July: Planting Ideas for The Year-Round Garden
Or, "A Cure for the Food Garden Blues"
As far as food gardening, you may presently be:
* cryin’ the blues ‘cause you’re buried in snap peas and short on carrots.
* sad about the coming fall when your garden may be winding down as you harvest the last of the tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers.
*full of regret to be just now getting started in the garden and worried it’s too late to plant anything this year.
If so, I have just the cure for all of these conditions and I’ll admit, it’s not even a new idea. It’s called “Year-round Gardening,” and it’s suddenly a hot topic. Various organizations and nurseries offer year-round gardening classes now, as July is the time for a big push in planting for fall and winter harvests.
Learning to year-round garden may result in fewer crop gluts or shortages, because when you plan your garden, you’re thinking about the whole year, rather than rushing to plant everything between April and mid-June.And it means you don’t have to mourn the end of the garden season come September, and it means that yes, you can…start your garden in July!
A partial list of what you can plant this month (according to Territorial Seeds):
Beets
Broccoli: fall (transplant [TP] in August)
Broccoli: sprouting (TP in Sept)
Brussels Sprouts (TP in August)
Cabbage (fall: TP in August)
Carrots
Cauliflower (overwintering: TP in Sept)
Chinese Cabbage (TP in August)
Collards (TP in September)
Kale
Parsnips
Rutabagas
Scallions (green onions)
Spinach (Protect with row cover, October)
Swiss Chard (Protect with row cover, Oct)
>> July Recipe: Cool Snap Pea Salad
>> Continue to August Tips
<< Back to Gardening Tips Home