Like you, I've been experimenting. From reading Eliot Coleman, I thought originally I could plant in early September and get a crop under a low tunnel. Not so. I live on a mountain side and have a cool summer. Starting in early September, with already cool temperatures, is just too late. So I planted mid-August, and found that was still too late except for carrots. And the kale NEVER matures that late. I have been puting that in first thing in the spring for the last couple of years. This year I planted most everything the last week of July and the first week of August. If I get a chance, I will also pick up a pack of lettuce transplants and a pack of chard transplants (one greenhouse in the area has a clue about fall gardening) and put them in this coming week. I also plan to sow another bed of carrots and turnips this week or next weekend. We never have enough carrots to make it though the winter! ;-) Good luck with your fall garden. I'm getting to prefer this season, even on my mountain side. Catherine

I build things, and I am planting groundcovers, trees and shrubs so they don't totally fry trying to establish in summer. I am in San Jose, zone 15-also without rain but all winter long. I have been nursing my frost-hit citrus tree babies, and I am still harvesting raspberries from these crazy Italian bred ever-bearers! I built lovely wood cages to support these berries, five foot long rectangular boxes with cross members to support the canes, and stuck some finials on top of the uprights. Also filled out the under planting of alpine strawberries. I am making a grape arbor next weekend to span my driveway. I am installing solar powered light strings to give nighttime enjoyment- this garden is surrounding the kitchen door entry yard where all friends and neighbors sneak in to help us eat dinner, so I may as well make it pretty :) I am planting apple trees in a cordon along the driveway- opposite the berries- and considering chamomile and creeping thyme to carpet the ground- it's all wood chips from previous owner and I have to go slow as I want to install some stone pavers but only can afford two at a time . I am trying to make the garden areas look established and formal, my house turns 100 this year and is in a very visible urban neighborhood on a busy street so I can't have a tangle of dead tomatoes or blue tarp shade structure showing . My potager surrounds my driveway and side entrance and is very visible from the street. Hundreds of people walk by daily and I gotta show off! Anyhow, that's my winter, happy to read of others actions for more inspiration! Pea

I remember when the afro was popular and I asked my Mom if I could have one and she said no. I was in the 7th grade and thought how mean. Well when I was a freshman(14) in high school, I asked again and she told me that I could do it IF I was responsible about it and kept it neat and always looked presentable. I remember it as one of my first big decisions and I was so proud of the fact that she had enough faith in me that I would do the right thing and I did. Fast forward a gazillion years later and my D son asked if he could grow his hair out so that he could wear it braided. At the time he was 14 and I remembered the encounters with my Mom and I said the same thing to him. My hubby immediately said no and we had a family meeting and we made it clear that if he didn't take care of his hair AND save up the money to pay for getting it braided himself, then it would be cut off. Well my son is now almost 22 with hair below his shoulders and he is very responsible about taking care of his hair. Actually he is almost obsessed about it :-) That was one of the first real mature decisions for him, just like it was for me. I think depending on the maturity level of the kid, 14 is not too young to start experimenting with hair. As long as it is made clear to the kid what the potential ramifications are, then I think it is fine. I think we as adults have to remember what it is like to be that age and struggle with individuality vs what's popular and how hard it can be for teenagers. It is just hair and it will grow back. I have had every imaginable hairstyle under the sun,afro, long, short, asymmetrical, mullet and braids. Each style represented me during a particular period and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to do different things. We have to support, be honest but let them discover who they are. Oh yeah one other thing, as soon as my son started growing facial hair, he loved it and I hated it. He would let it grow long and I would beg for him to please shave and my hubby gently reminded ME about letting him express his individuality :-) To me he looked like Grizzly Adams but to my son it made him look older. Ughh.... So the running joke between us was that I would call him Grizzly but if he wanted to look like a mountaim man, that was his choice. Again fast forward a few years and he has a very nice goatee that is now well manicured and he looks great. I remembered my own experience and let him be and he eventually grew out of the Grizzly Adams look. Thank goodness!

I usually plant sometime between the end of June and mid-July. Plant much later than that and you may not get many ripe tomatoes before the first frost/freeze. The ones you planted 2 weeks ago ought to produce just fine, especially since y'all are getting cooler weather and nice rainfall. I try to rotate every year, but in a home garden it is hard---especially since almost all my favorite things are in the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers....) and they all need to be rotated to areas where no nightshades have been grown recently. Since I don't always rotate, I have more disease buildup in the garden than I'd like. Next year I need to grow the tomatoes and peppers somewhere else---either in the back garden where the voles might get them or in containers or something---any place that is not the front garden, and it is going to be challenging to do so.