Okay. Last year, farmerdill gave me his planting schedule for fall gardens. I copied it all into my garden journal so I wouldn't forget. Here goes. Mid July: Start collards, brocolli, cauliflour, and cabbage from seed. Sow it into pots, barely covering the seed with a light dusting of potting mix. Set the pots into dappled shade and water daily. Dappled shade for me is on my deck under the deck benches. Underneath there, the plants get full sun in the morning until approximately midday and light to full shade the rest of the day. It works. This year too, remarkably. Also, in July, I pull most of my first crops: tomatoes, beans, squash, etc. which are now finished and replant them, beginning to leave room for cool season crops. This year I have successfully seeded okra, cowpeas, cucumbers, and squash, though last year mildew got the squash and cucs. Also, it's helpful to keep the squash under row covers to keep squash vine borers away from them at least until they begin to bloom. August:Late month direct sow turnips, rutabagas, mustard greens, and Asian greens. You can also sow carrots and beets, though I have yet to get a good stand of beets. Septembmer: set out your seed started brassicas from July around the middle of the month. You can still direct sow leafy greens too. Mid month, start onion seeds (short day) in flats. And in the third or fourth week, plant lettuce, garlic, spinach (tough), and red mustard. Plant the onion seedlings into the garden in late November or early December. It helps to get better germination in extreme heat if you cover the sown beds with fabric row cover and water through the fabric. I guess it holds the moisture in the beds longer. You certainly need to water daily until germination, which is really fast, 3-4 days for most things. I have only had a fall garden two years now, but it's wonderful! I keep all my greens and lettuces under floating row covers draped over fence wire hoops and both years, absolutely everything lived and produced all winter long. (Temps above 10 both winters.) I also mulch the beds well with pinestraw. This is for freeze protection, but it also has a benefit of keeping the greens perfectly clean. If you harvest the leaves with scissors and don't pull the plants out by the roots, cleaning the greens is a snap. I hope this helps you!

they like to germinate in cool temps, I think August would be too hot for them. I would start them now or in the fall. This is directly from the T and M website: Sow late winter/spring or late summer. Sow 1.5mm (1/16in) deep in good seed compost excluding light as darkness is beneficial. Germination usually takes 14-21 days at 19-24C (65-75F). Keep the soil just moist and avoid high temperatures which will prevent germination. When seedlings are large enough to handle, transplant and grow cool. Gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions for 10-15 days before planting out after all risk of frost, 23-30cm (9-12in) apart in most soils, sun or part shade. Keriann~

John, As to that greenhouse height. Here is a suggestion. Build up a 1 foot high foundation of concrete blocks to hold the greenhouse frame above the ground. On the inside, go down a few more inches and put in a brick floor with sand as a filler between the bricks. I electrified mine with a single 4 foot outdoor type flourescent fixture with two 4 foot bulbs, as well as weather proof outlets. The wiring was done with PVC tubing used for electric outdoors. The wiring also as a GPF in the circuit to protect against grounding problems. In summer, I have fans running as well as leaving the door open. Mine also has an oil filled piston that will open the center roof panel to allow air to flow out too. Building the greenhouse up on blocks a foot high, and with a deeper floor inside, you can increase the inside height by about a foot . I also have a 6 foot long wooden bench inside that is narrow enough to get through the 2 foot opening of the door. Not only that, the greenhouses usually have aluminium channels that are the framework and these usually have slots for specially made screws that push into the slots and lock in place. Then, I place the shelf brackets they use for closets, and put a foot wide 6 foot long board on the opposite side of the bench. Mine can hold about 20 of the 18"x24" plastic plant trays. Check out Charleys Greenhouse Supply in Washington state. Here is a link that might be useful: Charley's Greenhouse supply

i don't use a chart or calendar... i think it's hard to err on the side of too early in planting seeds... too often i've had bad seeds or bad conditions and have had to restart a whole crop; starting early gives me that option. big healthy seedlings, planted as early as possible, are key to exploiting our two vegetable windows (late fall, early summer). i agree with you w/r/t garden pests and diseases and being too early; but you can hold plants for weeks as seedlings if you use a good seedling mix, shade, morning sun, dry areas under eaves, etc.. right now i have a bunch of large (5 and 6 inch) broc, chard and cauliflower seedlings in 4" pots, ready to go into the ground. but i won't have space for them until mid-september when i clear one of my sweet potato spots. i've started a bunch of lettuce seedlings indoors in turface and coir. it's too early to start them outdoors (too hot, soil's too active for their thin seedcoats and slow germination)... but in a couple of weeks i'll transplant them into buckets in the shade, and then in october into the garden... anyway, i'd rather be too early than too late. those dates on the ifas calendar are too late for me by a good two weeks.