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Larry, SWISS CHARD: With the Swiss Chard, I normally grow it all year from a spring planting and it does well as long as I am diligent about harvesting regularly before the leaves get too large. As long as you remove the outer leaves regularly and keep it well-watered, fertilized and free of disease and insects, you can often keep it going for the whole year. I have even had it stay green (or yellow, red, white or pink if growing one of the colored varieties) throughout the winter with only occasional frost/freeze damage from which it did recover. My 'record' is about 20 months....having plants seeded in March of one year go for a bit over a year and a half. If your plants have had disease or pest issues or seem to be declining, you can plant new ones. Just be sure to plant at least 60 days prior to your first fall freeze date so they can get well-established enough to survive some of the cold weather. COLLARDS: Because they are more heat-tolerant than most cool-season vegetables, they often can be kept alive and producing through the summer although sometimes their flavor can get significantly stronger in the heat. I'd be more inclined to plant a new crop for fall, but more from a flavor/quality standpoint than from fear they'll go to seed. Because collards are a cool-season crop, heat alone will not cause them to go to seed. If they were exposed to temperatures below 45 degrees for a few days or nights though, they might bolt when warmer temperatures return. Collard seeds sprout in soil that has a temperature between 40 and 90 degrees, although germination can be iffy or slow at temperatures above 80 degrees. Generally, late-summer or fall planted collards germinate pretty quickly though. I think collards taste best when they mature during cooler weather so fall is a great time to grow a new fresh batch! Dawn

Oh, I have a GREAT recipe for you! I grew Swiss chard this year, so I had my own to use for this. I'm hoping that enough will grow back before the frost kills it to make it once more. I think you can use most greens pretty much interchangeably. I even discovered that the enormous greens from my horseradish plant are delicious, especially with white beans and sausages. Mmmm! I love this dish. I made it for Rosh HaShana this year. It's an Iraqi Jewish recipe, and it was in the New York Times food section before RH a few years ago. When our picky picky foodie friends came from Israel for my son's wedding, there was a tiny dab of leftover in the fridge, and they ate it for a snack and decided I was a great cook after all. :-) False Mahshi: Layered Swiss Chard, Beets, Rice and Beef NYT September 23, 2008 Adapted from Esperanza Basson Time: 1 hour, plus 1 hour for soaking rice 1 1/2 cups long-grain jasmine rice 2 pounds rib-eye steak, cut in 1-inch cubes (I used a cheaper cut -- maybe shoulder steak? -- and it was fine.) Salt and coarsely ground black pepper 6 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 large onions, peeled and diced 2 large beets (about 1 pound), peeled, 1 cut into 1/2-inch dice and 1 grated (I like more) 1 pound Swiss chard, leaves left whole and stems cut into 2-inch pieces 8 teaspoons sugar, or as needed 4 tablespoons fresh spearmint leaves 1 teaspoon dried mint 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced Juice of 3 lemons (about 1/2 cup), or as needed. 1. Place rice in a mixing bowl and cover with water. Stir, drain off cloudy water, and repeat until water runs clear. Cover rice with fresh water and let soak for about 1 hour. 2. Season beef with salt and pepper to taste. Place Dutch oven over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When oil is shimmering, add beef and saute until well-browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove beef and set aside. Return pan to low heat and add 2 more tablespoons of oil. Add onions and saute until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add diced beets and saute for another 5 minutes. Add two-thirds of the Swiss chard stems and continue cooking until onions are golden, about 5 more minutes. Stir in beef, cover, and remove from heat. 3. Drain rice and return to a bowl. Sprinkle with salt to taste, 5 teaspoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon fresh mint and dried mint. Stir to blend, and add garlic, grated beet, remaining oil and juice of 1 lemon. Spread one-third of Swiss chard leaves in Dutch oven, on top of beef mixture. Spoon half of rice mixture on top, and cover with another third of chard leaves. Spread with remaining rice, and top with remaining Swiss chard leaves and stems. 4. In a small bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups water with remaining 3 teaspoons sugar and juice of another lemon. Taste and, if necessary, add more sugar or lemon juice so mixture is both sweet and sour. Pour over Swiss chard and bring to a boil. Cook partially covered until chard begins to wilt, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water if pan is very wide and there is little liquid on bottom. Poke handle of a wooden spoon into mixture in three places, making holes to let steam rise through chard. Cover, reduce heat to very low, and cook until rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest for 15 minutes. Just before serving, sprinkle with remaining lemon juice and remaining fresh mint. Yield: 6 to 8 servings. (I think it makes a lot more.)

Dan- My swiss chard in SA area really peters out when the weather heats up. It doesn't exactly die if I keep watering it (alot), but it doesn't grow and starts looking more and more wilted during the day. Usually I've harvested all of it by then. Not a lot of veggies that I can keep alive AND producing through the summer other than the obvious ones- okra to name one. Eggplant some years. I have had some I've started in spring, kept alive during summer and when things cool off in the fall they start producing again. But not consistently. Mostly I think of my summer garden here like my winter garden up north- a time for rest. My garden is in full sun so YMMV if there are some spots in your garden that get some relief from the summer sun. Roselee's right- Malabar is a champ in the summer. But it has a different mouthfeel to me that I don't care for. But it's also just a pretty vine, so you may want to give it a shot to see what you think. Sheila gave me some seeds for melokhiya, a green from the middle east (and other places too from what I've read). She says you plant when the soil warms up. I'm going to give it a try. I find things from hot places have a better chance of working in our climate. Good luck with your experiments. I'd love to hear what works for you. Lisa