Top 10 Tomato Myths (And Some Truths)

Monday, June 30, 2025

Tomatoes are by far the most popular vegetable to grow in the United States. There is nothing like a tomato ripe from the vine! Many people started gardening by way of the tomato. They were the very first vegetable we grew at our house. Many gardeners have techniques they swear by to get the biggest and best tomatoes. 

Tomato Growing Myths (and Some Truths)

1. Tomatoes love as much sun as possible! This depends on where you live. In very hot climates, 6-8 hours is plenty. Your tomatoes can actually scald in intense sun and heat. My Cherokee Purple tomatoes had many tomatoes scalded with the last heat wave we had.  For hot climates, plant your tomatoes in a north to south row so each side gets some shade each day.
2. You should prune your tomatoes for the best harvests. This again depends on your climate. If you live in a hot climate with intense sun and heat, you want to keep the leaves to help protect the tomatoes from sun scald. If you live in a damp area, you want to prune the tomato plant to allow good air circulation and sunlight to help prevent disease.  Our climate is hot and humid.  I do limited pruning to ensure good air circulation.  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes
3. Tomatoes love fertilizer! Actually, you only want to fertilize when you plant, again when the plant flowers and monthly after that. Too much nitrogen encourages leaf growth. Some that really sock the nitrogen fertilizer to the plant end up with a giant green plant with no tomatoes. To help with flowering, fruiting and blossom end rot, be sure to get a fertilizer with plenty of phosphorous and calcium or one specifically for tomatoes.  There are many fertilizers available just for tomatoes.    How to care for the summer edible garden
4. Tomatoes can’t be grown in pots. Tomatoes can be grown in pots, but not the big tomato plants or you have to grow them in a very large container like a half whiskey barrel. Look for dwarf, pot, or patio types to plant in medium size pots. You will need to be prepared to water often.  Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots
5. Tomatoes need to be watered a lot. Actually, if you water your tomatoes a lot, you can end up with fungal diseases and mushy fruit. The trick with tomatoes is to keep their moisture even. Letting the ground crack and then drowning the plant will result in cracked fruit. In the hot times of the summer with no rain, you will likely need to water at least weekly for those in the ground and 2-3 times a week for those in pots. Be sure to not water the leaves, but the roots.  Quick tips on summer edible garden watering
6. When you see leaves dropping, something is wrong. This is a natural progression of the plant. As fruits begin to form, there is less energy for the leaves and some leaves will turn yellow and die.
7. A spindly tomato transplant is an unhealthy one. Actually the nodes on the stems can easily be transformed into roots. I take my transplants and remove the bottom leaves and plant deeply or on its side with only the top 4 leaves above ground. Roots will grow all along the stem buried in the soil.  This gives the plant a good root system.
8. You can only transplant in early summer. Actually, if your tomato plants are starting to fade in mid summer, you can put out new transplants that will give you fruit until the first frost.  June is a great time to start new tomato plants.
9. When you make sauce, the skins and seeds have to be removed. I put whole tomatoes into the food processor.  This saves so much time!  Some say that the skin and seeds can impart a bitter flavor. With the many types of tomatoes I have raised, this has never been a problem for me.  Preserving the tomato harvest
10. Only paste tomatoes can be used for sauce. I use all my extra tomatoes for sauce. The best for sauce for me are the most prolific tomato plants. These have been smaller tomatoes and Cherokee Purple for us. I would ask your neighbors which ones give the most fruit if you are looking to put up by freezing or canning.  You may have to cook the sauce longer to get the thickness you want over all paste tomatoes.  I like to have one paste tomato in each quart bag that I freeze to give a silky texture to my soups and sauces.  Choosing which tomatoes to grow 

The last tip: Tomatoes are susceptible to fungal diseases. Do try to not plant your tomatoes in the same spot for at least 2 years and ideally four years. Fungal diseases stay in the soil and take a while to die out. The same goes for a pot. A way around it for a pot is to use new soil and disinfect the pot each year.  Also, do not water the foliage as this will encourage fungal diseases.  Practice crop rotation.  You can also use hybrids but they will not come back true to seed if you enjoy seed saving.  Crop rotation made easy for small gardens

How to care for the summer edible garden

Potted eggplant and petunia

Sunday, June 29, 2025

The summer loving edibles from the tropics love this time of year.  My eggplant, cucumber and squash plants seem to be growing inches every day!  The crops from temperate regions like peppers, tomatoes, beans, and Mediterranean herbs are also growing quite well.  The humidity brings higher risk of disease and the lack of rain during peak summer heat can put a damper on garden production.  

To keep your plants thriving and your harvests at their peak all summer long, here are my top tips for summer edibles:

1. Harvest frequently!  Plants are in the business of reproducing.  Their entire life is dedicated to giving the best possible chance of supplying more plants for the future.  The more you harvest, the more babies the plant will produce.  I have noticed that my cucumber plant can only support one or two large cucumbers on each vine.  As soon as I pick the big ones, you can see one of the small ones jump in size by the very next day!  Harvest in the morning for peak juiciness of fruits and in the afternoon for peak flavor of summer loving herbs.
2. Mulch your beds. The mulch keeps the moisture from evaporating, allowing more infrequent watering.  It also moderates the temperature of the soil so it doesn’t get baking hot.  I use natural wood mulch in both my garden beds and pots.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds
3. Water consistently.  The cause of cracked fruits is inconsistent water.   The plant gets used to very little water and when deluged the fruit’s skin can’t expand fast enough and the fruit cracks.  Inconsistent watering can also cause blossom end rot.  Over watering can be a problem, too.  Too much water will cause your fruits to be tasteless and mushy or just rot and die.  If in the ground, your plants need either a good soaking rain each week or a deep watering (1" total per week).  I use soaker hoses in my mulched garden beds.  It is best to water in the morning to avoid jungle diseases; you also get maximum absorption (biggest bang for your water buck).  For pots, you will likely need to water 3 times per week during the height of summer heat.  I like pots with a water reservoir built in the bottom or I use very large catch pans.  
4. Do not water the foliage of your nightshade plants!  They are very susceptible to fungal diseases and water on their leaves encourages fungal growth.  It is recommended to spray every 7-14 days for natural fungicides on all nightshade plants (tomatoes, potatoes, squash, watermelon, and cucumbers) when the risk for fungal disease starts.  In our Zone 7 garden,  late May is not too early to start preventative spraying.  A few natural fungicides I have used are Copper, Serenade and Southern Ag as a preventative.
5. Fertilize monthly with side dressing of compost or slow release fertilizer.  It is also a good idea to add minerals to the soil annually.  You can purchase minerals just for gardening.  I like to rotate between Azomite and kelp meal.  If your plants have more minerals, their fruits will too!  The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals
6. Pick insects off daily.  Keep a close eye on your plants to you can stop an infestation before it gets started.  If I do get an really bad infestation, I will use diacotomus earth (DE) or insecticidal soap.  It is organic and not a chemical.  Some people even eat DE!  DE works by scratching the exoskeleton of the insects which leads to dehydration and death.  Be careful, though, as it will kill good bugs too.  I use it very sparingly, only if desperate and keep it away from the flowers.  A few bugs don’t eat much :  )  Another option is the use of light covers to keep the bugs from your plants.  Natural, organic pest strategies and how to make your own bug sprays
7. Keep any diseased leaves groomed from your plants and do not compost them.  Diseases can be killed if your compost pile is hot enough but if not at high enough temperature and duration, disease will survive composting.  I haven’t progressed far enough yet in my composting skills to trust I am getting the pile hot enough and I don’t want to spread diseases to all my plants.  I put any diseased leaves and plants in the trash.
8. Compost.  For all the trimmings from the garden and the kitchen, start a compost pile or get an indoor composter.  I have both.  I have an indoor Naturemill electric composter in the garage and an outdoor tumbler for all the kitchen scraps.  Right now,  I am using the outdoor insulated stainless steel tumbler.  Troubleshooting your compost pile  
9. Summer veggies can get tired by the end of the season or overcome with disease.  A strategy to make sure you have an abundant harvest all the way through fall is to plant a second round of the heavy producers like summer squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  End of June, beginning of July is a great time to get a second round of summer lovers going.  Keep the harvest going, do succession planting
10. If you live an area with scorching heat and sun, even the summer lovers would benefit from some afternoon shade.  Tomato and pepper fruits can get sunburned, called sun scald.  Many eggplant varieties can get thick skins and a more bitter taste in intense heat and sun.  Even in our Zone 7 garden, I have experienced all these.  You can move potted plants or plant on the southeast side to get your veggies some afternoon shade.  I did try shade cloth one year, but the plants did not seem to thrive in our Zone 7 garden under shade cloth cover.

Time to plant pumpkin seed!

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Now is the time to plant pumpkin seeds!  Pumpkins love the hot weather.

Pumpkins are part of the squash family.  Squash originated in Mexico.  There are cave drawings from 8000 to 6500 BC depicting squash and the oldest remains found are from 8750 BC.  Squash was grown extensively by Native Americans as part of the “Three Sisters”-squash, corn and beans.  These three support each other's growth.  Beans provide nitrogen to the corn and squash.  The corn provides the stalks for the beans to grow up on.  The sprawling squash vines crowd out any weeds.

  

Pumpkins love organic matter.  If you throw a few seeds in your compost pile, you will be rewarded with exuberant vines.

Plant squash when soil temperatures are 70F for optimal germination.  Usually end of May through beginning of June are the best time to plant pumpkin but our weather has been so cool that the pumpkin seeds didn't germinate.  I have resown them this last week.

Add a fertilizer rich in phosphorous a week after transplanting, when flowers first appear and again when fruits begin to form.  They love water, too.  If growing in a pot, keep well watered and don’t let dry out.

Don’t panic when the first blooms fall off without producing any fruits.  There are male and female flowers.  If yours falls off, it was likely a poor guy that withered without the love a gal.  There can also be some false starts with malformed fruits.  Don’t worry, the plant will put on more blooms and you will be on your way to baby pumpkins before you know it!  Each vine does not produce many fruits. It is typical to get 2-3 pumpkins off a single vine.

Pumpkins you typically leave on the vine until the vine dies and the fruit loses its sheen in the fall.   Then bring inside and store in a cool, not cold, dark place.

The two biggest pest problems are squash bugs (left) and squash vine borer (below left are eggs and right is the adult).  Inspect the plant for squash bugs.  You can wear gloves, pick them off and throw them in a bowl of soapy water.

Natural, organic pest strategies and how to make your own bug sprays

The squash vine borer is best thwarted by planting early or late.  They fly in mid-June.  If planting early, be sure to inspect regularly the stems for any eggs.  Scrap off any that you find.  When the eggs hatch, the catepillar will dig into the vine and eat its way through its length.  You will have a strong plant one day and a wilted on the next.  You can wrap the stem base as a preventative.  The good news is that your plant does get infested, you can replace with another one.  They grow quickly in warm temperatures and soils of summer.

The cucumber beetle can infect the plant with a bacterial disease called wilt or cucumber mosaic virus.  The cucumber beetles we get here look like yellow/green lady bugs (left).  There are also striped varieties (below).

Again, the gloves, pick and throw in soapy water technique works.  Or if you are not squeamish, you can just squish them.

In late summer in areas with high humidity, you can get powdery mildew.  This can be treated by spraying with baking soda, copper, fresh whey and other organic fungal sprays and soil drenches.  When watering be sure to not get the foliage wet and water in the morning so any extra is quickly evaporated.  

 Summer garden tips

If you bought a heirloom or open pollinated variety from the store or farmers market, you can easily save the seed to grow next year's plants.  From your best plant with no disease, let one get large, remove from the vine and leave it out in the garden bed.  The inner flesh will deteriorate leaving the seeds.  Just scoop out the seeds, put in a plastic baggie, date and keep in the frig for next year.  You can also scoop out the seeds from the fruit right off the vine and leave the seeds indoors to dry on a paper towel or plate.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

If there is a variety that you love the looks and/or taste of from the store or farmers market, save the seeds and grow some of your own next year!  If it is an heirloom, it will come back "true" to the parent.  If it is a hybrid, it may be a surprise squash.  Either way, it is fun to try.

What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean? 

Everything you need to know to grow okra, in the garden or pot

Red Burgundy okra flower

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Growing okra in the garden is a Southern tradition.  Okra is easy to grown and looks pretty cool, too.  The flowers are reminiscent of hibiscus flowers.  It is a tropical perennial but grown as an annual in zones further north.  They love the heat and are doing great in our Zone 7 garden this year.  

There is much debate about the origins of okra.  Ethiopia, West Africa and Southeast Asia all claim ownership its origin.  Wherever it originated, it came through Egypt to Ethiopia to Arabia and on to the Mediterranean region as far back as the 1100's.  It came to the Americas in the 1600's, landing in North America in the early 1700's.  

Okra is a good source of manganese, magnesium, fiber and vitamins C, K, thiamin, B6 and folate. 

 My go-to okra variety is Red Burgundy.  They produce beautiful fruits, have lovely stems and flowers, don't get fibrous too quickly and grow well in my garden.  Okra will be ready to harvest typically in July.  Guess they are like tomatoes, can expect fruits around the 4th of July.  They will produce until frost.  One plant is enough for us for eating fresh and preserving for the winter.

Early July garden with okra and zinnias in the background, chard in the foreground

Growing Okra

For growing, my first attempt was starting mine from seed then transplanting after all danger of frost had passed, giving 2 feet between plants.  The plants did not survive for some reason.  We are having lots of rain and the temps are much cooler than normal.  So, I started directly in the garden at the end of May.  They sprouted and are growing quite well.  Seeds should be planted 1/2"-1" deep.  Keep soil moist until sprouted.  Ideal germination temperature is 75-90F.  Start indoors until it warms up outside.  This time of year, they can be started directly in the garden bed or in an outdoor pot.   

There are many different varieties to choose from.  I have planted the dwarf varieties in a pot and they are about 2-3' tall.  The regular types can grow to 6.5' tall.  Both have beautiful hibiscus type flowers.   Typically, plants are spaced 2' apart in the garden.

Plants are available at many big box stores or nurseries.  I fertilize with a natural fertilizer and Azomite for minerals when planting.  I then fertilize monthly.  You can buy natural fertilizer or make your own from just a few ingredients.  I either make my own or use Espoma, Dr. Earth or ReVita Pro.  Make your own fertilizer, it's all natural and inexpensive

Okra needs about an inch of water each week.  If you are not getting rain, be sure to do a deep watering each week.  If growing dwarf varieties in a pot without a water reservoir, you will likely need to water twice a week.  With a reservoir, weekly will likely be sufficient.  Summer garden tips

Baby red okras

So far I have not had any pest or disease issues with any variety in my garden, although aphids, stink bugs and corn earworms are known to like them and they can succumb to fusarium wilt.

Like all veggies, harvesting them keeps them producing more for you.  For okra, you want to harvest them when tender.  They get hard and fibrous quickly; so if in doubt, pick them.  I read to harvest them between 2-4" in length.  For the green podded variety, this may be correct.  On the red pods, I have harvesting pods that are 6" long and they are nice and tender.  Typically, you can pick 4-6 days after the flower dies and the pod emerges.  Use a knife or scissors to cut the stem of the pod.  Some okra plants have spines.  If yours does, wear gloves when handling them; the spines can cause irritation.

Dwarf okra plant in foreground

They are even tasty eating right off the plant raw.  To preserve them, I chop them into slices and put into freezer bags.

Okra is a key ingredient in gumbo.  It can also be used as a thickener in any recipe.  My favorite way to prepare then is to slice, salt, coat with olive oil and roast them in the oven.

What to plant now in the June edible garden

Potted eggplant with petunia
Sunday, June 15, 2025

In our Zone 7 garden, June is usually summer with highs consistently in the 80's.  The cold crops planted in April like lettuce, mustard, kale and spinach have bolted (gone to seed).  The tomato transplants are blooming and almost all of them have baby tomatoes growing.  We have had a cool, cloudy and rainier May and June than normal.  Now is prime time to plant the tropical edibles.  No worries, these heat lovers will grow quickly in the summer sun.

For the true heat lovers like melons, beans and cucumbers, most of the seeds I planted in May did not come up as they typically would.  I resowed all my melon seeds, most of the yard long bean seeds, the winged bean seeds and my 1500 Year Old Cave bean seeds last week in pots.  Since pots will be warmer than the garden soil, this helps keep the seeds warmer.  Most of them have sprouted.  I'll transplant them out when they have at least one set of true leaves and there is rain in the forecast for a few days to give them the best start growing.

My peppers and eggplants that I transplanted last month, some of the peppers have baby peppers and some are still quite small.  None of the eggplants are flowering yet.  Eggplants are native to India so they really like the hot, humid weather so they should jump up next week when it is supposed to get to the 90's.  Think the peppers just need more sun and less cloudy weather.

I should resow some lettuce seed.  I did find volunteers in the lawn that I transplanted in pots a couple of weeks ago.  They are big enough now to harvest off of but they will bolt quickly with the warmer temperatures.  This time of year it is best o sow lettuce seeds every 2-3 weeks to keep yourself in sweet lettuce leaves if you enjoy salads during the summer.  Go for the bolt resistant types in late spring and early summer.  Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces 

Below is a list of plants and seeds you can put in the June edible garden.  Transplants give you a jump on harvests and are still available at big box stores and nurseries, but seeds are inexpensive and you can get unusual varieties to try that you can't get as transplants.

 

June-transplants or seeds

Basil

Bee balm (monarda)

Beans-bush and pole

Beets

Borage

Broccoli

Catnip

Celery

Cucumber

Eggplant

Horseradish

Lavender

Lemon balm

Lettuce (heat tolerant)

Lovage
Mustard
Onions
Parsley
Parsnips

Peppers

Pumpkins

Radicchio

Radishes

Rosemary

Sage

Strawberries

Summer and winter squash

Tarragon

Thyme

Tomatoes

Turnips

Valerian

June-start from seeds directly in the garden

Beans (snap-bush & pole)

Beets

Carrots

Corn

Cucumber

Melons
Peas, Southern

Radishes

Squash

Turnips

For lettuce substitute, I am growing sprouting broccoli and a sweet Chinese cabbage, Hilton, along with orach, multi colored amaranth, cultivated dandelion greens, arugula and chard.  All can be sown now.

For spinach substitute, I am growing Perpetual Spinach, Red Malabar spinach, Japanese Mountain Spinach chard, and New Zealand spinach.  They all thrive in hot weather.  Malabar spinach is a vine so give it a trellis to climb.  It is quite pretty with its maroon stems and flowers.

Give your greens the coolest spot in the garden and moist to keep them sweet and succulent.  You can use taller plants to give them shade as well.  Growing summer salads

For tips on starting your seeds in the garden:  Outdoor seed starting tips  I also like to put a pot or two on our covered deck and start seeds there.  Once they are to a good size, transplant them into their permanent pot or into the garden bed.  Be sure your seedlings are hardened off as the heat and sun can be intense this time of year. "Hardening off" seedlings   I like to plant on a cloudy day when rain is being called for the next day.

In June, the days are getting hot and the rains usually don't come as often.  Be sure to water your new plants when it gets dry or they start to wilt.  Summer garden tips

What's in my 2025 garden

Saturday, June 14, 2025

I made a plan in December of what I would plant in my garden this year.  There are always changes to the plan as seeds don't sprout or I see a really beautiful flower I want to add to the garden.  So, here is what I ended up with in my garden beds and pots.  There will be a few minor changes as summer chugs along, but by this time, the plants are pretty well set for this year's summer season. 

As part of my plan, I looked back on what I had captured that went well, what I wanted to do differently this year and developed my gardening goals for this year.  Reflections on the 2024 edible garden and the 2025 plan  2025 Edible Gardening Goals

As I got seed catalogues, I updated what I wanted in this year's garden:  My 2025 Edible Garden Plan  

My garden consists of four parts: the perennials that come back year after year in the same spots and pots, the self-seeders that pop up in different spots, the stand by annuals I plant every year, and the new varieties I try each year.

 

Perennials

Existing perennials in my garden are herbs (thyme, tarragon, oregano, garden chives, garlic chives, spearmint, lemon balm, horseradish), vegetables (Egyptian walking onions, sweet Egyptian walking onion, potato onion, shallots, Elephant garlic, asparagus, sorrel), the fruits (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, Aronia bush, goji berry), and the flowers (daylilies, peonies, hydrangeas, daffodils, hellebore, surprise lilies, gladiolas, coreopsis, hollyhocks, jasmine vine).

New perennials are herbs (marjoram, winter savory, ringed all my beds with a variety of creeping thyme to keep away voles and deer, rosemary, woad, a variety of sages, a variety of lavenders, woad), vegetables (Violetta and Colorado Red Star artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, American groundnut, pink dandelion), fruits (Alpine strawberries-Italian and Alexandria, elderberries-York and Johns, overbearing strawberries into a raised bed) and decorative plants (Sweet William around front bed, Aubrieta Whitewell Gem, Alyssum Gold Dust, Sunrise Lupine, a Summer Blues delphinium grandiflorum, a lime green creeping sedum, Grace Ward lithodora, Snow in Summer, Paprika yarrow, Blue eyed grass, blue fescue grass, and pink muhly grass, daffodils, hyacinths, Endless Summer hydrangea, David Austin roses, Utrecht Blue wheat).

I planted way more perennials than usual this year because we put in new flower beds around the addition to the house.  Next year, instead of 400 new plants, it will be more like 10 to fill in the spaces where some of the new ones didn't make it.

 

Self-seeders

 The ones from last year that came back again this year are zinnias, amaranths (Love Lies Bleeding and Chinese Bicolor), Cocks comb, carrots, celery, purple sprouting broccoli, Hummingbird vine, Morning glory, Ground Cherry, Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach and Giant Blue Feather lettuce.  I did also get different varieties of other lettuces popping up here and there that I transplanted into pots.

The new self seeders that I planted this year are new colors of zinnias, borage, and Magadi Compact Blue lobelia.

Edibles and Herbs

Pole Beans-1500  Year Old snap or shelled beans, Christmas speckles lima beans, Purple and Red Chinese Noodle beans, Urizun Japanese winged beans.  All but the winged bean will be in the garden bed.

Okra-Red Burgundy (2)

Tomato plants (10) -Italian Pear paste, Cherokee Purple, Chocolate Pear, Brandywine, Ukranian Purple, Lucid Gem, Rebel Starfighter, a yellow Sicilian storage tomato, Better Boy, Sweetheart Cherry, Topcoat dwarf, A'Grappoli winter storage tomato

Eggplant (4)-Rotanda Bianca, Shiromaru, Amadea, Turkish Orange in pots

Cucumber (2) – Bush Champion and Beit Alpha vining cucumber

Summer squash-Trombetta since it is resistant to vine borer and squash bugs.

Winter squash – Butternut from saved seed and a new one

Snow peas in pots with peppers and eggplants

Dragon Tail radish in garden bed

Hilton Chinese cabbage

Lettuce (Royal Oakleaf, Grand Rapids, Butter King, Bronze Beauty, Giant Blue Feather, Red Romaine),  spinach, chard, blood veined sorrel in pots

Snow peas in pots with peppers and eggplants

Greens that stay sweet in summer-Purple Orach, Chinese Bicolor Spinach, Tong Ho Big Leaf, Chijimisai, Japanese Mountain Spinach chard, Tronchuda kale.

Sweet and hot peppers-variety to make chili powder (3 Ancho plants), Jigsaw and Baklouti hot pepper plants, and sweet pepper plants (a chocolate one, yellow banana, bells-an orange, Baron red, a Better Bell green and a Golden Wonder yellow, sweet Habanada and sweet Tricked You Jalapeño) 

Herbs-Dill, Basil (Nunum, Genovese, Cardinal, Purple Ball), Lion's Ear, Rosemary, Multicolor Sage, Papalo (cilantro substitute), Roselle Red hibiscus, a variety of onions (Flat of Italy, Australian Brown, Bronze D'Amposta, Red of Florence and sweet onion sets from Walmart)

Potatoes in the potato boxes - Yukon Gold, purple ones from saved seeds (yes, some potatoes actually develop seeds from their flowers)

Sweet potatoes-Purple Majesty, orange Beauregard and White Bonita variety pack from Southern Exposure

Dwarf Tamarillo-small orange fruits

Pumpkin-Ayote Green Flesh for pies and bread

Melons-Maybe Prescott Fond Blanc, Kajari or Lemon Drop?

 Vole repelling plants around the perimeter of all my beds-creeping thyme and daffodils around every bed

What's happening in the early June edible garden

Zinnias, basil and tomatoes planted in garden bed

Monday, June 9, 2025

 

Most of my summer edibles have gotten off to a good start this year.  Some of the pepper and tomato plants are flowering.  Many of the tomato plants have baby fruits.  The large tomato that we bought from a local greenhouse two months ago has several ripe fruits.  The bean, okra, eggplant and cucumber plants are growing.

  

Most of my garden is planted.  Tasks now are fertilizing, watering, pest and weed control.  There are a few seeds that didn't sprout that have been resown.  Soon enjoying the lush growth and harvesting of the summer veggies will be the biggest "task" in the garden.

This last week, I fertilized all my plants.  It is good to fertilize when your edibles start flowering.  Just my peppers and tomatoes were flowering and fruiting.  To keep it simple, I just did them all.  Fertilize about monthly in the growing season.  Water when you are getting less than inch of rain during the week.  Pots need 2-3" per week.

Summer edible garden tips

Squash-Both the summer (Trombetta) and winter squash seeds have sprouted in the garden.  The winter squash vine is about 4 feet long.   Everything you need to know to grow squash

Melons-Of the 4 varieties I planted in the garden, only one has sprouted.  I have restarted seeds in pots on the patio.  I'll transplant them when they get their first set of true leaves.  Melons like it when it's hot so if you sow seeds and it stays cool, they can rot before they sprout. 

Eggplant-I started them all from seed this year.  I moved them to their large pot summer home about a month ago.  I have Rotanda Bianca, AO Daimaru, Turkish Orange and Amadeo seedlings.  The plants are still small and have not flowered.  Everything you need to know to grow eggplant, in a...

Beans-I started all these vining types from seed in the garden bed.  The Christmas Speckles, Red and Purple Yard Long beans have sprouted.  The 1500 Year Old and winged bean seeds have not.  I have restarted some seeds in small pots and will transplant when the seedlings have their first true set of leaves on them.    Growing beans

Cucumber-I am growing Bush Champion and Beit Alpha vining cucumber in the ground this year .  The Bush Champion vines are growing well; the Beit Alpha did not sprout so I have restarted them in small pots.  Everything you need to know to grow cucumbers, in ...

Tomatoes-I planted the large greenhouse grown plant in a pot, 4 in the garden bed and they all have baby tomatoes on them.  I also have a few volunteers popping up in the garden bed and pots. 

The 10 seedlings I gave my hubby to grow upside down in 5 gallon buckets with an auto watering system are doing well with lots of baby tomatoes and flowers.  With the bucket system, they need daily watering and more frequent fertilizing.  He fertilized when he planted a month ago.  It is time to fertilize again.  You don't want to give too much nitrogen or you will end up with all leaves and no fruits.

  Everything you need to know to grow tomatoes

Snow peas-I have not gotten any pods this year.  They love cool temperatures and lots of moisture.  When heat moves in, they give it up.  Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer

Greens-All the chard, spinach, mustards, sprouting broccoli and lettuce that overwintered and those planted in March has bolted.  I found some volunteer lettuces and sprouting broccoli in the yard that I dug and transplanted into large pots.  I should sow some more lettuce seed.  In warm weather, harvest first thing in the morning or after a rain for best tasting leaves.  Put in a bowl of water to plump up the leaves. 

 

The amaranth and orach volunteers have sprouted.  They will remain sweet all summer long.  There are volunteer sprouting broccoli in a range of sizes.  They will stay sweet all summer, too.  Volunteer Red Malabar and New Zealand spinach love the hot temperatures and are growing quickly.  Their leaves can be harvested all summer long as spinach substitutes.  Carefree summer salad greens

Herbs-The herbs are growing well-dill, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, horseradish, onions, and basil.  Dill, Egyptian walking onions and oregano have put on flower heads.  All do well right to winter except for basil; it dies as soon as the first frost comes.  Most winters in our Zone 7 garden, the sage, thyme, oregano, onions can be harvested throughout the winter.  I am growing papalo to use as a cilantro substitute.  It loves warm weather and is doing great!  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Fruits-Had a few strawberries early on.  They are ever bloomers so should get fruits throughout the summer.  One blueberry bush had a few berries.  They were planted last fall so not expecting a big harvest this year.  Raspberries and blackberries should be soon.

Flowers-Celosia, daylilies, hydrangeas, petunias, spiderworts, blue morning glory, hollyhocks, lantana, jasmine and zinnias are all blooming in my garden.  Many carrots have bolted, creating tall white flowers that look like Queen Ann's Lace.  Pollinators just love the small flowers on herbs and carrot flowers.  Love Lies Bleeding amaranth, purple coneflower, bee balm, blunt mountain mint, sunflowers, mums, Jerusalem artichokes, basil and thyme flowers should be coming soon.

My pollinator bed is filling in nicely.  It has taken 4 years to get it full.  It gets a good deal of shade so natives don't grow as quickly as they would if it was a full sun location.  Most of the flowers I started from a pollinator mix.  I'd sow a few seeds in a pot and when they got big, I'd transplant them.  I'd get in 1-2 sowings sowings each summer.  I just sowed some more seeds in a pot this week.  Since the seeds were free, it only cost me time and patience.