I found a vegetable planting calendar on the web. Our zone is 8. http://www.veggieharvest.com/vegetable-planning/zone-8.html According to this, it's too late to plant seeds of broccoli, carrots, peas and onions. But I was told that I could plant these now. Can you tell me which is right? Can you point to a website where there is more comprehensive list of vegetables and their planting schedules? Thanks so much!

Sure you can. Try lettuce, carrots, radishes, swiss chard, bok choy, broccoli and cauliflower from transplants... I've just planted some more seeds last weekend. Great timing for cool-season vegetables.

Since most veggies are annual crops, there is no need to worry about their ability to overwinter in a container. But there IS a need to be concerned about starting them out too early in the season - they are temperature sensitive, both to air and soil temps. It is far too early to plant them out in containers even in my area, multiple zones higher than yours!! An east facing exposure, especially if the balcony is covered, is going to limit what you can grow. Most veggies want full day sun, which that exposure is not going to provide. But you can grow some less demanding items like peas, any sort of greens and many root crops. Previous comments about the soils and compost are very relevant. The soil really should be replaced each year as it wll break down during the course of the growing season and collapse and become compacted. And compost is never recommended for container culture because of its tendencies to continue to decompose, become smaller in particle size as it does, and negatively impact both drainage and aeration, which are key elements to growing in a container. And you are very limited as to how organic you can be growing in containers. Unless a fully water soluble liquid fertilizer, organic ferts just don't work in this situation. They require the activities of soil dwelling microorganisms to convert them into plant usable forms, and those creatures are just not available in a container or potting soil or not anywhere near the populations required. The fish emulsion is about as close as you can get easily but there are a few other liquid organic ferts but quite expensive compared to synthetic liquids. And generally without a full range of necessary micronutrients that many synthetics offer. I also agree that for more details, you should post on either the Vegetable Gardening forum or the Container Gardening forum.

I planted a Fall cover crop mix and clover mix in October. I believe it depends on the amount of biomass you have. According to natural farmers, it takes at least a month for a typical cover crop to break down enough for planting. If there is a lot then just cut it and use it for mulch. The roots will decompose and the nitrogen nodules will act as fertilizer. If the soil has not warmed you could clear away a small planting area. At this point in Texas, I am considering adding a few inches of compost on top of the mowed mix.