For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
how to plant fall crops in the heat of summer 🔥
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Let's talk about fall. I know, we're still in summer and it sure feels like it... 🥵 Which brings me to today's topic: planting a fall garden when it's pushing 90°F outside. Maybe you want to start seeds. Maybe you've already started seeds and your seedlings are ready to move into the garden. You're probably wondering how to get fall crops like kale, broccoli, and lettuce to survive the blistering heat outside. These cool-season plants are susceptible to transplant shock, early bolting, or heat stress, and some of them (particularly lettuce) won't even germinate when the soil's this hot. So what can you do? First, you should know which plants are best seeded directly in the garden and which should be transplanted once they've reached sufficient size. Second... You can follow my simple guide here on how to make sure your plants get off to a good start. By the way, this is the time of year when most garden centers put things on sale so they can move their remaining inventory. It's worth picking up a few starts (on the cheap!) if you have plants that are struggling right now. Replace those tired plants (don't keep throwing fertilizer and sprays at them) and you can squeeze another round of harvests in before the first frost, even if you don't plan to grow a fall garden. I find it's much easier to get cool-season crops going right now (vs. in spring) because the soil is already warm (which speeds up root development) and your garden's already hit its groove (so you're not fussing with all those early spring chores). Just add an organic all-purpose fertilizer before you plant, and you're good to go! Seasonal tipsI didn't know flowers cost this much!Remember when I talked about growing, picking, and eating your own flowers in last week's email? I stopped by my neighborhood market this week and LOOK at what I found in the produce section: a little bag of edible flowers going for $6.99!! And to think... most of these could be growing freely in your garden right now. P.S. When it's still blazing hot outside, it takes a few tricks to plant a fall garden properly in summer so your plants will thrive. P.P.S. Did you know you can eat okra flowers? Or fava bean leaves? Or squash shoots or pepper leaves or a number of other things in your garden that you probably didn't know were edible? Here's a guide to 47 different types of vegetables and herbs with edible leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, and seeds to help you get the most out of your harvests!
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Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."