Ok, yes it sounds crazy to start planning a fall garden in this heat but thats the only thing keeping me from straight out depression. In terms of veggies, I am going to attempt to bring in a few tomato starts and keep the few eggplants and peppers going thru the next few weeks and see if I cant get some early fall production. I have to be able to salvage something out of this season. Herbally, I am planning…….I am clearing beds, killing grass and planning. If there is one upside to the heat and dryness, it is that grass can be eradicated pretty easily right now. Even just cutting it back has made it fry. In my cleared beds I am getting ready to add compost and feed all of my fruit trees. In anticipation of cooler weather I even bought 2 more(a banana and avocado) at a half price sale that I will keep alive in pots until the weather begins to shift(fingers crossed).
Fall herb gardens are exciting. If you live within the city limits, then the possibilities are endless of what may be able to make it thru winter. To plan for fall think about perennials and biennials. To be able to withstand the summer heat, they are best planted in the fall. For starts this means: fennel, mullein, parsley, sage, dill, thyme, oregano etc. For medicinal native wildflower seeds like bee balm, sage, grindelia, vervain, etc, you can begin to scatter seeds in the late fall as we cool off. If we get too much rain, the seeds will wash away so keep that in mind if you are broadcasting. Many mints like lemon balm, spearmint, mexican oregano, and other perennials do best on east facing locations, or those that are semi protected in the summer with partial shade. I have seen these plants literally get burnt out when the hot weather returns. Some of my favorite annual herbs to begin seeding with fall veggies are Calendula, Cilantro and Borage. They not only provide their usefulness, but they are attractive in gardens. These herbs will be fine thru freezes in Austin and start making blooms sometimes as early as January. I had my calendula produce blooms this year from February-July if you can believe it until it finally burnt up. Plan so that whatever biennials and perennials you plant can offer partial shade to some of the more tender plants next spring and summer. Have fun
