Bush beans.

Cucumbers

Kohlrabi for a fall harvest. That is what I'm planting when I harvest my garlic.

Rodney

Can you grow vegies for winter harvest where you are? I just planted Tuscan kale, Siberian kale, beets, chard, etc. this past week.

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I may do bush beans and cucumber. I have no idea what to do with Kohlrabi! I don't believe I've ever eaten it.

Nila.jones: Yes, I can plant for winter harvest, but I think it might be early for that here. I was thinking more early/mid august for that.

regarding beans, cucumbers, kohlrabi - can I plant from seed now or do I need starts?

Seed is best for both.

Kohlrabi is crispy, crunchy, and it has a mild cabbage flavor (it is a brassica, after all). If you shred it you can use it as a substitute in any recipe that calls for shredded cabbage. It's a small plant, it's fast growing, and even if cabbage worms and loopers attack it they don't really do any significant damage. It's pretty much the only brassica I grow besides turnips and radishes. Also, if you overwinter it then the following spring it will produce florets not unlike broccoli in flavor, although much smaller. I apologize for rambling but it happens to be one of my favorite veggies. lol

I'll be planting mine in a couple weeks or so. If you can keep it alive through the heat then it will last well into fall, it laughs at frost. And I'm direct seeding mine.

Rodney

I would think your winter cold would come sooner than mine, so if you are doing seeds you should start winter greens today! But starts you can plant much later.

Rodney, if you overwinter it and eat the florets, can you still eat the bulb? I wonder, because I've found they get woody and too spicy if I let them grow for too long. I've always planted them for an early spring harvest, though, so I don't know if it's the age or the heat that causes the woodiness.

Anyhow, I love Kohlrabi too. It's an underrated veggie!

julia42- The overwintered bulb is very woody. I didn't try it to eat it but I could just tell by looking at it. Kohlrabi will get woody and radishy (hot, spicy) if it gets too mature. The florets are small, around one to two inches in diameter but it makes up for it in quantity. And the overall size of the plant gets much larger if it's overwintered. I found this stuff out when I saved seeds from them last year.

I forgot to mention in my previous comment that you can use kohlrabi leaves in the same way as you would kale leaves.

Rodney

Wow - great information about Kohlrabi! I may have to try it in the garden - it seems to have a multitude of uses.

You may be right, Nila. I need to check my frost dates. I was concerned that it would be too hot now for cool weather plants. It's pretty brutal out there!

I'll grow from seed, as per Itilton's advice - not sure I could find starts this time of year anyway.

Thanks everyone!

I would also recommend kale. My favorite is dwarf blue curled scotch. I sow it in August and then have it all through the winter because you can pick individual leaves from several plants without killing them. Since you're in zone 5 you would probably have to provide protection to them in the winter.

And I agree with Rodney - I love kohlrabi too! If you like to peel broccoli stalks and slice them up and eat them, you'll like kohlrabi.

-Anne