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Re: Mild-Winter Garden - What to plant now?

Dear Joshua:
    Your 55 degree night sounds like a Western Montana summer.  With
that type of night temperature you can grow virtually any vegetable you
want sans eggplant, okra, yard long beans and other vegetables that
require very warm night temperatures. Go a little crazy with a seed
catalog and order seeds for your every whim.   It's nice to grow a very
wide selection.  Be sure and check some of the Dutch companies.
    Don't forget  oriental veggies.   The famous English vegetable
writer Joy Larkcom wrote an excellent book entitled, Oriental
Vegetables.   Some of the winter  radishes are very interesting.
    Also grow edible flowers for you salads.   Today we munched on
Salvia elegans 'Scarlet Pineapple'flowers while moving things into my
greenhouse for the winter.   We're still waiting for the frost. One of
benefits of El Nino in my area.
    When  you calculate days to maturity, remember that when you go away
from the summer equinox you add more days  than the seed packet states
because the days become shorter.
    You specifically mentioned onions.  I always grow quite a few onions
and leeks from seed. We just harvested the Italian red bottle onions
that are very tasty in salads. But some mystery creature harvested my
leeks, that if not eaten by critters overwinter here.  My local deer
took a bum rap before I built the 10' tall fence around the veggies.
Other fellows somehow patrol my veggie beds.  Sigh!  Next year!
    When you grow in the plastic tunnels, you can grow anything.  Make
sure you allow for air circulation.  Many plants won't need the plastic
but will thrive in the moist weather.
    What are  your summer temperataures like?
    Good luck.
Best, Vicki
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