Fall gardening can be very successful. Falls like 2016 can be as productive as spring. I had fresh tomatoes from mid Oct until Jan and only covered up three times. I started tomatoe cuttings 3 weeks ago. I also put in a few leftover bean,squash and pea seed last week. I don't mulch with plastic in spring but after weather cool's,I put down black plastic to increase ground tempature. If you can't find locally,go on line for onion sets (small hard bulbs) to plant when weather cool's down. Most(myself included) plant transplants late winter/ early spring but onions are something I can watch grow during winter. They are always a hit when I give them to friends waiting for transplants in spring..

I have a bunch of tomato transplants ready to go in.

i'll be sure to look for onion sets did a few last spring and still have 4 or 5 in the fridge waiting for a salad... i would like to do cukes and squash, but couldn't find sets....we shall see about those

I grow cukes and squash from seed.

The back of my Car is full of 205 gallons of chicken manure and 30 Gallons of garden soil. Tomorrow is time to spread stuff on the garden and pot up transplants into 5 gallon pots for a month, until the cool down comes.

Mara, with all that your garden should grow faster than James' beanstalk, but am I the only one having a hard time envisioning 235 gallons of soil amendments in the back of your car! That's 47 five gallon buckets! And where do you get chicken manure by the gallon anyway?

I figured it was a typo, but just had to raze you about it. Plus I didn't realize you could buy chicken manure in bulk.

I can buy chicken manure by the truckload if I desired. I can get anything that they have in bulk in my pots. Geo growers has three types of mulch, Mushroom, dairy and chicken, I can get many dirt formulations, DG, sand crushed granite. Much more. I bet Gardenville will sell their bulk stuff in bag your own form. I talked with Whitesly (SP?) and they got a price for my 10 gallon pots easily. I bet many bulk providers will do the same. It is a lot cheaper than buying it by the bag from HD or Lowes.

Gardenville used to let you bag your own. I've been close to heat stroke doing just that, but that option is no longer offered since the new management took over from the originator Malcolm Beck several years ago. For anyone in San Antonio that's interested I believe New Earth does let you bring containers and bag your own.

Be aware that New Earth uses bio solids in some of their products:

"For more than six years, New Earth and SAWS have partnered to recycle more than 65,000 tons of bio-solids annually to generate compost to improve soil quality for professional landscaper and the weekend gardeners."

Their must be other bulk soil guys around. Burning Bush, Stone and soil depot has bulk compost. Never been there but they say that they have bulk manure compost.

Going to the source can save. Stables,poultery houses and feed lots will load your trailer for what amount's to a gratitudity. Landscapers order material in "Super-Sak",a cubic yard bag with lifting straps. A mom and pop landscaper can tell you who to order from. Storage is a problem for many gardeners but if you have room for composting on a large scale,can save a bundle and/or be a community project. Tree service companies will give you all the chips you can haul and in some cases deliver 2 to 10 yards free. Hire a dirt & gravel hauler to pick up 10 yards of animal manure and dump on top of wood chips. If pile doesn't populate with worms,introduce some. Extend arobic septic sprinkler line so that an impact head wet's the pile then sit back and wait.