Summer garden seeds started this week

Summer garden bed

Sunday, April 19, 2026

I started my larger summer seedlings outdoor this week.  I do the indoor seed starting routine for most of my edibles but the larger ones like cucumbers, squash, beans and melons I start outdoors in peat pots.  It is fun to go outside every morning and evening to see if I have any little green shoots poking through the soil.

I planted all my spring edibles indoors mid February.  I started my smaller summer loving seedlings indoors at the first of March.  You can start your spring crops outdoors, too.  I have done that in the past. 

A spring edible garden

Now that we are well past any chance of frost (our average last frost date is April 2) and they are not calling for any lows in the 30's for the next 2 weeks, I am going to start the bigger summer veggies on peat pots outdoors.  You can start them indoors and earlier but they grow so fast you need larger pots for them and they take up a lot of indoor space.  I just start them outdoors once it is warm.

A summer edible garden

 Beans-Planted snap and shell beans to climb up on a trellis. Going to go with asparagus beans as snap beans this year.  Replanting Chinese Red Noodle and adding Yancheng and Taiwan Black.  Shell beans are 1500 Year Old Cave Bean and Christmas Speckles lima bean. 

Cucumber-trying a few that are supposed to be disease and pest resistant this year.  Aonaga Jibai, Shintokiwa, White Heron and Poinsett 76.

Herbs-I started Cardinal basil, Purple Ball basil, Chinese Pink celery, Pink dandelion, Butterfly Papalo (heat loving cilantro substitute), Red Shiso, Chervil. 

Squash-Ayote Green Flesh winter squash, Zucchini Rampicante summer or winter squash, Zapallito Del Tronco summer or winter squash, Thai King Kok pumpkin, Buttercup winter squash. 

Melons-Lemon Drop watermelon and Kajari melon.

Okra-a Red Burgundy and Heavy Hitter.  Have tried Heavy Hitter before and it did not produce as well as advertised but thought I would try it again as I don't need that much okra anyway.

Flowers-Blue Queen butterfly pea vine, Chaters Double, Summer Carnival Blush Pink and Summer Carnival Yellow hollyhock, Empress of India and Sahin's Paso Double nasturtiums, Borage, Orange King zinnia.

Resow-Starting Regina alpine strawberry, OTV Brandywine tomato and Black goji berry again.

This should be the last major seed starting I do until mid summer's fall planting starts.  Could do some June starts of tomatoes and squash if the first round isn't doing great.  

      Happy gardening!