IT’S JUNE, which means your vegetable garden might finally be filling out with spring crops and starting to look something like an attractive part of your landscape. It also means it’s time to start planning and planting new crops for the late summer and fall garden.
After all, your spring lettuces, peas and brassicas won’t last forever. A perfect head of bok choy today might be bolted by Wednesday. This time of year, things really start to happen fast. By July, much of the spring garden will be harvested or bolted. If you’d like to keep the party going, you need to figure out what’ll go into your beds next.
Of course, some spring-planted crops have long life spans and will last through the summer. These include many of the classics, such as tomatoes, squash and pole beans. But shorter-lifespan spring crops will need replacing in the next month or so. Here are a few tips that can help you maximize your productive space through the entire season:
● Fall brassicas: The most popular brassicas for the home garden are broccoli, cauliflower, kale and cabbage. All of these crops can be planted a second time in midsummer for a fall harvest. Start your brassicas in nursery trays in late June so they’re ready to plant into your beds by mid-July. This timing will make sure that your second round is ready for harvest in September or October. Many varieties are bred specifically for a fall harvest. You might consider picking up a few new packs of seeds, such as Marathon broccoli or any savoy cabbage, to align your varietals with the season.
● Beets and carrots: I always group beets and carrots together simply because they’re both direct-seeded and because they have somewhat similar heights and life spans. These crops can be seeded anytime between now and late July. Similar to the brassicas, July-planted roots will be ready to harvest this fall. Late-summer planted carrots often can be stored directly in the garden through the winter, especially if you provide them with a nice warming mulch such as straw. Beets, on the other hand, despise a frost, so make sure to get them out of the ground and into the fridge before the first cold snap.
● Cucumbers and summer squash: Many gardeners plant these crops only one time per season. However, they both still have time to grow to maturity if planted in mid- or late June. Putting in a second planting of these cucurbits will help extend your harvest. Even the healthiest cucumbers and summer squash tend to run out of mojo by early fall. Your second planting will just be coming into maturity as your first planting peters out.
● Salad greens: Although many salad greens prefer the cooler temperatures of spring and fall, you still can keep the salad going through the heat of summer. Look for lettuce varieties, such as Jericho, that are bred to tolerate higher temperatures. You also can take advantage of the less desirable, shadier parts of your garden by planting your lettuces and arugula in June, July and August. Some salad greens, especially mustards such as mizuna, Ruby Streaks and Green Wave, will tolerate just about any summer heat wave.
Keep the good times rolling by fitting some of these second-planted crops into your garden and dinner plans this summer. Happy planting!
