PM2 - A ways back you asked about where to get spun bond row cover. Johnny's carries it in two weights, one for summer mainly to keep insects off, though I have used it for fall frost protection stretched over hoops of black plumbing pipe, this year allowing me to harvest peppers and cherry tomatoes until 2 weeks ago. I've never harvested warm weather crops into November, and I've been gardening in this town for 34 years. The other is specifically for winter protection and is a heavier weight. Where you are, with a combination of plastic sheets or bubble wrap and spun bond on hoops over rows, I imagine that you can harvest until the first heavy snow. My redbor kale is still out in the garden totally unprotected, and it's fine even though the temperatures have been down to 20 degrees the last two nights. It is deep purple and ruffled, gorgeous to the point that one of my neighbors stopped to ask what it is. (During the summer it was more blue-purple, and while attractive enough that I plant one in a container of ornamentals each year, didn't stand out as much as now in an empty garden). I mostly eat it as I am out working in the garden - a grab and go salad - since DH isn't fond of cabbage family veggies. I grow kale, broccoli and edible podded peas since I love them, but don't grow many crops just for myself. I have in past years started spinach in the fall for early spring greens, and as with Defrost, it works well. I am warmer in the fall than she is, but I think colder in the spring - I am a slight bit further south but in a river valley so get late spring frosts. The spinach was fine, and under a row cover might start up earlier. When we had raised beds with weeping soaker hoses at a previous house, each bed had its own separate line that we could switch on. It was a while ago, but as I remember, it watered evenly and was easy to use. Thanks to all who contributed to the directions on herbs that work well in salt and proportions. Someone gave me some rosemary salt, and it's been lovely on popcorn, so I've been meaning to look up how to do it. I haven't spent a lot of time on this forum, though I have been growing organic veggies since I was in my teens. The recent posts listing in the sidebar has pulled me over here recently. Thanks to all for such great information!

Jay, I grew baby bok choi two years ago here on the Western edge of Wyandotte County and it did well. I ordered several varieties from Evergreen seed. Because we have hot summers as you know, that will often go weeks without rain, I had a variety that was rated for growing all year and was heat resistant. The only problem I had was with the typical cabbage worms and maybe some flea beetles so I will use floating row covers in the future. I know I could us Bt but that won't work on flea beetles, I don't think. The baby bok choy were great for spring too. I like them chopped up in stir fries and you can add them to soups like you would cabbage, kale or greens. They are also good stir-fried by themselves with some onion, soy sauce, a dab of fish sauce and some garlic. I grew several types of salad mix that people seemed to like. They liked the Mesclun mixes. I had a French mix and an Italian mix I found at the Grass Pad in Kansas City. I grew red chard and regular Lucullus chard. It did not sell well and I started putting recipes out with it. Also, the red was so productive I would give out samples of it with instructions on how to prepare it. This is a great food because it is high in iron and calcium My sister, who is a breast cancer survivor says her nutritionist highly recommends chard due to its high phytochemical content. Kansas City has a good okra market because a lot of our population is either from the South or has close ties to the South and so most of us have been used to eating or at least seeing okra. Heirloom tomatoes are still getting more popular but I'm surprised how many people are still scared of an orange or a yellow tomato. You're not far from Ft. Riley so you may have a market amongst some of the Asian population there in Junction City and surrounding.

I'll add that once it does start getting cold, sweater weather, growth slows down somewhat. My kale looks just like collards with flat leaves until we have that first really cold killing frost and then they get curly like kale is supposed to look. If I wait till the end of August to sow outside, my collards aren't very large by the end of the year. I'll be trying to start some inside this year and set them out just to see if I can get big ones like they have at the store. I always pride myself on having smaller collards that are more tender and sweeter because they aren't as large and overgrown. But folks at work like the larger ones anyway, so I'm going to try to accommodate them this year. I usually just sort of broadcast the seeds and have a bed of collards instead of a row of individual plants. Some spots are more crowded than others, but even the more sparse areas don't have larger collards either, so overcrowding isn't an issue. I guess I need to think of them as cabbages instead of cut and come again type greens. Anymore, folks at work are preferring kale to collards. I guess my harping on their nutritional value is paying off.

I know some people can grow asian green with much success in NJ. For me, I always wound up with bolting in spring planting. I tried growing in the fall this year, they did okay up until early Nov and the frost killed them. I never harvest enough to make it worth the effort. Ah, forgot to mention the cabbage moth, insect damage on the leaves!