First time for a late fall garden - suggestions and tips?

I've got turnip, spinach, swiss chard, kohlrabi and beets going in today.

I sowed lettuce (and lettucey-like) seeds in flats a few weeks ago, with really poor germination (probably too hot, but I have nowhere to keep them cool), so I'll try again. I tried sowing leeks; no luck; can't find any sources either. Ahhh well - I guess my topset onions will have to suffice for this year.

Can I sow "flowering broccoli" (Brassica rapa 'Hon Tsai Tai)' now, or is it better in the spring?

Anything else I can sow (or anything on this list I shouldn't try this late?) I'm planning to put these in beds that I can cloche with row covers if the freezing temps come earlier than expected (around here, first frost is typically at the end of October - maybe a little sooner; some years a little later, but not by much.)

On farmerdill's advise, I sowed some broccoli, last week as he says this cool weather crop works in this areaa for fall. I am going to sow some "short time plants" ( carrots, onions) today.

I have a question for you - In plant files the entry for "Red Sorrel" list all of the plant poisenist (sp), but i thought the leaves were edible and communly used in salads?

Dyson, the PF warnings are pretty vague and general (intentionally - we don't want to set ourselves up as an authority on plant toxicity when we don't have the requisite expertise to do so, and we can't/don't review each toxicity warning that is checked off by anyone who adds that information to an entry ;o)

From what I've read, Rumex acetosa and R. acetosella both contain oxalic acid, which can be toxic if consumed in large quantities (especially to grazing animals) - which is probably why the plant was labeled with a warning in PlantFiles.

Thanks Terry, I think a few leafs in a salad shoud be ok. But I will try to research more.

The green French Sorrel is delicious in salads and mixed in with scrambled eggs (if you haven't tried it yet)...I haven't seen the red, but that sounds interesting!
~Kim

Regarding sorrel/toxicity, etc...I read years ago (when I was regularly eating purslane!) that oxalic acid, eaten "regularly" (I guess that means "too often"!?) tends to inhibit your body's ability to utilize vitamin A; that would not be so good for ya, eh?

Howdy Terry, I'm waiting for "tuesday's rain" (at least according to the TV guru) and will then sow our turnips/turnip salad, kale, mustard, etc. Have some beet seeds soaking as I type this so that will go in also. (Friday I sowed a row of Pinkeye Purple Hulls and some Browneye 6 Week Peas.)

If you don't want to start some things from seeds you can still set out transplants of brocolli , cabbage, Brussels sprouts, collards. I'm sure those will be showing up soon at the nursery/garden centers soon.

Garden Centers tend to have onions sets, too. I plant those in the Fall of they year (usually around October/November) for wintering over and have a nice crop to harvest in the Spring/Early Summer.

And yes, give your lettuce seeds another try. Plenty of time left!

Shoe.

Soaking the beet seeds, eh? Whodathunk of that? (Not me...duh!)

Well, I sowed beets, chard, spinach, kohlrabi, flowering broccoli & turnips. I'll give the lettuce another try in a few days. I guess if my beets don't come up, I'll try your advice on the next batch ;o) Rain? Hmmmm. I'm doin' the best "rain dance" I know - running the fool out of my sprinkler, giving everything a good soaking.

We soak most of our seeds before planting, unless they are so tiny you can hardly see them. We let the surface dry just a bit if we are going to use a planting tool (so they don't get stuck in the tool). If we are planting by hand, they go from soaking container to ground.

I soaked the broccoli seed I planted last month and had an excellent germination rate - but then again the seed was from gourney's instead of wal-mart as the seed in the spring was.