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'll add that once it does start getting cold, sweater weather, growth slows down somewhat. My kale looks just like collards with flat leaves until we have that first really cold killing frost and then they get curly like kale is supposed to look. If I wait till the end of August to sow outside, my collards aren't very large by the end of the year. I'll be trying to start some inside this year and set them out just to see if I can get big ones like they have at the store. I always pride myself on having smaller collards that are more tender and sweeter because they aren't as large and overgrown. But folks at work like the larger ones anyway, so I'm going to try to accommodate them this year. I usually just sort of broadcast the seeds and have a bed of collards instead of a row of individual plants. Some spots are more crowded than others, but even the more sparse areas don't have larger collards either, so overcrowding isn't an issue. I guess I need to think of them as cabbages instead of cut and come again type greens. Anymore, folks at work are preferring kale to collards. I guess my harping on their nutritional value is paying off.

Rooting a cutting is a good way to go or.......just plant your large plant very deeply. Either straight down if the soil has warmed up for the season or lay the tomato plant sideways in a small shallow trench and cover with your garden soil. Roots will form all along the stem underground and give you a larger root system to support the plant better. I ALWAYS start tomatoes early and plant them deep. I have multiple light indoors to support their needs before I bring them outside though.

Love my: Pull-up KAid Mixer w pull out shelf below it; same setup for Food processor! I use my pot filler faucet at least 1-2x/day, even if just to wet the rag I use to clean the stove top or to add water to the pan I just scrambled eggs in. Love wide drawers (most are 27-36", with one 4 drawer bank that is 42") and no lower cabinets. Love my frameless cabinets that don't have a horizontal bar between drawers. They fit taller items than either inset cabinets or frameless cabinets with horizontal spacer bars. Walk in pantry w shelves to the ceiling. Shelves are only 9-10" deep in some places,but provide huge amount of space. Love my counter-top garbage disposal air switch. Hate my: dark Santa Cecilia Gold granite counters. I'm sooo sick of brown and gold fleck counters and sticking my hand in something sticky I couldn't see. Don't use the kitchen TV; it fights with the sound on the family room TV and DH gets annoyed by it. Wish I had: on demand hot water heater under the sink or in a nearby blind cabinet. Hate waiting til half the dishes are washed for the water to get hot. Best wishes! It's a crazy, stressful process.