast, Jaune Flamme', Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Livingston's Gold Ball, Stump of the World, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Green, Cherokee Chocolate, Earl's Faux, Brandy Boy, Better Boy, Super Fantastic and Black Krim. If I could only grow six, I would grow Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Sungold, Sweet Million, Brandy Boy and Earl's Faux. As far as walking the fine line between feeding and watering them 'enough' but not 'too much', I think it is a combination of experience, intuition, and guessing. I have to be flexible and go with the flow, because Okahoma weather, at any given point in our 220-day growing season can be cruelly hot and dry OR immensely wet, cool and cloudy OR there can be thunderstorms or tornadoes with very high winds and huge hail OR.....three months with all sun and heat and no rain OR nine inches of rain in one day. Such conditions force you to be ready to react quickly, change what isn't working and be open to new ideas. Have you ever grown tomatoes in the ground or does your soil make that an impossibility? Also, can't you solarize the soil and amend it to the point that the bacterial wilt is not overwhelming? Dawn