Harvest Your Cool Garden Crops in 60 days

Unlike many of my northern friends who have had their fall garden crops in the ground for weeks now, we in the South are just getting around to planting those wonderful greens and sundry vegetables that don't really like the heavy heat of our summers. And while my "cool garden" spot was definitely a success in expanding my spring gardening capabilities, this winter's crop is what I'm really looking forward to tackling.

You see, here in the South our four seasons run something like this... hot, hotter, sweltering, and a cool spell. This past spring, in an attempt to thwart Mother Nature, I built a "cool" garden spot in the high noon shadows of a stand of trees on the other side of our property. Utilizing the alternating shadows and sun that begins to creep across this particular spot around 10 am each day, I was able to have vibrant, healthy broccoli and cauliflower plants that produced. Before the relentless sun could scorch the plants, an approximate 20-to-30 minute spell of shade would roll across that garden spot, cooling things down.

And in my regular garden, this summer brought a bumper crop of tomatoes, squash, purple hull peas, okra... you name it. But let's face it--I'm really a "greens" kind of girl. Like all typical southerners, I enjoy my turnip greens and cornbread. That plant has been a staple of southern kitchens since... forever! But as I learn more and more about gardening, and the wonderful varieties of plants that God has blessed this earth with, I'm no longer content to stick with that one cultural staple in my fall garden. I want the variety of my crops to include more than turnip greens, mustard greens, and collards.

For instance, I love spinach. And I'm not talking about boiled, tasteless fare either. I like to take some mushrooms, sprinkle a little garlic salt and olive oil on them, and then quick fry them in a skillet until they're brown and slightly withered. Then, with a dash more olive oil added to the skillet, I toss in my spinach greens and wilt them, mixing the mushrooms in evenly. You can even add a little bit of fried onion to the mixture as well.

I also enjoy a helping of fresh green peas. Take a little dab of butter, some lemon pepper, and sprinkle a little flour in the liquid to thicken the juice, and you have something delicious to accompany pork chops, grilled chicken tenders, or a hamburger steak.

With the continuing rise in food prices these days, you can never have too many vegetables growing in your garden. And if you can extend the harvest period to take advantage of the different growing seasons, it's that much easier on your pocketbook.

If you live anywhere from California, to Texas, to Florida--actually anywhere you have enough time to still plant a fall crop and realize food from it--then there's never been a better time to begin. Imagine walking outside to your raised beds and clipping the lettuce you'll need for tonight's salad, straight from the garden. You can't get fresher produce than that!

Or how about pulling up a bowlful of carrots, slicing them, and steaming them with a little butter and tarragon? Think about taking your kitchen shears and clipping some fresh cilantro to add to a homemade chili, accompanied by a warm round of artisan bread. I don't know about you, but my mouth is watering just thinking about all the ways to incorporate a fall garden into my family's meal plan.

Well, Solutions From Science is giving you the ability to do just that with their limited time offer on a Fall Garden Kit. You can never have enough seeds in the ground, and with this kit of eleven different types of heirloom vegetable seeds, you can provide a variety of fresh foods well into the cooling days of autumn.

The Fall Garden Kit includes these favorites:

• Early Scarlet Globe Radish - a well-known home and market variety radish. Not only is the root edible, but you can eat the leafy foliage as well.
• Detroit Dark Red Beet - developed in 1892, this heirloom is the standard for beets. The 3" round roots are excellent canners.
• Cilantro - one of the most widely used culinary herbs in the world. Use the fresh green leaves as cilantro, or the dried seeds (known as coriander) for flavoring a variety of dishes.
• Bloomsdale Spinach - this quick-growing variety is a heavy yielder. Introduced in 1910, this heirloom is great for fresh eating or canning.
• Cutting Mix Lettuce - a mixture of three different varieties of seeds: Trout Back lettuce, Red Salad Bowl lettuce, and Green OakLeaf lettuce. Step outside, clip some leaves, and you have a wonderful fresh salad.
• Scarlet Nantes Carrots - who can resist this crisp, sweet heirloom? The 7" roots are wonderful fresh or canned. Save the greens and boil them up for a novel side dish. (They can be a little bitter, so parboiling may be in order.)
• Purple White Top Globe Turnip - my favorite, of course! This prolific heirloom is from the 1800s, and is a heavy yielder. Roots and greens are excellent fresh or canned.
• Giant Swiss Chard - introduced in the 1930s, these abundant crops grow 24 to 28 inches high. Yields even after a light first frost.
• Arugula - first noted during the Roman times, this nutty-tasting leafy green prefers cool weather. Use the leaves for salads or sandwich greens and the seeds for flavoring oils.
• Provider Green Beans - developed in 1965 in South Carolina, this stringless bean is disease-resistant and a prolific producer.
• Little Marvel Pea - an heirloom variety introduced in 1900 and known for its quality and high yields. Pods are 3 to 4 inches long with 6 to 7 peas per pod.

As we move into the fall and winter months, finding nutrient dense FRESH greens is nearly impossible. And while vitamin and mineral supplements have their place, you can't substitute the natural goodness of home-grown vegetables with a pill. The bioavailability of the nutrients in fresh foods cannot be replicated by man or man-made devices.

This Fall Garden Kit is everything you need to extend the healthy, fresh food season in your household. And once you're through harvesting what you want, save the rest of the seed for next year to plant another fall garden. This kit is valued at $100, but for this fall special, Solutions From Science is selling them to our loyal customers for $49.95 (plus shipping and handling). For a one-time investment, you have a perpetual garden that will never quit.

To take advantage of this special offer before it's too late (by either sold-out supplies or inclement weather), Click Here.

Hanne Moon
Editor, Off the Grid News