I grow bush beans in the fall garden along with leaf lettuce, arugula, Swiss chard, dill, and cilantro.

My fall/winter garden goes down a notch, partially due to laziness/ not wanting to slog about in the rain and muck/wanting to build up the "main" beds with compost,etc.
I usually maintain 2 3x6 beds with lettuce, broccoli, radishes,chard, leeks and some greens.
I have a hard time timing a summer/winter garden cause my "summer" garden will usually last well into October and occasionally into December! That makes it difficult to plant (especially by seed!)the winter stuff in time to be nice and strong when frost hits!
I suppose I COULD pull the tomato plants earlier, but.........
Ahh, well. I'll just have to have the DH make a few more beds!!!! LOLOL Nancy

This will be my third year to plant a fall/winter garden. It is the easiest time to garden here by far! It's true that you have to do some advance planning to have space available at the right time. But it is getting easier each year for me to schedule things right. As the first crops poop out in mid summer I start planning to reserve those cool weather beds. I have 9 raised beds, but only plant 3 for cool weather. This allows me to have second crop beans, second crop squash, the best looking tomatoes from spring,second crop cucumbers, and okra in the other beds until frost.

The first year I did this, a kind gentleman on the Vegetables forum, farmerdilla, who is from Georgia, gave me his planting schedule. I put it in my journal and have followed it ever since. It works like a charm. Here it is:

In mid July, start seeds for broccoli, collards, cauliflower, and cabbage. Sow them in four inch pots and put them outside in dappled shade. It's amazing. These cool weather seeds come right up and do just fine even in triple digit heat like this year. (I am just growing collards and broccoli this year.) Collards are so productive that this year I am only going to grow 3 plants.
Of course, you can skip this part and just buy transplants.

The last week of August or the first week of September, direct sow (Red Russian) kale, which is our favorite green, turnips, rutabagas, mustard greens and asian greens. Also carrots and beets. I have had great luck with carrots and lousy luck with beets (very difficult to germinate). I grew Pak Choi and Komatsuna last year. They did well but we really didn't like them. This will be my first year for rutabagas, which we have eaten and like. We love turnip greens and mustard greens. The mustard greens are very productive, so I will only plant maybe 4 or 5 plants this year. Ditto for the kale.

I always start pansy seed on Labor Day. These I start and grow in my basement under lights. This year I am going to plant a row of Giant Purple Mustard right behind them. I grew it last year and it was a beautiful plant as well as delicious. I saved seed for this year.

In mid September it's time to start onion seed. I have Granex 33 to try this year for the first time. We really love the sweet onions but they have gotten ridicuously expensive here. So I am going to try my hand at them this year. I have plenty of bed space in the winter, so why not?

In late September, plant lettuce, garlic, and spinach. I have had great difficulty with spinach. I have a new variety to try this year and if it fails, I will give up. I just love fresh spinach, though.

I have planted garlic cloves from grocery store garlic the past two years. Their greens are delicious! This year I pulled them in the spring and discovered that they were trying to head up. I ruined it trying to store it in the fridge so have spent alot of time reading up on growing garlic for real. I am going to plant a softneck variety this year.

Then in late November or early December, it's time to plant the onion seedlings in the ground.

I compost my beds in early spring, so for these plantings, I just give them some fresh blood meal. I mulch the beds heavily with pinestraw and then use tomato cages that are opened up and "hooped" over the beds covered with floating row cover to form mini hoop houses. In my first two years I have not lost a single plant to cold, though we have never gone below ten degrees. Still, I think that's great. The hoops also protect the plants from insect damage, so the plants are as pristine in February as they were in November. I can't tell you how much we enjoy having fresh food on the table through the winter, or how wonderful it is to have just a very few garden chores to do. There is always plenty of rain, so I never have to sprinkle. The mulch keeps out virtually all weeds, and the hoops protect from insects. Really, all I do is harvest.

Donna, good luck with the rutabaga. We love it, but I didn't have luck growing it. Got attacked by some insect. Can't remember what. Also can't get beets to grow to save me. Have you tried daikon?

Hi, natal. Can you remember just what it was that attacked your rutabagas? I will probably have them under row covers, so hopefully that will give them some protection. It's always an adventure growing something new, which is what I love best about gardening. Will let you know how it goes.

I have had very little luck with beets, but a friend of mine here grew a good crop of them this past early spring. Maybe that timing is the trick.

I have not tried Daikon. I have never liked radishes. Of course, this is an asian radish, so maybe it's nothing like a radish? I guess I have no idea what it tastes like. What about you? Have you grown it? Like it?

Regular radishes get eaten by slugs in my garden ... or at least they did in the past. I haven't grown them in years. Daikon grow without any problem. I like to julienne them for salads. They're much milder than a red radish.

Last year at this time I was able to go to Wal-Mart and purchase bonnie plants of broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. I just talked to Wal-Mart this year and apparently Bonnie will not be producing those so I may be limited to the side shoots of broccoli unless I can rig something up to keep them protected in the cold and try to get some started from seed right now, but it may be pushing it.

I am planting some saffron crocus and hopefully they will bloom this year. I have a few already but I will need more for a decent harvest. We finally finished double digging a bed so I planted shell peas, kale and lettuce in that. I will keep planting lettuce and radishes for fall consumption and spinach was planted last week along with my last sowing of carrots. We will be ordering some frost blankets to use to help extend the season. We can get some surprise freezes in October but then have wonderful weather afterwards.

Thanks everyone especially Donnabasket for your input. I looked up our first frost date and it is Nov 15 here. That gives me only 75 days. Which means I have to plant my seed around now. Of all the things I can grow I love spinach the most. I can probably get in several successive plantings before it freezes. I may even rig up a cold frame using an old window(has anyone here done that?)to try and extend the season.
This Labor Day weekend I am driving 6 hours to Tyler Texas to visit Chamblee's Rose Nursery. have a happy Labor Day everone.

I grow much the same as Donnabasket, and so much of the fall and winter garden is completely frost and freeze hardy for zones 7-8 (and of course, warmer) that it is, indeed a great time to garden and also so beautiful! I love the beauty of winter vegetables in the potager. I add tents to some of my raised beds, and I carry over the burgundy spinach, and many other not-as-frost hardy vegetables just fine under them. We grow tons of root crops out in the "open" beds (no tents), and many cruciferous veggies out there too. They get so sweet and delicious with that touch of frost. I could live on salad greens and leafy green/root veg soups (oh, wait?! I do!!!!)

pvel, your frost date is the same as mine, so you should be okay for everything if you purchase transplants. I did the dumbest thing this year! When I planted my collard seeds, and a few days later, when I planted my broccoli seeds I didn't put tags on the flats, thinking I would be able to tell the difference and "remember" which flat was which. The seedlings are absolutely identical! So this week, I either planted 18 broccoli plants and 3 collards, OR I planted 18 collard plants and only 3 broccoli. Heavens to Betsy! I promised the rest to my friend, so she won't know any more than I do what she'll get...

I planted the mustard, turnips, and kale this week in the garden too. Hopefully this tropical storm that is coming (thank you, God) will bring the seeds up. They are calling for highs in the SEVENTIES next week. Oh, I am so ready....

GGG- Good luck! You and your friend can share back and forth! LOL

I was tempted to sow seeds this week, but I'm glad I didn't. With all this rain from Lee they probably would have floated away.

You all got a flood for sure, natal. So far, I have four inches in my rain gauge and it is so welcome! I was afraid I was going to lose some well established crape myrtles in this drought!

All my greens seeds are up and the broccoli and collards have taken off. (Our rain was more of a slow soaker than a heavy downpour.) And, joy of joys, I went outside to check on things this morning and found lots and lots of little green tomatoes. The temperatures have dropped enough and pollination has begun again. Thanks, natal, for your tip on keeping a few plants. It looks like it is going to pay off!

Donna, that's great news! I started getting a second harvest from my Sun Gold mid August, but that came to a screeching halt with the arrival of TS Lee. All the tomato plants got too much wind and rain (11 inches), except for one that was much smaller and must have been sheltered by the others.

What about Brussels sprouts. Are they easy to grow in the fall?

pvel, I know that Brussels Sprouts are a fall crop. However, my family would put me out by the road if I brought them to the table! :) No experience at all. Maybe someone else will chime in.

Oh my goodness, natal. Eleven inches...The first year we lived in New Orleans (1979), we had ten inches fall in about two hours and that was our introduction to street flooding. Have never forgotten it. Maybe your raised beds will be the saving of your plants?

Donna, I recently discovered roasting brussel sprouts! Oh YUMMMM! I'm pretty sure it's about 30-45 min at 400*.I think I did 30 min last time I made them, but test it out. Toss with olive oil and whatever herbs/spices you like beforehand.
The outer leaves might get crispy or even burned looking, but the innards are REALLY sweet and creamy! Nancy

That is a wonderful idea, nancy! This past spring I discovered how delicious roasted broccoli is, and through the summer I have tried roasting eggplant, squash (mixed results), green beans and tomatoes. All of them were wonderful. I'm going to try roasting okra this week-end. Who knows? Never would have thought of brussel sprouts. I will get a small bag and try some for myself. Just where did you get your seed?

I love most roasted veggies, but broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts just don't do it for me. Grew burgundy okra last year only because I wanted to try it roasted (not a fan of okra). IMO roasting didn't help. The slime was still a factor.

One of my favorite Brussels sprouts sides is a stir-fry with ginger and fresh orange zest & juice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Warm Orange-Ginger Brussels Sprouts Slaw

I tried this roasted okra recipe last week and it was great. This week we also tried okra fries where the okra was tossed with a little oil, besan (chickpea flour), rice flour and spices and then nuked. The fries were a winner and not slimy at all.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roasted okra with mint