Q: I moved here from northern Ohio. Could you tell me the growing season for vegetables in the Atlanta area? I am interested in tomatoes, carrots, onions and melons.

A: If we define the growing season as the number of days between last and first frost, then it varies from 190 days in Blairsville in north Georgia to 290 days in Thomasville, near Florida. Atlanta averages 260 growing days each year. Vegetable take varying numbers of days to produce their fruit but you can easily have three harvests. Start with cool season crops like lettuce and carrots in spring, follow with tomatoes, corn and melons in summer and end with onions and turnip greens in fall. I have a list of good Georgia gardening factsheets at UGA Vegetable Gardening Publications