Kristin,

We've been talking about our fall gardening plans and what we're doing for fall on another thread that Diane (Owiebrain) started at the end of May. Have you seen that thread? I'll link it below in case you haven't. As you read along you'll see a couple of links in different places that refer to documents that have planting dates. One is from OSU and has fall planting dates for warm-season crops. Another is from Texas and has fall planting dates for cool-season crops too, although we have to adjust those dates a little earlier since we're farther north.

In general, fall planting starts around July 1st, and I believe Diane has already planted something for fall....maybe squash or melons? I'm getting ready to plant fall melons and winter squash/pumpkins in the next couple of days. I push fall planting dates a little early sometimes with warm-season crops and it works well. I try not to plant cool-season crops early because they can handle only a limited amount of heat.

If you are going to plant pole beans for fall, you can do that right now.

Why don't you check out the linked thread (and its' links) and then come back with your comments and quesions.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Previous Thread on 2009 Fall Gardens

Yep, I just planted pumpkins and watermelons, as well as started seeds for basil and fall tomatoes. I'm not yet sure what else I'll do for fall, depends on what burns up when & where and what I've recently read about/am excited about at the moment. I'm so fickle. LOL Oh, I did just plant out some Swiss chard seedlings I'd started a couple of weeks ago.

It's all Dawn's fault that I started so many cherry tomatoes for fall. All of her talk about dehydrating them and their superb yumminess got me drooling! I'd never even considered drying cherry toms before, even though I've dried bunches of other tom types.

Bad Dawn. Bad, bad Dawn. ;-)

Diane

Diane,

Trust me, once you taste them in the dead of winter when the flavor of a "real" tomato is a distant memory, you'll never be without them again!

Add in the fact that cherry, grape, currant and small pear types continue to flower and set fruit despite the heat...well, what's not to love about them?

So, OK, I'm bad.....bad, bad, bad, bad, bad! All those little yummy bite-sized tomatoes....they're good, good, good, good, good!

I've been finding basil volunteers in my mulched pathways, so I've been digging them up and moving them into beds, so I guess I won't have to start any seedlings for fall!

I should be outside working in the garden, but it is hot, hot, hot, so I may be inside for the afternoon and then out late in the afternoon to do some more work. This feels like one of the hottest days so far this year, although I think it could not possibly feel as hot as those two days last week when the heat index hit 109.

It seems ironic that we're discussing our fall gardens even as the thermometer really starts cranking up, but it does give us something to look forward to.

Dawn

Me, too. Now that the heat has hit, I do outside things before noon and after 5 or 6. I hold the baby 24/7, she goes where I go -- and she doesn't like being out in that harsh sun of afternoon. So we find a shady spot somewhere, preferably with a fan pointed at us.

Oh, this is a good year for volunteers here! I've been digging tomato and pepper volunteers left and right the last couple of weeks! Between those and the seeds I recently started, I'm going to have more plants than prepared spots to put them. Not a bad problem to have.

Diane, slightly melted

I am having a hard time deciding if I am planting a spring garden or a fall garden. LOL I was so late getting things started this year, that I will probably be eating most of it in fall. This year I have been like Jay with my tomato plants. I think I started in March and planted until June, but I only planted a few. In fact, I had some tomato seedlings that looked like they wanted to grow so badly that I potted some of them up a couple of weeks ago. They look great and are setting fruit although they are very small. One of my neighbors took some of the left over seedlings yesterday and added them to his existing garden. Needless to say....I am not planning a fall garden but am still planting a few things.

Carol,

It's just been that kind of a weather year, hasn't it? I don't even think all the heavy rains/flooding in 2007 made us plant as late as we have this year, because I think we had heavy rains earlier in spring that year, then a drier spell in late April/May so we could plant, and then the flooding rains in June. For many of us, the spring planting did barely end this year, and it was already time to start looking at our fall planning.

I only have space for fall tomatoes because I kept one section of the spring garden fallow so it would be there for fall tomatoes. However, it will hold less than half of what I am going to plant, so I'll have to squeeze the others in elsewhere. Hopefully, the potatoes, cabbage and onions will finish up on time so I can use their space for fall crops. Everything is so, so late this year, including my corn, and late corn is iffy in our heat so I hope it makes good ears.

I am planning a big corn planting for fall because my corn is pollinating with daily highs in the upper 90s which can impede pollination, and I also have a raccoon around the yard, checking daily for those ears of corn too. So, I think it likely I'll have a poor spring corn crop and will have to fight the coons for every ear. Where, you might ask, will I put a big corn planting in my already crowded garden? Well, I can't put it where the spring corn is planted because the beans and squash in the three sisters planting will take over when that corn is done. So, to have a place for fall corn, we're going to have to rototill up bermuda grass, rake out the roots, add some compost and manure to the soil, and plant the fall corn there.

The good thing about making a new corn bed is that I'll have a new place to plant AND I'll be getting rid of more bermuda grass. The bad thing is tht it is going to require a lot of physical labor at the hottest part of the year, and fencing it will be an expense. Without a fence, though, the corn will belong to the deer and raccoons and not to us. I have "Make A New Place To Plant Corn" on my "To Do" list for July, but Tim doesn't really know that yet. We've discussed it, but I don't think he realizes I am serious about doing it this year, because we talk about it every year, but never seem to get around to doing it.

Dawn