Multitasking Madness

One of the quirks of Arizona gardening is short seasons (except for summer, which feels like FOREVER). Every Arizona garden book I've read talks about getting short season varieties of seeds and generally finding ways to make more time out of less so that your plants will have enough time to develop and produce. So along those lines, I've been thinking that it's time to get a jump start on my fall garden, even though it's still about a million degrees outside.

Here's the problem though: Just about all my garden space is already taken up with summer vegis in full production. My okra and melons, in particular, are just now really getting into full swing. So my best shot at keeping the summer and fall gardens going at the same time is indoor starts:

That's a bunch of plastic cups under inside grow lights. (From top left to bottom right I've got spinach, brocolli, green beans, and peas.) I figure I can keep 'em inside that way for at least a few weeks. (It should also keep the birds from eating up all my little seedlings.) Maybe by then, some of my summer plants will be ready to come out. That, or I'm going to have to find some really big pots for the patio!