Here, in Alamogordo, New Mexico, the high heat and winds makes it impossible to grow delicious lettuce and most varieties of spinach. I found a spinach variety that does amazingly well here. It's called "Harmony Spinach" from Burpee Seeds. Go, as quick as you can, and buy a couple packets from Lowes Hardware or Home Depot... you'll love it!!! This spinach is heat tolerant and deliciously mild with no biterness. I have one of those "perpetually picky" husbands who hates spinach. I put Harmony Spinach on sandwiches and made entire salads from it last summer. I literally resorted to trickery and told him it was lettuce... he never new the difference. :) Your weather in Austin is actually better than ours in Alamogordo, so I think you will have fantastic results! Give Spigariello Liscia a try, too... if you like cooked greens. Chard is too "earthy" for my tastes and I get tired of it quickly. Tuscan Kale is delish, but it takes second place to Spigariello Liscia. The Tuscan Kale will grow year-around for you in Austin, though. Cooked greens are "off the menu" for my hubby, but I eat giant platefuls of them. Both the Spiariello Liscia and Tuscan kale are very heat tolerant for members the kale family. You are welcome to contact me via my member page if you have trouble finding either seed... happy gardening!

Go to Johnnys Seeds web site and clic on the type of vegatable you want to grow then click on the growing information highlight the information copy and past it into a word processing program then move on to the next one and repete the process and soon you will have growing information on all of the vegatables you can grow. here's the one from lettuce. Remember to go alphabeticaly from a to z. www.johnnyseeds.com Growing Information: CULTURE: Lettuce is hardy and can be planted as early as the soil can be worked. It is a cool weather crop and makes its best growth at temperatures of 60-65°F (16-18°C). Careful variety selection is important for hot weather crops. Sow every 3 weeks for a continuous supply of fresh lettuce. THERMAL DORMANCY: Lettuce can be dormant at high temperatures. For best germination results sow at soil temperatures of 68°F (20°C) or lower. The priming process in pelleted lettuce seeds broadens the temperature range in which the seeds will germinate, overcoming some of a lot's thermal dormancy. TRANSPLANTING: Sow in flats, 4 seeds/in., or in 3/4' plug trays, barely covering seeds with fine vermiculite, 3-4 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Shade the flats on sunny, warm days if necessary to keep the soil surface cool, below 75°F (24°C), until germination. If sowing into flats, transplant 1-2' apart into flats, pots, or cell-type containers about 2 weeks later. Harden seedlings by reducing water and temperature for 2-3 days before planting outdoors. Properly hardened transplants can survive temperatures as low as 20°F (-6°C). Transplant iceberg lettuce 12' apart in rows 18' apart, other types 8-12' x 12-18' apart. DIRECT SEEDING: Seeds germinate even at low, 40°F (4°C), soil temperature, but poorly above 75-85°F (24-29°C) depending on the variety and seed lot. Cover seed lightly, about 1/8', and firm soil gently. Dry soil must be watered to ensure coolness and moisture, and for even germination. Thin young seedlings to one plant per spot. For salad mix: sow in a 2-4' wide band, about 60 seeds/ft. MT0 SEEDS: A variety name followed by MT0-10 indicates that the seeds offered for sale in sizes larger than a packet have been tested for the presence of lettuce mosaic virus and that no LMV was found in a sample of 10,000 seeds or less. MT0-30 indicates that no LMV was found in a sample of 30,000 seeds tested. NOTE: A disease-free test result does not guarantee a seedlot to be disease-free, only that in the sample tested, the pathogen targeted was not found. DAYS TO MATURITY: For full-size heads from direct seeding and growth in mild temperatures; subtract 10-14 days if transplanting. Note: maturity can be 3 or more weeks later in cool weather, and up to 1 week earlier in hot weather. AVG. DIRECT SEEDING RATE: For full-size heads (precision seeded): 5,300'/oz., 220'/1,000 seeds, 5.5 oz./acre at 3 seeds every 8' in rows 18' apart. For salad mix: 400'/oz., 16'/1,000 seeds, 6,400'/lb. At 60 seeds/ft. TRANSPLANTS: Avg. 20,000 plants/oz. SEED SPECS: SEEDS/OZ.: 20,000-30,000 (avg. 24,000). MINI: 0.5 gm. unless otherwise noted (avg. 400 seeds, sows about 17' at 24 seeds/ft., or makes 250 transplants). PACKET: 1 gm. unless otherwise noted (avg. 800 seeds, sows 34' or makes about 480 plants).

Basil and cilantro are annuals. Their lives will be short. Parsley is a biennial though I generally treat it like an annual. It will probably be very short-lived indoors as well. Rosemary is a perennial though notoriously hard to over winter indoors. See back posts in this forum for more on that. An unheated porch might be best to over winter rosemary and parsley in. FataMorgana

I've sold 'Salad Bowls' with great success at market. I use a fiber pot, 8" deep & about a foot across. We put a fat chive plant in the center (they're usually flowering when they go to market) surrounded by greens & a few violas for color & as edible flowers. We charge $12-$18.00. This is a great thread! There are such good ideas. We have a hard time w/ the state health dept. here on bagging greens for market. They are convinced that all bagged greens are assumed (by the consumer)to be washed in a commercail kitchen and ready to eat. Even a giant "wash and enjoy" label won't satisfy them. So....we can't pre-bag. What they want is to have the greens in a large, open container that customers bag themselves. That way, the customer kows that they should be washed at home. (you can see this really gets me going). NOW, there are hundreds of hands going into that open container, bagging salad, but not seen as a health issue!! I've taken to putting out a box of latex gloves - it strikes me as so unsanitary. Not to mention , how hard it is to keep greens looking good under those conditions. We have a very high UV load here - even if it's cool, they'll go down quickly, even under a canopy. Thanks for the advice & information!