Well believe it or not it is time to plant for Fall crops. The summer garden is really starting to fade. I pulled up 1 whole bed of squash and zucchini last week. I then reworked the bed with my garden rake and planted beets, spinach and mixed greens in that bed this morning. It is drizzly this morning so it is a perfect time to plant seeds. I also pulled up some lettuce that had bolted and started to flower. I decided not to save any of the lettuce seed because I'm not sure if it is hybrid or not. It came in a pack from Burpee that was a mix of different varieties. I scratched that bed up a little and then planted more mixed greens. All of the seeds I planted this morning are Heirloom seeds and I am planning on saving the seeds from these for Spring planting. I started some seeds in homemade flats last week. Some of the seed germinated in 2 days. I have the flats in the garden in a bed that is covered with shade cloth. I think the seedlings will need some shade from the hot August sun before it cools down some in September. I thinned the seedlings out some this morning so they will have room to grow on. I've been feeding them with 1/4 strength Organic fertilizer. They are doing nicely so far. I will give them about 2 more weeks before I transplant them into their new homes. Peppers and tomatoes are still producing great fruit. Cucumbers are pretty much done though. Next year I will plant the Cucumbers in succession so we will have them all the way through until Frost. Several Watermelons are still growing on the vines. The vines are starting to look tired though and if we don't get enough rain they will never make it to finish ripening. Corn is done and I will pull the stalks for decorating. The corn did very well this year despite record heat and dry. The key was keeping it watered during this time. Sunflowers are looking tired and I may pull them by the end of the month.