The season’s harvest so far has been off the hook– so much I’m thinking about having a second season. The fridge door barely stays shut with all the zucchini perched precariously on its shelves. We harvested no fewer than EIGHT zukes yesterday. (Note to self: Plant just one zucchini in 2011.)

And it’s no different with the cherry tomatoes. I fill bowls of them, stacking them carefully, still overflowing. No two people need four cherry tomato plants. Ridiculous. But, a cherry tomato red sauce does go really well on pizza—topped, of course, with thinly sliced zucchini.

And if the bush beans don’t stop producing sometime soon, they’re likely to make an appearance on the pizza, too.

With all this bounty from the garden (which will, with good weather, produce through October), I must be a bit crazy to be planting my second-season garden. But cooler temps are just a few weeks away, and the conditions will be just right for a repeat of the crops I planted first thing this spring.

Question is: Where will this second season sowing go?

Round 2: Second Season Spinach, lettuce, radish, and cabbage

I’ve thinned my beet crop over the last few months, but I think it’s time for them all to go this weekend, regardless of size. I’ll roast up the bigger specimens (yum!) and I’m planning on pickling the smaller ones. This will be my first-ever pickling experience. Wish me luck with that.

I’ll fill the space vacated by the beets (and one lone row of chard) with the early-spring cool stuff like spinach, which I dearly miss. Oriental Giant spinach, a Japanese hybrid variety from Renee’s Seeds, was incredibly yummy, so that is a definite must.

My garden and my lunches have sorely been missing lettuce. It bolted as a result of the hot and sticky weather about a month ago. A bunch of half-used lettuce seed packets will be emptied in a second sowing. I also have a packet of radish seed that’ll have just enough time to turn into small and mild red jewels to top the salads. And I may even plant more beets. They wont have enough time to become full-sized, but well definitely be able to put their tasty greens to good use.

One of my second-season crops has already gotten a head start. After visiting my brother, the professional farmer, last week, I saw he was in the midst of planting about 10 acres of cabbage. He grows his own transplants from seed, and he was kind enough to give me a few. Growing on such a large scale, he didn’t realize he gave me enough transplants to fill our entire community garden. There’s no way ALL of those are going in. Ten is all I could fit.