We've been luckier here with so much rain in August. 2&1/2 inches a week ago today. We also have a strip of woods on the west side of our garden that acts as a windbreak so that helps I think.
Otherwise it is not too late for the cool season crops even where you are. We're supposed to get cooler weather this weekend with a chance of rain up your way so you can still plant lettuce, spinach, radishes, turnips, mustard from seed as you see the sky darkening and hope. If it doesn't rain, mulch lightly and water and hope for another winter as mild as 05-06 and you'll be picking spinach in Jan. Good luck with it.

Ilene, For the things I direct seeded, I put soaker hoses down and planted next to the hose. The ground below is very dry, but it is easy to keep the top wet until they have time to germinate. After that, I can give them a good soaking drink, but not have to water the entire garden that is soooo-o-o dry. My cabbage, brussel sprouts and broccoli, I started in milk jugs, just like for winter sowing except I kept them in the shade. I think every broccoli seed germinated (and very fast) and I had to get them out quickly into small pots. I don't plan to put them in the garden for awhile, but when I do, I plan to use a soaker hose again. Funny thing is that I bought those soaker hoses years ago and never needed them. I had put two in the garden but almost never turned them on. The others only got unwrapped because a neighbor needed them once where he had seeded some new grass. I am sure putting them to good use this year.

I had dinner all planned for tonight, but the more I looked at those big bell peppers hanging on the vine, the more I wanted stuffed peppers. Oh well, maybe tomorrow night.

I really must got back outside for awhile and pot up those brussel sprouts and cabbage though. Great thing about that is that I can do that anytime today under a shade tree. My kind of gardening.

I have been out this morning weeding around my pepper plants. I can keep a lot of it done with a small trianglar hoe, but since they are all in cages, I can't get close to the plants, so I needed to do that on my knees. This is a pretty good trick for me. Since my back doesn't bend, I have to do it from a little "stool/knee bench" so I can hold myself up with one hand and weed with the other. This little stool is great because I can lay my arm across the top, and reach with the other hand without falling on my face. As I write about it, it sounds a lot worse than it is, so I guess I have just learned to cope. LOL It's interesting how we learn to work with what we have, or what we have left!

Ilene,

I will thro my 2 cents worth in. First I know almost nothing about gardening, but I do have a little luck.

When I plant any kind of seed I use a "V" shaped hoe that I made (out of a very cheap Wal-mart standard hoe), This hoe is small enough that as I pull it through the soil that a good amount of loose soil slides up and over the top of the hoe leaving a furrow about 2 inches deep with loose soil in the bottom and on the sides. Smaller seeds I just drop in the furrow and water in. I use a 2 gal. water can from wal-mart to go down the furrows. As the water hits the Furrows, some of the side caves in and covers the seed. It cost me about a penny to water 20' of row because the furrow channels the water down the row. I dont like using a water hose before the seedling are good and strong. I have peas and collards coming now. will soon be getting ground ready for spinach and turnips.

Remember, I know very little, but sometimes get lucky, Larry

P.S. I forgot to say I water the furrow every day, some times 2 times a day.

Ilene,

It can be very hard to get good seed germination in hot and dry weather, and windy weather just compounds the problems.

Before I put anything in a raised bed, whether it is seed being sown directly into the soil or seedlings being transplanted, I water first with a soaker hose to get the soil good and moist down to a depth of about 6". Then I plant, then I water again. Like Carol, I have found soaker hoses to be very effective at keeping young seeds/seedlings moist.

In the hot weather, you do have to water twice a day and maybe water lightly 3 or 4 times a day if it is very windy to keep the soil moist enough to induce seed germination. I often use old sheets to shade my seedlings from about noon on for their first few days because a full day of sun can be hard on them. It helps, but sometimes they wilt anyway especially when it is very hot and very windy.

I pre-soak and pre-sprout when I can and that helps too. If the first soaking was a deep soaking, all you have to do after that is keep the area around the seed moist so the seed will germinate.

When tiny seed are in the ground, I use a soaker hose with tiny holes or a watering can or a watering wand that emits a very fine mist so I don't wash the seeds away or wash them too deeply into the soil to sprout.

Some things I cover with boards or heavy cardboard to keep the soil moist too. This is especially helpful with tiny seeds like carrot seeds.

If soil is hard and compacted despite being moist, I'd make a furrow, plant the seeds in the furrow and lay a thin layer of compost over the seeds instead of using garden soil. Compost doesn't crust over and get hard like some soils do so the seeds can break through the surface more easily.

Because our August temps tend to be in the upper 90s to low 100s during the time I am trying to put in a fall garden, I tend to pre-soak, pre-sprout or start seeds inside in cups instead of direct sowing and that improves my germination rates. If I sow the seeds inside in paper cups, I move the flat outside the very minute most of the seeds have sprouted. I figure the sooner they get used to full sun, the better. I will try to let them spend the first couple of days in a location sheltered from wind and I move them to shade if they are starting to look wilty.

Seedllings sown in cups go into the ground around 1-2 weeks of age since they grow so rapidly (if well-watered) in the hot weather. The only exception is cold-season crops like broccoli, cabbage, etc. I start them inside and keep them inside until they are 4-6 weeks old, then harden them off and transplant them in Sept.'s cooler weather. I want those particular crops larger when they go into the ground so they'll take off running and grow and produce quickly.

Getting seeds sprouted and transplants into the ground successfully is the hardest part of fall gardening. Once it all is in the ground and growing, the fall garden is usually a breeze with lots less disease and insect issues.

Like Dorothy said, all we have to do from that point on is hope the weather cooperates.

Dawn

Thanks everyone. I don't know why I never thought of using a soaker hose. I have a couple out there in the shed that I don't use.

We have had a lot of rain in the last 24 hours, and there's more in the forecast. I went out and planted some turnip seed. Need to plant some romaine. At this point I am not very organized.