You still have a full month in central-NC before common "last frost". A lot of summer crop stuff won't take off growing until late-April/early-May anyway. Pretty much every summer crop is fair game in our area. During July/August tom/pepper production may slow down, but come Sept/Oct plants are flush with flowers and fruits. The only "summer" crop I've seen suffer a bit are common string beans which sometimes stop producing mid-summer if we have extended extremely high heat and they're in full sun.

I would highly recommend Hydroponic Gardening by Dalton and Smith. It is excellent. Here is a link that might be useful: Hydroponic Gardening Book

Maureen, I so sympathize! The president of the local garden club was interested enough in the concept to ask if I would give a talk at the September meeting, and then if enough are interested, we could start a GG study group, and go through it, a couple of chapters a month. It has crossed my mind, when it comes to that, to put up a flyer in the local nurseries and/or health-food store, to invite non-club members in. A couple of years ago, Toby emailed me permission to copy & distribute his instructions for "The Ultimate Bomb-Proof Sheet Mulch" p. 72, at a gardening group I was in. It makes a great handout! It's so alarming to hear the global warming stats coming in, that I really need to do SOMETHING. If I can sell a few people on the PC concepts, and at least get them growing some edibles in their yards, too, I think I will feel a little better. And I'll keep working on my own little space, getting my rain barrels in under the downspouts, experimenting with guilds, learning what works in each corner. Vaya con Gaia!

Well, this is a bit off the subject, but, when i was a kid of ten or so, my Dad and Grand-father would take me and my brother on a camping trip, up to Pymatuning Reservoir, in North-western Pennsylvania, for a week of fishing and row-boating, and seeing the sights. (This was around 1933 to 1940.) We had two old WW I Army tents, and cots, blankets, a gasoline stove, cooking utensils, plates, etc. We didn't have an ice chest. My Dad would dig a hole in the creek bank, and we'd keep the perishables there, in the cool water, in a bucket, with a lid. We'd rent a row-boat, and Daddy and me and my younger Brother would go out on the lake and fish. We'd spend a week there, and had lots of fun. We'd turn in at dusk, since we didn't have a big lantern. One night, there was a great commotion outside our tent, and the head-lights of our car were shining into our tent and the horn was blowing loudly! (Around 3 a.m!) I awoke, and asked what was happening. Daddy shouted:"There are skunks in your tent"! Uh-Oh!? "Be very still"! I didn't move, and could hear rustling under my brother's cot, so i managed a peek. And there were two skunks worrying an old half empty can of fish-bait! WOO-HOO! Well, they finally "licked the platter clean", so to say, and ran off. Daddy finally quit blowing the horn, and it all cooled down then. Also, when my wife and i went up to Hammonasset State park, in connecticut, we set up the camper, then went in to town to buy some groceries. As we drove back into the park, we saw 3 skunks walking into a tent that was set up nearby. We watched to see if anybody came running out, but no one did. Then, a car pulled in and four girls got out and started for the tent!! I hollered and told them about the skunks---woo-hoo, they hollered, ran out, got into their car and drove madly away! Don't know if they ever came back! Hammonasset was a nice park to visit. We went there several times. It was close to where our son lived. We went there one 4th. of July when the holiday fell on a Saturday. This was on Wednesday. the park management said we could camp there, if we left on Thursday, as the weekenders would need the space. We agreed, and we left.