Is it possible to garden so that I have something to harvest year-round rather than just every few months? I am looking for ways to be able to eat "off the grid" as much as possible. Could I just stagger my seed-sowing more? I think it is possible in my zone, but I don't know how to approach it.
Year-round edibles
It's very possible. I think it takes a lot of trial and error to find the best varieties for the location and for the season. Then you have to figure out the best timing and make yourself plant successively to keep a supply. Then you have to plant earlier and later than the recommendations because you never know what the weather will do and sometimes it really pays off. It's also very good to try things in different places and combinations because some crops do much better with part sun.
All that is easier said than done. My biggest failings are the timely succession planting and that I hate to thin properly.
Passiflora, you should read Eliot Coleman's The Four-Season Harvest. He manages a four-season garden in Maine, so it should be as easy as pie where you are. You wouldn't even need to garden under glass or hoop tents the way he has to. As Dorothy says, timing is everything, and also learning what works for you and what doesn't, although that changes from year to year for some unknown reason! I tried planting spinach and beets this fall and had to replant both a couple of times before they came up decently, and some of my lettuce self-seeded because I left the plants to go to seed for the birds and butterflies.
Here's a fellow who's doing that in NY State:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1984-01-01/A-Four-Season-Garden-Plan.aspx
and here's a spreadsheet that someone referenced on Garden Web
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seedstartingchart_lazy.php
and here's a link to a discussion about four-season gardening, again from Garden Web (they seem to have a special forum for this topic.)
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fourseason/msg060216214316.html?2
and here's a great website with a lot of good information about four-season gardening and lots of other stuff, too.
http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=284
passiflora07- Try to get hold of a book:
Florida Gardening Month By Month by Nixon Smiley
When I lived in South Florida I referred to it frequently.
Amazon.com sells it.
I garden 12 months out of the year. We can grow almost anything we want in fall, winter and spring. Summer is difficult but eggplants, melons, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, summer squash and hot peppers do well. I also had carrots and green onions all summer. Twiggybuds told me about evergreen seeds, a company that sells many heat tolerant veggies that I'd like to try.
We are at latitude 26.
I'm with Calalily... Summers are the toughest season for us in the hotter climates, but it can be done. I need to check out evergreen seeds - thanks for that info!
Have you ever tried growing microgreens?
Yes, we do microgreens and also upland cress (it finishes fast, about 30 days).