It sounds right for your location, assuming that they are telling you to put the plants in the ground sometime around or after mid-July. I like to start broccoli plants only 3-5 weeks before their outdoor transplant date, and put them in the ground when the plants are 3-5 weeks old or have 3-5 true leaves. Here where I live we normally are supposed to put broccoli plants in the ground in mid-August, but sometimes I cheat and don't put them into the ground until late August if the weather is insanely hot. Doing that, however, means that I have to be prepared to cover them up if we start getting really cold before they can head up. My average last frost date here is around November 7-10, but that is just a statistical average that means little to me here in the real world. In the real world, we often have an early freeze or frost near the end of September but, then again, in a really warm autumn, we have made it to mid-December before we had the first frost or the first freeze. So, when I plant, I am looking at average dates but know that the real date could be anything six weeks before that average date or six weeks after. That's why row cover is always handy if needed. Usually our first cold night, while freezing or frosty, still isn't cold enough to hurt the cool-season crops, so I don't even have to use the row cover on them.

Kim - I don't know what it is about this year but for the very first time - I'm planning a fall garden. Never thought about it, didn't want the extra work...but there's something about the way life has finally turned, the tools & knowledge I've accumulated and this year's drought bust that actually have me planning. As we accidently break a strong tomatoe branch when putting the arms back in the cages, we replant. Immediately. And they live! I'm planning some cabbage, brocs and maybe cauliflower too for fall. AND...I think I'm going to order some seeds for onions.

A former member here that is still a close friend of mine tried a new approach to onions and so far, it's working well for her. Some of you may remember Ilene-in-NEOK. She early planted seeds in a contained area, let them over winter and then when it was time in her zone - dug the clump up, separated and planted. They are doing really well. She's really in Zone 6 so she's a bit behind us but they are thriving. I'm going to try it with my fall garden plans. If it doesn't work, whatever. It only costs me the price of the seed packet and that will still be less than I spent on onion bunches this year that got drowned out and died.

i have read about doing that too. I read about this lady and I follow her blog and she is really encouraging/enabling. She does amazing fall/winter garden and I was going to start last year but I got really sick and it ended up being too late. But this year I am going for it. i am hooked on this and love every second of it. Eating all the fresh produce And sharing has been so awesome this spring. I took the neighbors kids to town and pulled carrots, dug potatoes, snipped some broccoli, and picked flowers. my little helper from years past knew all about it but little sister was ecstatic pulling carrots. Makes it all worth it. I am gaining a little more confidence with each successful crop and each time a longtime gardener comes to visit and compliments our garden. I cant take any credit, for the knowledge and strength are gifts.
I am learning people are very limited here and only do what has been done before and thanks to ALL of you I am breaking the mold. I have purple cauliflower for goodness sakes. So lets go for it and see what happens. I already have seed ordered.

Ok the blond kicked in there for a minute. I have been pondering why I would be doing anything before Dawn because I am always tagging along behind 2-3 weeks. Hmmmm but light bulb in the fall I will have to do things 2-3 weeks before. I am not sure if I can garden like this.

Kim, lol. Yes, sometimes that blond thing does kick in. When I am having a blond moment, I run through everything in my mind again trying to find whatever thing I am missing or not seeing.

You can do it.

Getting plants off to a good start in hot weather is challenging, but you'll be glad you did it when you have a beautiful fall garden producing bountiful yields. In general, pest pressure is a lot lower in fall as well.

I do not want to even think about fall yet, but the Territorial Seed fall/winter catalog arrived this week, and I flip through it every now and then and tell myself that it is time to order seeds so I need to get with it and do it.

Paula, I love fall and winter gardening, but don't bother putting in a fall garden if we are in the midst of a prolonged drought. It is hard enough to keep a summer garden watered in drought years, and I just don't want to deal with having to water all autumn as well. Since were are out of drought for the first time in 4 years, I am planning a fall garden and it would take a really awful June, July and August to make me change my mind.

I don't like how abruptly we went from cool/mild/wet to hot/sunny/steamy. Tim saw 3 grass fires on his way to work today, and that just seems ridiculous based on how wet we have been. For me, it serves as a reminder that even though we have been in a flooding situation, there's still dormant cool-season grasses out there turning brown, drying out and serving as fuel for those fires. I'm hoping for a really quiet summer, fire-wise. I would hope that we do at least have enough good deep soil moisture that any watering we have to do will be minimal this summer.

Dawn