Sure you can. The only drawback is the heat and sun. I'll give you a tip for starting seeds late. Cover the plot with a cloth. A piece of old sheet works good. Water well then cover with the sheet and wet the sheet down. From then on water right through the cloth a couple of times a day if needed. The cloth acts like mulch or a humidity lid keeping ground from drying out to much and therefore the seed moist without the heat build-up of clear plastic. Check when it gets close to the time they should be up and remove the cloth when they are.

Peas won't do well but spinach and lettuce will be OK

Okay, great. I started the spinach too late this year anyway, and it's all dying off or bolting. I really wanted to try it again, and I've never grown lettuce before. Any suggestions on variety?

Thanks

At this late stage I'd go for leaf lettuce--grand rapids is a good green and should be readily available. I like red sails because it never gets bitter but I think it is only available through seed companies. Muscelin mix is good too. Just try whatever you can get. It is all pretty good when it's young. When you harvest or it is getting old, trim it down with the scissors and it will send out new growth.

Why not give swiss chard a try instead of spinach. It is much like spinach with the exception that you can boil the celery like stalks and use them too. We gave up on spinach a long time ago because of it's tendancy to bolt early. They do have newer varieties that are slower to bolt, but we like chard better anyway.

Funny you mentioned Grand Rapids... that's exactly what I bought. It was between that or the Simpson, and I went with the GR because it said it was more heat tolerant.

I actually did plant swiss chard this year (bright lights) and was suprised at my success. It is doing very well. Any suggestions on how to cook/ eat the stuff? lol. Should have thought of that before I guess.

Kim

The leaves of Chard can be substituted for Spinach in most recipes. You can boil it for 4 to 6 minutes and serve with butter or olive oil and salt and pepper or make a creamy cheese sauce to pour over it. It can be added to soups. You can just pour boiling water over them and then mix with a can of heated undiluted mushroom soup. Boil Chard stems separately until they are tender--They take longer than the leaves. and serve with holindaise sauce or I like them with Rene's Ceasar salad dressing