It’s Not To Late To Plant A Garden!

Spring can get away from you fast, and so too can planting your spring garden.  With summer in full swing, there are still plenty of things you can plant now for harvest through the fall, here are a few good ones:

Arugula: Arugula germinates well in warm weather and tends to be less susceptible to insects such as flea beetles as summer progresses.

Beets: Although germination is not as great in hot weather, if you can plant summer beets on a relatively cool day, they can thrive through to fall.

Carrots: Like beets, extreme heat can hamper germination.  If you can find a relatively cool or overcast day and keep your seeds moist, you should have no problem.

Cilantro: Bolting can be an issue in heat, but if you let a few go to seed, then you can collect the seed and plant more all summer and into fall.  Cilantro planting in fall can also overwinter in many parts of the country.

Dill: Grows fast and grows all summer long.  If you don’t use all the seed heads for making pickles, save seeds for planting next year.

Corn: Corn doesn’t mind hot weather to germinate.  Planting a corn crop mid-summer will give you a great crop in the early fall.

Cucumbers: A little shade won’t hurt, but cucumbers will do well through to fall.

Green Beans: Most snap beans grow fast and if planted mid-summer will give you a nice crop by the beginning of September.  Beans are great to plant after you have harvested some heavy feeders such as cabbage, broccoli, or other spring brassicas, because they will naturally add nitrogen to the soil.

Kale: Kale is happy to grow all year long, so planting it mid-summer will allow it to get well established for a fall and winter crop.

Lettuce: It can be hard to germinate lettuce in the heat of the summer.  Make sure you water your seed bed regularly, making sure it stays moist. You can also plant lettuce in spots that might get a little shade in the afternoon or under taller garden plants such as okra or tomatoes.

Potatoes: Fall new potatoes are as good as in the spring.  It might be a bit harder to find seed potatoes mid-summer, but you can always sprout your own.

Sunflowers: Easy to grow well into fall.  Plant now and harvest them to save for the birds or chickens over winter.

Summer squash (zucchini zucchini yellow squash, patty pan, etc): Squash planted late often avoid squash bug damage.

Winter squash (pumpkins, acorn squash, butternut, etc): If you want to store winter squash for use over the winter, it is a good idea to plant them mid-summer so that they are ready to pick mid-fall.  Winter squash planted too early will be harder to keep.

Zinnias: Bare spaces can be filled with zinnia seed to give you a colorful cut flower garden for early fall.

Pick-A-Pepper.com is a web platform for listing, selling, and purchasing purchasing local food items straight from the producers.

Similar Stories:

NEXT