I live in east central MS. I usually have very good luck this time of summer with second crop cucumbers (if the pickleworms leave them alone), cowpeas and okra (like farmerdill said: my hero). I turn a bit of organic fertilizer into the soil, rake it smooth and plant. Then water daily until germination. They typically come up in about half the time they take in the spring. It's time now to plant pumpkins for Halloween too. There's still time for sweet potatoes if you can get slips. I also have a good stand of yardlong beans that I sowed about 10 days ago. This is my first year for them, but I am told they do well in heat. (I believe they are in the cowpea family.) I took cuttings from my tomato plants last week to root for fall. I have not done this before, but if you have space, it's worth a shot. I plan to add blood meal to the soil before planting. I'll be starting broccoli, kale, and collards from seed next week. Farmerdill, if you check back in, can you tell us if you plant fall tomatoes? Any tips on how and just when to set out transplants?

This is the recommendations for Santa Clara County, which is mostly Zone 9 Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Calendar

Good to see that Justaguy2 would go out on a rather firm limb on this question and that Makalu would have some wise encouragement. Persephone, it is difficult for gardeners who are otherwise such a hopeful bunch to discourage others. Once again, I've let a few dates slip by me this year. A recent one was finally getting around to trying to overwinter spinach. Now just when exactly was it, that I was supposed to plant the seeds?? Regardless of the air temperature your seedlings may experience once, and if, they emerge - soil temperature is critical for germination. Generally, the soil is warmer at this time of year than during the Spring, however, it is cooling quickly. I just put a thermometer in the soil in the most protected part of my yard - temperature, 42°F. There has been a big cool-down since it finally made it to 70°F in early July. If you look at the link below you will see the days to germination of some of the crops you've been thinking about. Note that it would take me 51 days to have the carrots germinate even if soil temperature would hold steady. Even a quick crop like lettuce takes 15 days. My spinach would be 23 days. If I was to plant spinach now it would be mid-October before it would emerge. Average minimum overnight temperature in my location is 35°F thru the month of October, 28°F during the month of November. Probably frost would occur at least half the nights during the plants first 2 weeks of "growth." Actual growth is just not going to happen. Get the soil ready and plan, plan, plan . . . for Spring. Steve Here is a link that might be useful: Days to Germination for Vegetables/Temperatures University of Minnesota

Yes, try planting some things for baby greens--I recently planted lettuce, spinach, kale, mustard greens, and collards. I know here in zone 5 they probably won't get bigger than a couple of inches before a freeze, but they are still great for salads. I would have also planted beets for baby beet greens if I had had the seeds. (These vegetables take about 25 days to be baby green size.) Being in zone 8 you probably still have at least a month or two for growing.