Fall Gardening-Newbie! Need help!

[Yael W.]

Hello All!

I just moved back home after graduating college (another unemployed college grad here....sigh!) and I have decided to start a garden as sort of a project for myself while I'm home. I would like to do a small fall garden even though Ive never gardened before.

My dad and I dug out the land today (its about a square 14 X 14) and we are most likely going to plant tomorrow. I've done some research and we are planting: onions, carrots, spinach, broccoli and beets (We are in zone 6a--does this sound doable to you guys?)

Since my dad and I are both totally amateurs I would love some advice/ any recommendations of good beginning gardening websites to check out.
Also, one more question--since we got sucha late start on this we are going to the store to pick up seeds instead of ordering from a catalog :( Does anyone know of any stores that will have Heirloom/ Organic seeds in stock instead of commercial ones? (This is definitely more important to me than my dad!)

Thanks so much in Advance!!

[amygwh]

I'm in zone 7b/8, and it is too late here to start broccoli from seed and still get good broccoli before Christmas. Little plants should be available from garden supply stores, maybe the same ones you are getting seeds from. I don't know about the rest of your plan, since my climate zone is so different.

Here, NW of Atlanta, we can still plant all of what you are planning to plant from seed with a good chance of success, but only for another couple of weeks. Even for my earlier plantings, I have ready a protective cover (kind of a mini hoop-house) for the earliest freezes, to give my crops more warmth/time to mature. The protective cover will shift to the later plantings as the winter goes on and the earlier ones are eaten, so the later ones will last longer into the winter.

It is possible that, planted this late, your beets and carrots won't be ready until spring. That is how it goes here, if my root crops are planted out too late.

You might want to check with your county extension office to see if they have a planting schedule or helpful hints for you. My county extension office has lots of free publications that are given to people who call or come by with gardening questions. The publications are very helpful, especially for beginners.

It is great that you are going to grow food for your family this year. I hope the garden is a success!

Amy, NW of Atlanta