Check with your state's Extension Service. Each county should have it's own Cooperative Extension Office which provides free publications and information for the asking. They will have valuable vegetable/gardening tables available specifically for your area determined by universities and horticultural research scientists who have collected data from growing those crops in your state. Your tax dollars are already paying for this service so you may as well get some use out of it. You'll have a whole list of things for a fall planting. Vegetable Planting and Planning Calendar for Missouri (download the pdf) complete with spring and fall planting dates (underneath the spring planting dates for appropriate crops), how much to plant per person, etc. They can also tell you the average last frost date for your area and ideal planting times for specific crops and varieties in your area. See how detailed this example is:

I'm really glad I checked in here this evening... I live less than a mile from a 23 acre piece of property, that was a horse arena/lounge/restaurant/stables.... it's for sale and it's vacant. by the light of the full moon tonight, I could see clearly just how much there is, of long time composted horse poop, in the cement open bins...soooo much out there. I hadn't even paid any attention to it before but recently I've been craving compost for the yard. I do believe I found my source and don't know if I want to bother to call the realty company for permission. I don't want them to say to stay out of there. maybe I could just go ahead and fill buckets and haul some home, each evening. taking care of grandkids, I always drive right by it.. what started as a surprise that it was for sale in the first place..eventually led to this latest discovery of "black gold"..of course a lot of it is sawdust, from the arena itself. that should be even better, shouldn't it?? I know it's been a couple of years now, since anyone has been in there.

Coffee mom, it is hard to tell whether you're being sarcastic or if you're telling me this because you have my best interest at heart. Which is it please? No I'm not trying to be rude, and if I come off that way I apologize as it's not my intent. However it's very difficult to tell how to interpret what you said. That's why I'm asking for clarification with what you said. New2gardenFL, this next message is directed toward you. You said plant vegetables that grow well in the summer. Well I'm not a genius, but to my knowledge vegetables that grow well in the summer are those that love sun and are categorized as "warm weather vegetables". I'm not a genius with gardening, FAR from it. However the reason I'm debating planting veggies from seed like cucumber and green beans is because to my knowledge they ARE warm weather veggies that LIKE the sun and LIKE warm weather. All I'm asking is that if I were to plant bush green beans and cukes from seed now is it too late? Or would they eventually up and die on me because eventually the weather will become so hot that it will be too hot for them to grow and survive and they'll die because the weather will eventually become too hot for them to survive. I know part of this depends on how long it takes for them to germinate and how long it takes for them to complete their maturing cycle. I can't give an exact figure with this, but i know bush green beans take about 2 months from start to finish as an estimate.

Karen, I grew Yukon gold potatoes in tires last year with decent success. I'm still a newbie at vegetable gardening, so I don't have expert advice to give. I have a lot of slugs in the garden and didn't want them in my potatoes. I also have a lot of old tires on the property. I found this web site www.kiddiegardens.com/growing_potatoes_in_tires.html. I laid landscape fabric on the ground then set 2 tires side by side, filled them with a mix of garden soil and compost, then planted the potatoes 4 or 5 inches above ground level in the tires. Then I covered the tops with several more inches of soil. When the plants grow 8 - 10 inches above the tire, add a tire and fill it with soil, leaving the top few inches of plant uncovered. I do wonder if I should be adding some potting soil to lighten the mix. It's an experiment, maybe the potatoes would do just as well or better in the ground. But I like the idea of no slugs, going vertical and using up the old tires. I have a friend that plants her potatoes in big plastic boxes. I'm going to pot up tomato and pepper seedlings in the next few days, the roots are starting to come through the sides and bottom of the netting. The tomatoes are 5 - 6 inches tall now, the peppers much smaller at 3 inches. Yeah! Mark, I think you had mentioned in another thread that you have a new grandbaby coming, Congratulations! Let that thought keep you warm until spring comes to you. Skybird, Dan and Jnfr, thanks for the pics. I love to see what you are up to in the garden. Great ideas! Digit, thanks for the lettuce info. Enjoy this beautiful day! Barb