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| Garden in the morning |
Sunday, August 30, 2026
August usually sees the full repertoire of the summer garden harvests. This August has again been hard on even the summer vegetables due to the extreme and prolonged heat starting in early summer. We are back in the 90's again for the next 2 weeks. Usually there is late sweet corn (plant corn in succession and different varieties to lengthen the harvest), summer squashes (like zucchini), peppers of all types (sweet to hot, hot), tomatoes, Mediterranean herbs, cucumbers, okra, apples, peaches, pears, grapes, beans, melons, figs, eggplant, honey, artichokes, raspberries, onion, winter squash and fennel are all in season in the Midwest/Upper South.
This year for warm season veggies, the heat put the hurt on tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and beans. Tomato pollen is sterile when temperatures average about 85F. The flowers will form but will fall off because they can't be germinated. We are getting some tomatoes but not as many as cooler temperatures provide. The larger tomatoes have very few babies on them and those that do form do not get to normal size. Our temperatures are not forecasted to drop into the mid 80's for at least the next couple of weeks so no relief in sight yet.
My yard long beans are producing well. I got one flush off Christmas Speckles lima beans and none off my 1500 Year Old Cave beans. The vines look healthy, just no flowers or beans.
My Trombetta squash vine is 25' long and has lots of squash on it. I lost 2 other summer squash vines early on but this one is making up for it.
I had 4 different kinds of cucumber vines. One is starting to die back. Another really never produced much, just 3 cucumbers. The other 2 are producing more than I can eat and pickle. Really only need 1 vine for fresh eating and pickling.
My eggplant and pepper plants are doing okay. Only the green eggplant has been steady in producing. Have gotten only one purple eggplant. They'd probably produce better if I fertilized and watered them more often. My hot peppers are pumping out the peppers. My sweet peppers are doing okay. They'll do much better when it cools off.
I will fertilize all my veggies with liquid fish fertilizer now when it has cooled down some to give them a boost. Summer veggies do love normal September weather so I should see a good increase in production in the next couple of weeks if the temperatures get back to normal.
I am harvesting small tomatoes, yard long beans, peppers, greens, Giant Blue Feather lettuce, Egyptian walking onions, eggplant, goji berry, basil, melons, husk cherries, huckleberries, raspberries and herbs.
You can start a second round of summer veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash at the end of June to have more vigorous plants going into fall. I transplanted extra tomato slicer plants, Brandwine and Mortgage Lifter, into my garden beds in July. The heat has been so intense that they haven't grown more than 6". For this type of heat we are having now, I think I'll do a second round at the beginning of June.
If you are not growing summer veggies in your own garden, your local farmers market is a great place to pick up these seasonal veggies to either eat or preserve. The best buy on any fruit or vegetable is when it is in season. You can get even better deals on any produce that has a few blemishes which have no effect on the flavor. If you are going to can, freeze or dry them, just be sure to remove any blemishes first.
We grow many edibles in pots because our edibles are integrated into the flower beds. In pots, we have had great luck with Egyptian walking onions (which can be harvested year round), peppers, eggplant, bush zucchini, bush cucumber, dwarf tomatoes, greens, fig tree, columnar apple trees, dwarf moringa tree, kumquat tree, sweet bay, mint, goji berry, raspberry, lettuce and celery.
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| Spaghetti squash sitting on hummingbird vine |
I have tried sweet and hot peppers in pots and the garden. Overall, they seem to do the best in pots. I am growing a couple hot peppers-a pequin type Chiltepin and Anaheim. I use the tiny peppers in my season salt I make and Anaheim for chili powder. I have several varieties of sweet peppers-Habanada, Tricked You jalapeño, yellow, red and green bell peppers and a dark red snacking sweet pepper. I have 2 bell peppers in the ground and doing well. The rest are in pots.
Weekly watering for plants in the ground is sufficient with monthly fertilizing. A pot with a water reservoir in the bottom is the best solution for lengthening the time between waterings when growing in pots. Otherwise, plan on watering your pots every 2-3 days and fertilize every other week. Summer Edible Gardening Tips
I grow all of our herbs in the ground except sweet bay. Sweet bay is a tender perennial and will not survive winters outside so I keep it in a pot to bring in each fall. I had one a couple of years ago that was supposed to be hardy in our zone and it didn’t make it. I put my new one in a pot and it has overwintered well in our unheated garage for the last four winters. Fall is a good time to plant perennial herbs, veggies, fruits and flowers.
Rosemary is also tender. I have tried the several varieties that are supposed to be able to survive a Midwest winter and have yet to find one that will last past 2 seasons. I have tried to also keep in a pot and bring in each winter. This is an herb I will buy each spring if overwintering does not work out, plant in the garden, then preserve for the winter by harvesting late in the season and drying. Of course, I have 2 more rosemary varieties I am trying this summer that I hope may make it through the winter.
Flowers are doing good right now in the garden. They are covered in beneficial insects, butterflies and butterfly caterpillars. The zinnias, marigolds, petunias, Hummingbird vine, lantana, and Cock's Comb are done with their big show and most have gone to seed. I am still getting flowers but not as many as even a couple of weeks ago. The zinnias, marigolds and Cock's Comb are also edible. Flowers that are edible
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| Red zinnia |
I should have started my fall and winter edibles 2 weeks ago. I guess this fall it's going to be whatever has re-sprouted from seed like sprouting broccoli, parsley, celery, winter cress, Giant Blue Feather lettuce and others.
A quick reminder, save the seeds from your best performers that have been disease free to plant next year. You can replant seeds from any heirlooms or open pollinated plants. What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean? Not only does it save you money, but it also gives you the plants that do the best under your garden and zone conditions.
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