By Crystal Stevens
Newbie gardeners often associate gardening with spring. At La Vista Farm, we like to plant seeds, and transplant crops every week to ensure a continuous harvest. Having multiple successions of plants is key to keep your garden vibrant throughout the summer and fall. Plants have life cycles. Some last a few weeks (radishes) before they flower and go to seed while others like peppers and tomatoes produce continuously if given the proper nutrients, mulch and love. As a general rule of thumb, we plant 3-8 successions of any given crop throughout the season.
In June, the following crops will thrive and some will provide bounty well into the fall
- Peppers: It is best to buy pepper transplants. Place the peppers about a foot apart in the garden setting. Sheet mulch them with newspaper and mulch or straw. They require water every few days-more during hotter weather. They appreciate an occasional dose of compost and worm castings.
- Tomatoes: Follow the instructions for peppers but space them a little farther apart. Tomatoes love compost! They need to be trellised using the Florida weave method or tomato cages.
- Carrots: Carrots love tomatoes so plant them at the base of your tomatoes in a single row.
- Kale: There are several varieties of kale. I have found the curly kale variety does better in the summer heat. You can also plant kale in the shade of tomato plants or at the base of your other tall crops.
- Beets: beets are delicious and nutritious and do well planted in June before the summer heat kicks in. It takes them a while to produce but once they are ready, it is like pulling garnet gems out of the earth.
- Cabbage transplants: You can buy cabbage starts to plant for your fall garden. They will produce a head within a few months.
- Okra transplants are wonderful to have in the garden. They grow really tall so be sure they don’t shade out your other crops. They are very spiny so it is best to wear long sleeves when harvesting.
- Green Beans: Start from seed. Sow 3 beans per foot. Once they sprout and grow a little taller, sheet mulch around them. There is nothing quite like picking fresh green beans. I like to plant dill between my green beans so I remember to preserve a generous amount of dilly beans.
- Squash: summer squash and winter squash can be grown from seed in June. Plant 2 seeds per 2 feet. Make sure you have a large space for vining squash varieties.
- Herbs: basil, thyme, sage, mint, lemon balm, oregano, and parsley do well. Cilantro does well in pots in partial shade. Hot weather tends to cause cilantro to bolt (go to seed).
Happy Planting. Visit growcreateinspire.com for more tips. Don’t have time to garden? Join La Vista CSA, with deliveries every Saturday morning to Garden Heights Nursery and Tower Grove Farmers Market.Visit Lavistacsa.org.
Crystal Stevens is a regular contributor to The Healthy planet magazine.