It’s usually dark by the time I get home from the office on a typical work day. The sun has already set before I leave and the last little bit of twilight is disappearing as I walk through the door. I say that to mention that there isn’t any time after coming home from work to do much in the garden.

However, I’ve been bombarded with seed catalogs and emails about new varieties of vegetables and flowers that are available from each of the different seed companies that I MUST try this year. Sitting down with a seed catalog or looking at the descriptions of the new varieties online is one thing that can be done during those few fleeting moments of free time.

I’m looking for some heat tolerant vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and beans that will perform well in my little vegetable garden. I don’t have much space for long vines, so a compact variety of squash would be nice to try next year as well.

On weekends when I can get outside during the daylight hours, I spend a little time pulling weeds and tending to the few cabbage plants I have left in the garden. I’m still waiting for a frost to sweeten the collards, but I hear that washing them and putting them in the freezer for a few days before cooking them will work the same magic as a frost.