I sow mixed lettuce directly in the 5:1:1 every year. I use those long narrow deck planters - they're prolly about 3' long, 8-9" wide and about as deep as they are wide. I mix the seeds with about 1/4 cup of sand & sprinkle it over the top. I water daily until they start sprouting, then as needed. I use FP 9-3-6 as a fertilizer. Al

Check with your state's Extension Service. Each county should have it's own Cooperative Extension Office which provides free publications and information for the asking. They will have valuable vegetable/gardening tables available specifically for your area determined by universities and horticultural research scientists who have collected data from growing those crops in your state. Your tax dollars are already paying for this service so you may as well get some use out of it. Vegetable Planting and Planning Calendar for Missouri (download the pdf) complete with spring and fall planting dates (underneath the spring planting dates for appropriate crops), how much to plant per person, etc. They can also tell you the average last frost date for your area and ideal planting times for specific crops and varieties in your area. See how detailed this example is:

I do grow them as well, but generally I don't have enough tubers that last through in good condition to produce as many slips as I want. Hopefully I will next year because I have about 150 plants growing in florida and the tubers keep very well there.

Okieken, POTATOES: Well, I'm at the opposite end of the state from you, but I don't think it is too late to plant potatoes this week. Will your yield likely be a little less than it would have been if you'd planted earlier? Yes. However, it would still be worth it. You might want to plant your seed potatoes about 9" to 12" apart instead of the usual 12" to 18" apart. Why? Since they're being planted a bit late, the plants probably won't be as big at the time tuber initiation begins. Thus, they won't need as much room in between plants. Also, by planting closer together, you'll essentially have more plants per square foot and will get a higher overall yield per square foot. If, by chance, the weather stays cooler than usual longer than usual this spring, you still may get a great yield. There's just so many variable. I planted late in 2002, but we had a really mild, cool (almost cold) May here in southern Oklahoma and I had a great crop. With our weather, you just never know. If you can't get potatoes in the ground by the end of this week, though, I'd say any later than that might be too late. Perhaps someone who gardens in northeastern Oklahoma can give you advice better tailored to your specific part of the state. For next year, plan to plant your potatoes about 4 weeks prior to your last anticipated frost, or sometime between mid-February in southernmost Oklahoma to mid-March in northernmost Oklahoma. Potato plants generallly grow and produce best here during the spring days when daytime highs stay between roughly 60 or 65 to 75 degrees and nighttime lows are between 45 to 55 degrees. Well, I think we have weeks and weeks of weather left in that range....more so in the northern part of the state where you live than down south where I live. Even more importantly, tuber initiation continues for some time after that--until the high temperatures begin to regularly exceed 85 degrees, which is months away still. You can even get some initiation of new tubers after daytime highs are exceeding 85 degrees, but potatoes set at those temperatures will be smaller and perhaps a little lower in quality. TOMATOES: As for the tomatoes, if you are growing them inside under lights, they will be a plantable size by about the last week in April or the first week in May, assuming they sprout pretty quickly. If you can get them out into the sunlight and heat for a few hours a day as they grow, they'll reach a plantable size even more quickly. Honestly, tomato plants that are planted in cold soil grow so slowly....and, when you plant them later, they are going into warmer soil and grow more quickly. Thus, I am not sure that plants planted a few weeks late are going to be a problem. If you look at your plants three weeks from now and say to yourself that there is "no way" they will be big enough to plant any time soon, then go ahead and buy a six-pack of your favorite variety or two. I don't like to put tomato plants into the ground until soil temps are regularly exceeding 55 degrees, and 60 degrees is even better. Here in southern Oklahoma our soil temps are still in the 50s and haven't even hit the 60s yet despite some 80 degree days. (The nights are running a little cold still.) Up there in northern Oklahoma, your soil temperatures run a bit colder than ours for a while in the spring, so it is still kinda early to transplant tomatoes, unless you want to put a couple into the ground with Wall-O-Water protection just to see if you can push them into quicker growth and protection. We usually have an Oklahoma Gardening Forum spring plant swap in mid to late-April and I am sure that, if there is a swap this year, some of us who raise our own tomatoes will bring our excess plants. I always have about a million extra tomato plants to share. Hope this info helps. Dawn