What To Plant In July
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Today, it’s all about what to plant in July. You still have plenty of time to plant seeds or seedlings this month. It’s not too late to grow and enjoy a fall harvest crop in late summer or early fall before the first frost date. By the way, how is your garden doing in the warm soil? There is something special about a fall garden that is still in bloom and provides veggies you can enjoy all winter.
One positive aspect of this recent gardening season is that most of the country has experienced ample moisture from heavy winter snow and numerous spring and early-summer rainstorms. We didn’t have to plant those drought-tolerant plants this growing season.
I like to update this post every year with new tips. This week, I would typically be planting more cilantro, carrots, zucchini, green onions, and green beans. You may recall that I’ve relocated to the north to build a small home, so it’s been 5 years since I last gardened.
It’s been five years, and it’s frustrating, but that’s just the way it is. Thankfully, after three years of paying for climate-controlled storage units, our food storage and preps are in place. My area in the garage is now organized. I had hoped to paint my side of the garage, but that isn’t going to happen. I like a really tidy garage; it’s how I roll. Life has changed here.
What To Plant In July
I highly recommend planting flowers near your garden because they attract bees and other pollinators that help pollinate your garden plants. Oh, and don’t forget the butterflies that pollinate and add fun color to the garden. They are magical to me. Perennial Salvia plants are my favorite flowers for attracting bees to my garden. Because they are perennials, you cut them back a few times a year, and they keep coming back, as do the bees. These are the seeds: Perennial Salvia.
How I store my garden seeds:
Plastic Photo Container and Label Maker
I highly recommend these products for growing your seedlings: CowPots and Organic Seedling Soil. You plant your seeds and place the CowPots in your garden when the temperatures are right for your specific hardiness zone.
Soil pH Levels
What Does the Term pH Level Mean
People often say that maintaining the right pH in your garden soil is essential for a successful harvest. You may wonder what pH means in gardening and how to determine your garden soil’s pH. Each plant prefers a different level of acidity to grow the very best harvest. The desired level of acidity varies among plants.
Therefore, you can adjust the pH of your soil by adding lime or sulfur to raise or lower it, depending on your soil’s needs. You can have your soil tested, possibly by your state extension service, or try to do it yourself with a soil tester. pH Tester. Additionally, some local nurseries offer this service to their customers.
How To Hand Pollinate
All you need is a paintbrush or cotton swab (see below). If you need to hand-pollinate because you aren’t seeing any fruit develop on your garden vegetables, here is something you may want to try. You do this by removing the male blossom (male blossoms don’t have fruit behind them).
They produce pollen, leaving the center covered in pollen that can be collected with a brush or swab. Use a brush or swab to apply the pollen you collected to the center of the female flower. This works for squash, melons, herbs, and cucumbers.
What to Plant in July by Zone
July is not too late to start a garden. It can be a perfect time, depending on your time zone. It’s interesting to note how the zones have shifted slightly due to the global temperature change. Planting times have changed a lot. Here is what you can plant by zone:
Zones 1-3
While July is peak harvesting time in many places, cooler-climate locations can start planting their gardens. If you live in zones 1-3, it is prime time to start planting the following:
- Arugula
- Beans (snap)
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts (Zone 2)
- Cabbage
- Carrots (Zone 2)
- Chinese Cabbage
- Cilantro
- Endive
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce (head and leaf)
- Parsley
- Radish
- Rutabaga
- Spinach
Zones 4-5
Zones 4-5 are found throughout the Northern Midwest and New England. Here is what you can plant in these zones during July:
- Basil
- Beans (pole and bush)
- Beets
- Brussels sprouts
- Chinese cabbage
- Carrots
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks
- Radishes
- Squash (Summer)
- Turnips
Zones 6-7
In zones 6-7, temperatures are mild during this time. This means it is the optimal time to grow some of these plants in your garden:
- Carrots
- Radishes
- Spinach
Zones 8-10
When you live in the southern states, it is pretty hot during July. But there are still several items you can plant. Here are just a few:
- Brussels sprouts
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Eggplant
- Okra
- Peas (Southern)
- Peppers
- Squash
- Tomato
Cucumbers
Cucumbers thrive when the weather is hot, and they receive plenty of water. Plant them in full sun. If you planted seeds indoors, don’t set your seedlings outside until the weather is in the 70s.
Check the last frost date and wait two weeks before planting the seedlings or seeds outside. You can grow a second set of cucumber seeds in the first week of July and still be able to harvest them before the first fall frost date.
Decide if you want to grow bush cucumbers or cucumbers on the vine. I have always had better luck with bush cucumbers, which work great in pots or small gardens.
This is why they do better in my raised gardens. I suggest you stagger the planting of the seeds, as this will result in cucumbers bearing fruit at different times during the growing season, rather than all at once, producing a more manageable harvest.
Compost and Well-Rotted Manure
Cucumbers like compost and composted, well-rotted manure. They need well-fertilized soil. Cucumbers grow fast and don’t depend on much care or work to get them to thrive. When watering, try to keep the leaves dry to prevent leaf diseases.
Male blooms show up first and drop off. No worries; a female flower will appear within a week or two. If not, you may have to do hand pollination. You remove the male blossom, leaving the center covered in pollen. Use a brush or cotton swab to apply the pollen you collected to the center of the female flower.
Use metal cages for vines. The cucumbers will hang better on those because they attach more easily to the wires as they grow. Plant two to three seeds about 1 inch deep and cover them with soil.
If the soil is moist and warm, you will see sprouts within a few days. Plant the seeds or plants 36-60 inches apart. Bush cucumbers can be planted closer. Cucumbers grow from start to finish in 50-70 days.
pH level for Cucumbers: 6.5 to 7.0
Green Beans
I have consistently grown bush beans. Their growing time is shorter, 60-70 days, which is just enough time if you plant the seeds in the first few days of July.
This is one of my favorite vegetables to grow. When our girls were growing up, we grew many green beans. We canned bushels of them in our pressure cooker.
They taste so good when they are freshly picked. I only grew bush beans, but you can plant pole beans if you have a support system to keep them off the ground.
Bush beans typically grow to about 2 feet tall, while pole beans can reach up to 10 feet tall. Bush beans are ready to pick about 50-55 days after planting. Pole beans take a bit longer to mature, so plan on harvesting them in 55-65 days.
Please remember that if you stagger plantings every 2 weeks, you can harvest green beans for weeks rather than all at once.
Green beans like well-composted, rich soil with rotted manure. You plant the seeds 1-2 inches deep and cover them with soil. Space the seeds in rows about 6-8 inches apart.
Water them immediately and regularly until they begin to sprout. After sprouting, they need 1 to 1.5 inches of water each week. They need full sun, so plan accordingly. They grow best when the air temperatures are between 65°F and 85°F.
When the green beans are the size of a pencil, they are ready to be harvested. They can toughen up very quickly, so check on them often. You pick them by snapping them off at the vine.
pH level for Green Beans: 6.0 to 6.2
Plant in July- Lettuce Varieties
The nice thing about lettuce is that it’s easy to grow and sprouts quickly. Ensure the soil is loose, loamy, and well-drained. Lettuce loves nitrogen and potassium, so keep your eye on the leaves as they grow.
Work in a lot of organic matter or compost. Lettuce matures in 55 to 60 days. Romaine takes longer to mature, as do head lettuce varieties.
Summer Lettuce Seeds: Summer Bibb
Adriana, Coastal Star, Red Cross, and Muir are other heat-resistant varieties.
Plant the seeds about 1/4 inch deep, tamp them in the soil, and water them. Easy and simple. Read the package to space the lettuce according to the type you choose. Seeds will not germinate in soils above 80°F.
You can start some seeds indoors and transplant the seedlings into a shady spot when the weather is too hot outside to plant them directly in the soil. You may want to choose heat-resistant varieties if you live in an area where temperatures are very high in the summer.
It’s better to pick early than late in the growing cycle because the leaves become bitter if you wait too long.
pH level for Lettuce: 6.0-7.0
Zucchini or Crookneck
Summer Squash: zucchini, crookneck, and straight-neck (harvested in the summer before they reach maturity). You can start a second planting if you plant the summer squash seeds by the first week of July.
Winter Squash: pumpkins, butternut, spaghetti, and acorn squash (harvested in the autumn months after they reach maturity).
When you plant the seeds, test the soil to ensure it is at least 60°F before sowing. They need full sun exposure, loamy, nutrient-rich soil, and proper drainage.
Plant the seeds in hills (2-3 each) to a depth of 1 inch. Space them 2-3 feet apart. Thin as needed to produce the most vigorous plants. Use a cloche to protect the plants from cool weather.
Mulch the plants to keep them moist and weed-free. When the first blooms appear, fertilize the plants.
Water deeply, at least one inch of water per week. The soil needs to be moist at least 4 inches down. If your blossom ends turn black and rot, you have blossom rot. It’s usually caused by uneven moisture in the soil. It could also be a calcium problem.
Water must be consistent and frequent for the fruit to produce. If the fruits are misshapen, they may not have received enough water or fertilizer. Check for fruit you can pick daily; they grow faster than you think.
pH level for Squash: 5.5-6.8
Please Check Out What To Plant Each Month:
- What To Plant In January
- What To Plant In February
- What To Plant In March
- What To Plant In April
- What To Plant In May
- What To Plant In June
- What To Plant In July
- What To Plant In August
- What To Plant In September
- What To Plant In October
Final Word
It’s all about self-reliance, and gardening is a great way to do it. It doesn’t have to be the most enormous garden on the block; it can be on a small deck with pots planted with the seeds of the plants you love to eat.
It can be a shared piece of property or several acres of land. Whatever we can do to produce some of our food is one of the best ways to teach our families to care for themselves.
So, if you were wondering what to plant in July, now you know, and you can pass this information on to your neighbors. Thanks for being prepared for the unexpected. May God bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Gardening AdobeStock_218588157 by Irina Fischer, French Green Beans AdobeStock_42955688 by ecobo, Pollinating Cucumbers AdobeStock_177403079 by Viesturs Kalvans, Cucumber Growing In Garden AdobeStock_91930629 by Africa Studio, Fresh Lettuce in Hothouse AdobeStock_143646375 by diyanadimitrova, Zucchini Growing in Summer Day AdobeStock_116494927 by AKA-RA
Linda:
I always love when you come out with your updated what to plant month by month newsletter. I always find things I want to try.
HI Jackie, thank you for your kind words, my sweet friend. I love hearing this! Linda
Huge thanks for this post! I am new to your site and new to the idea of trying to grow some of our own food. This post is so, so helpful and inspiring to me! With much appreciation to you, Linda!
Hi Diane, oh, welcome to our forum! Thank you for your kind words, Linda
Oh my goodness Linda! You never cease to amaze! To think all these years I’ve been storing grandbaby photos in my organizer! If I had only known that I should have been saving all my seeds in there instead of photos!!! Hmmm…Linda? I love you but what do I do with all the grandbaby pictures now? Oops!
I really needed some advice on what to plant – we are moving from western Washington to southern Arizona so what I can plant “outside” will be entirely different! I just read in “Grit” magazine that I should be planting my strawberries in late august or early September! Wow!
I think I’ll be sticking with my Aero Gardens for awhile till I get used to the temperatures there.
Thanks again.
(p.,s. I’m now on my 4th copy of your grand book! Everyone – if you don’t already have a copy of Linda’s book get yourself two – yes I said two – copies. You’ll wear out the first copy very quickly – all those Post It tabs and high lighter lines ya know!)
Hi Cheryl, you made my day with all your kind words!! Are you the one that told me about the AeroGardens?? I bought 3 more for my new house that isn’t built yet!! I gave one to a daughter and one to a granddaughter!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! It took me a couple of years to learn how to grow a garden in the desert. The heat is a killer and the temps!!! I had to buy a lot of shade fabric to keep my plants from cooking literally in the heat. You are so sweet to mention my book, my friend! The grandbaby photos, I love it!! I can just sit around and watch them crawl, giggle, and learn to walk. My youngest grandchild is now 14, I miss the little ones. Linda
Linda,
I grow Contender green beans every year. They are a very reliable bush type, with good yields and are very tasty. I usually try a different variety of pole beans every year too. I’m still looking for one that is reliable year in year out. The French Climbing bean (Franchi Sementi) I tried the past two years did very well the first year and we’re almost totally unproductive last year. Such is life. As you know, I grow heirlooms so I can save the seeds for the next crop. My Contender beans have been doing well for eight years now. Not that i’m planting eight year old seeds, but I’ve found they last for at least two years without any problems at all.
By the way, I save my seeds in an old, but still functioning, fridge, in everything from envelopes to glass jars.
Hi Ray, I love hearing about the beans that will grow in the desert and I’m sure other places. Heirlooms are the only seeds I buy as well. It’s hard to judge how long the seeds will store and still germinate. Thanks for letting us know about the bean seeds lasting 2 years. It’s hard to tell how long they will last. The fridge idea is a great tip! Linda
Linda,
I forgot. I highly recommend Hopi Grey and Delicata squash. Much like acorn squash they bake up beautifully with butter and brown sugar. Next to the Black Beauty zucchini i grow every year they are my favorites. They also are delicious simply sauteed in butter. Both last a long time but the Hopi Grey gets huge and can last all they way through the winter and until your next years zucchini crop is ready. Seriously, if kept in a cool, dry environment I’ve had it last for 9 months.
Hi Ray, oh my gosh, that is awesome! I love squash! I will have to try the Hopi Grey! Great idea! Linda
Hi, Linda: I think that one suggestion for Zone 5 is a bit off. We live in Zone 5! We would have had to sow winter squash a month or more ago, for them to mature in time. I rushed out to the garden to plant winter squash and melons in mid-to-May, even though the temps. were a bit cooler than usual. Usually, would have planted them even sooner! Summer squash, like zucchini, etc. is fine for a slightly late planting. (We were gone, so I didn’t plant them until very late June or July 1st, and they look awesomely happy!!) I am really looking forward to the Zephyr summer squash, which are my no. favorite summer squash on the planet.
Don’t get me wrong, though, I love all of your posts! Just a suggestion, you may wish to switch that winter squash suggestion to “summer squash”.
About flowers in the garden, not only are they beautiful amongst all those green plants, but I learned a few years ago that planting zinnias (and marigolds) next to squash plants keeps the squash bugs and squash borers away! I LOVE having tall, beautiful purple, pink, magenta, orange, yellow, white and light green zinnia patches between the squash plants. We used to lose so many squash, as the squash vine borers would decimate the vines and leaves, so that everything that was gorgeous 2 days ago would suddenly become wilted and die. NOW, with Zinnia patches here and there, I don’t get that anymore, PRAISE GOD!! We also LOVE the Cracker Jack and African Marigolds that come up about 14″ high with giant almost fluorescent blossoms! I never loved marigolds until discovering those! They are like a shrub when in full bloom!! People who come to help pick our berries always comment on the Cracker Jack Marigolds! 🙂
Yes, my husband is going back out to the garden again tomorrow to retill some places that grew grass while we were away, so I can plant broccoli, box choy, spinach/lettuce/amaranth greens, flowers, herbs, and more beans! YAY!! I love the growing season! We grow Amaranth greens because I had them 3 years in a row while doing short-term mission work in Uganda, and I fell in love! Also very popular in the Caribbean, known as Calaloo there. They are great in salads, but superb stir-fried with garlic and onions. Oh, my gosh, that makes me hungry, just thinking about those!!
We are so blessed with blueberries and raspberries again this year, I need to defrost my freezer yet AGAIN!! HELP!! And, blessed to be sure, we finally rescued enough gooseberries (YAY! YUM!) from the critters, that we got a nice haul this year. 🙂 Last year we only got 2 berries total!! One for me and one for hubby. 🙁 Now, I need to figure out how to keep the birds and deer out of our seedless Concord grapes before the harvest this September!!
By the way, if you see funky typos in this message, it’s because this goll-darn autocorrect keeps changing what I type, and it changes it to words that are incorrect!! (For example, while I was typing that last sentence, it switched it to *toll, not “toll” *toll, as you can see, it keeps doing it no matter how many times I type *goll. (Last word, switched again to *”doll”, but I switched it back yet AGAIN!)
Best to you all on these posts! Love your work, Linda! I read your emails everyday, even though I don’t post that often! HAPPY SUMMER, Y’ALL!
Hi Jess, I will switch the winter to summer squash!! Thank you!!!! The temperatures keep changing, too much rain, no rain, drought, heat, storms, yikes! I LOVE hearing your garden is doing so well!! Linda
Yes, Linda: Just south of us (about 35 mins.) experienced massive flooding earlier this week, in Canandaigua, NY, where our church is located. We have been somewhat involved in helping Red Cross help the flood victims, though not as much as I would have thought we would. We have had very unusual and crazy weather a LOT this year, too. My garden, by God’s grace, is doing better than I would have expected with all the variable changes, but doing O.K. I think the berries love all the extra rain they’ve had this summer!
Have you seen the movie “Sound of Freedom” yet? I recommend that you rush out to see it before it is gone from Theaters. It is a life-changing experience to watch it, though they did not show any XX rated stuff that I originally worried about! It’s about one man’s journey to rescue trafficked little children and young teens. So moving! The producers had such flack from Deep State operatives and pedos, that it took them 5 years to actually get it out to theaters, but this movie is AWESOME!
Best,
Joyce S.
Hi Joyce, oh the massive flooding in Canandaigua, NY!! This year has been crazy with weather that’s totally unexpected. I will check out that movie, thanks for the heads up. Linda
Linda,
This week I’m planting Contender and Anasazi bush beans and Hopi Grey squash. My pole beans are finally climbing my corn stalks and my melons are forming fruits. Today I’m harvesting bunches of Gala apples and also Santa Rosa plums (before the birds get them all). 111F yesterday but will only be 109F today.
Hi Ray, someday I’m going to drive down and see your property! I’m too old to drive down there but it sure would be fun to meet in person and see your garden and fruit trees!! Linda. 111 degrees??? Yikes!
Hi Ray, oh the fruit trees, oh my gosh I wish I had those! Those darn birds better stay away from that sweet fruit! 109 today! Did you hear Las Vegas got up to 117 degrees yesterday. or the day before? I grew up there and I have 2 sisters that still lives there. I have some grandkids down there for a basketball tournament, YIKES! Linda
Oh, I’m planting more cucumbers too–a hybrid called Tasty Green that lives up to it’s name. And my banana peppers are forming up nicely. Kuroda carrots, Bright Lights Swiss Chard and even Ithaca Lettuce are still going strong–though the lettuce is trying to bolt. Shade cloth saved the cucumbers I planted earlier. Butterfruit corn was harvested July 5, and I made the mistake of leaving it too long on the stalk. I allowed the silks to dry and turn brown, as I’d always done with other varieties, but it turns out the ears I picked with less mature silks were much sweeter. Live and learn with each new variety tried. That’s what makes gardening fun and challenging.
Hi Ray, you know I LOVE hearing what you are planting and harvesting! Once I get a garden going (they just installed the HVAC and gas lines) the electrical wiring will be put in tomorrow. SLOW, but it’s coming along. You and Jane eat so well, I love hearing about it! Linda
110 heat index today at 101. Planting myself in a chair after 10am
Hi Matt, oh my gosh, that is way too hot! Planting yourself in a chair sounds a lot better! LOL! Linda
Matt,
That’s a Texas cool front!!! LOL!!!
Hi Harry!!!! LOL LOL LOL, Good one! Linda
Linda,
Garden Update 6-29-24
Spring was weirdly cool this year so the tomatoes and cucumbers I started inside in January were very late being planted. I’m growing 13 different varieties for a local Master Gardener’s research project which aims to discover which varieties grow best here in Kingman, AZ.
So far the hands down winners are Gardener’s Delight and Peacevine (the heirloom version of Sweet 100), with Sugar Rush (another cherry) and Super Sweet 100 (a hybrid) right behind them.
As far as slicers go Bush Champion II (a hybrid) is doing well, and Super Sioux is also producing. But the rest, including my favorites Mortgage Lifter and Wapsipinicon Peach aren’t producing yet and along with the others probably won’t’ until it cools down in September.
On the plus side, even with temps int eh 100’s I’m still getting small heads on m Di Ciccio broccoli (an heirloom I grow every year) and my Goliath Hybrid broccoli. I’ve already harvested the main heads from both.
For the second year in a row my Tasty Green Cucumber (a hybrid) is coming up a winner, growing well and flowering.
My Tohono O’odham yellow fleshed water melon (super delicious) is growing like a week and my Crimson Sweet watermelon is flowering. All the cantaloupe and squash I planted were eaten by something as soon as they came up. I suspect baby ground squirrels, which are small enough to wiggle through my 1” chicken wire fencing. I went on a massive trapping and hunting campaign and got that population back under control.
That allowed me to replant Hale’s Best cantaloupe. I’ve restarted Hopi Gray Squash, Borchart’s Wonder squash and Black Beauty Zucchini inside, where they’ll remain until I can transplant them among my corn and beans.
My Candy Mountain sweet corn is about 2’ tall and the Monte Gusto Yellow Pole beans I planted among them are growing nicely.
My Scarlet Nantes and Kuroda carrots are still producing though many are trying to bolt.
All of my lettuce and chard have bolted, except for Jericho lettuce—a Romaine type bred to handle the scorching heat of Israeli summers.
Oh, I’m currently harvesting Anna Apples, Dorsett Golden Apples, Bonanza Peaches and Santa Rosa Plums. The latter two aren’t as ripe as I’d prefer but the birds are finding ways to penetrate my bird netting so I have no choice but to finish ripening them on a window sill.
Hi Ray, you always make me smile when you share what you have planted and are harvesting! What a great experience to be working with Master Gardeners! I never asked are You a Master Gardener? I was starting to take the classes in Southern Utah, I knew I could achieve the certificate but be decided to sell the house. You are living the life my friend! There is nothing better than growing your own food! Linda
Linda,
I’m not a Master Gardener. I just work with them teaching classes on propagating plants and that sort of thing. This year in addition to that I’m testing out different tomato varieties for them. Last year a variety called Prairie Fire won the taste contest so they wanted to see how well it does here in Kingman. That’s one of the varieties I’m growing and so far it hasn’t produced anything noteworthy. Sugar Rush is a small cherry tomato that is very sweet though it has a thick skin, which Jane doesn’t like. She prefers Peacevine, which isn’t as sweet but has a nice thin skin and great tomato flavor.
Hi Ray, with your knowledge you should be one, in my opinion. You are a Master Gardener in my eyes! Linda
Linda, reading through past posts I noticed two years ago I was picking plums in July. This year they are all either picked or eaten already. All my peaches are picked too, though Jane and I are still eating them.
I’m growing Hopi Grey squash in order to produce enough seed to share with others in our local gardening group. It produces so beautifully and holds so long once picked it’s an excellent survival crop.
My Red Pontiac potatoes are a hit this year. None of the ones I’ve dug so far are large, but almost all are in the 2-3″ range–and since they are boilers that’s fine with me. I stopped harvesting them because I found a quail nest in the bed and I can wait until mama hatches her brood.
My Canola russet potatoes are still growing and flowering so I have high hopes for some decent bakers.
Black Beauty Zucchini and Zappolo de Tronco squash are producing nicely.
The best cucumber variety I’ve grown here is Sweet Success. It’s a hybrid, but it is delicious, producing several cukes in the 12-14″ range. Practically seedless and burpless. It is outdoing my previous favorite–Tasty Green–hands down. I’ve decided to take cuttings from it and overwinter it in my mini-greenhouse indoors. Basically, I’m cloning it for planting again next year. I’ve been experimenting with doing that (did it last year with a Sweet 100 hybrid tomato) and it works well. It’s a way to make gardening with hybrids sustainable.
I may have to resort to hand pollinating my melons as they are all flowering like crazy but not setting fruit. I have plenty of bees but they are more attracted tot he larger, showier squash flowers.
I tried Cherokee Wax, Carson Yellow and Capitano Yellow beans this year along with Contender, Provider, Derby and Blue Lake 274, but I didn’t get them in early enough so, while they are growing nicely they aren’t flowering or setting fruit yet. My fault entirely. I’ll plant them all again in late August for a fall crop.
When you get around to doing some container gardening I suggest using Happy Frog potting soil. It’s designed to not dry out as fast as regular soils and it has all the nutrients even heavy feeders like cucumbers need. My container soil is a mixture of at least 50% Happy Frog, about 25% Dr. Q’s Filthy Rich Compost and about 25% my homemade compost.
I also recommend setting up your irrigation system with soaker hose instead of drip lines. The plants I’m watering with soaker hose are doing much better than those with drip.
I’ve also been making compost tea in 5-gallon buckets and using it to water my fruit trees. I just fill a bucket 2/3 with water, add a tablespoon of unsulphured black molasses and put a burlap bag with a couple of shovels of compost in it into the bucket. Then every day or so I pull up the bag and drain it into the bucket and put it back in. Easy peasy and the trees love it.
Hi Ray, before I get started with my garden I will reach out to you to make sure I get the right soil. You know I love hearing about what you are growing, and harvesting. It’s so fun to go outside and bring in what you want to eat for dinner. It’s a blessing! I’m hoping I can get started in a few months to set up a garden so it’s ready for next year but no communication as of yet. I will visit farmers markets or my neighbors garden this year. I LOVE hearing the seeds you prefer, that helps all of us. Thank you, Linda
Hello, again dear friends: Thank you all for all of your great posts! Ray D.W., I am in AWE of all that you can grow out in Kingman, AZ!! We drove through there on one of our anniversary trips and didn’t think the soil looked like it could sustain as much as what you are successfully growing! How great is that? You must have ammended some of your plots quite a bit…? Our blueberry patch and the gooseberries are already gearing up for large harvests again this year, but my veg. garden got in mostly pretty late due to lots of storms, unusually cold weather and being so busy with friends coming over from Uganda and with our 45th wedding party, etc. All of that is past now, so I was still playing catch up in the veg. garden last week, before we went over to Western PA to visit our dear Amish family! They gave me some extra sweet potato slips, which I will be planting within a day or two, depending on the heat index coming up. Otherwise, all the seeds I planted earlier are coming up and many are already resulting in very large plants, just not the ones that are still coming on due to delays and lousy weather. I am so grateful for my vego raised beds, though! They make back-breaking gardening a breeze, especially so when you’re getting older, like me. I plan to purchase more of those as my husband will put up with next year!
He is such a smarty plants, though….I buy the 17″ high raised beds, which are perfect for so many veggies and flowers….but take a LOT of raised bed/potting soil to fill them. Well, we had to cut down 15 Ash tress that died with the Ash borer blight that devastated them a few years back. He still has stacks of logs, so he decided to take the ones that would fit in the bottom of the raised beds, and place them on the bottom to take up some of the extra space at the bottom. That has worked fantastically for us! Now, I am just waiting for the small raised bed to plant culinary herb and medicinal herb seeds before summer gets away from us! HAVE A GREAT ONE, EVERYBODY!! I love to hear what you are planting and doing with your gardens….OH, I almost forgot…a hint from our Amish professional grower friends…they put Epsom Salts in water and spray their melon plants to make the melons sweeter. Apparently, the magnesium does something to the melon sugars! Just thought I’d share that with you all!
Hi Jess, I have never heard of Epsom salts making melons sweeter!! Love tips!! My tomatoes are now 4 feet tall loaded with tomatoes (green) can’t wait for the first red one! Squash is doing great. I bought more garden pots 22 inches wide 17 inches deep! Yay! I don’t have raised beds but these are working fine. I know how to amend the soil, thank goodness!! It’s been 5 years since I have gardened, I have missed it so much!! Linda
Hi, Linda: Wow! You must have been able to plant your garden plants and seeds early this year to have your tomatoes so far along! NOT HERE, OUT EAST! Everyone we know, including the professional crop farmers have had a hard time with the nasty weather than never warmed up for more than 2 days except for 4-5 days ago!!! YIKES! I am still working on putting in more crops, though my tomato plants are about 2 1/2 ft. tall, cause my Amish Family brought me some plus pepper plants from their greenhouse in PA for free. They are not normal tomatoes, though. I have developed a great fondness (and need) for Pineapple Tomatoes and/or the golden and pink striped tomatoes that are very low acid. Otherwise, my husband refuses to eat tomatoes anymore and makes my creating meals a real pain in the kazoo! Between no eggs, no tomatoes and no gluten, you can just imagine. THE GOOD NEWS is that I tried the His Saving Grains “Crushed Wheat” while we were at our Amish Family’s home over the weekend, and I had ZERO reaction to their crushed wheat, which I guess is quite common (the lack of bad reaction). In actually made me feel very healthy! I just ordered online another 15 lbs. beyond what I bought out in Western PA last weekend. It was such a joy to eat real bread for a switch! PLUS, now I feel confident it will be possible for me to make that no knead bread you told us all about, as promised. Will try to do that in the next couple of weeks! (As we are still trying against all weather and odds to get a fall crop garden spot filled with plants!) We actually had the edge of a tornado swoop through our area last week, and one of our 9 ft. tall elderberry “bushes” actually broke in half and fell into the garden. No worries, though, I have 4 newer elderberry plants coming on, and they are all Bob Gordon plants which are much sturdier and big producers. We won’t mind having a smaller crop of elderberries this year, cause I still have at least 15 quarts of my steam-juiced elderberry/blackberry/blueberry juice down in the pantry for influenzas plus all of my medical larder of homeopathic remedies that WORK!
The good news is that a lot of what I planted is up and growing nicely now. Just need to get more giant Cracker Jack Marigolds and beautiful Zinnias planted maybe tomorrow!
PLUS the other great news is that it looks like our elderly organic orchardist friends will still be selling organic peaches and apples again this Fall! That is so great, because there are many orchards that have NOTHING on their trees due to the nasty spring weather and the horrible winter we had. I am already making plans with our Amish Family to drive down 4 bushels of apples to them in the Fall and then picking up by the 1/2 bushel or bushel of each of sweet potatoes, red beets, carrots, onions and anything else they’re planting in exchange! We do a lot of exchanging with that family and their Aunt and Uncle who are natural medicine healers*, like me! 🙂 What a great time we had visiting them* on Sunday evening last weekend!!! I just feel badly that they are losing their cucumber crop due to swarms of cucumber beetles everywhere. No matter what organic “sprays” or applications, noting has worked for them so far! However, we love, love, love to learn more and share more for natural ways of healing people around the world, actually!!
Hugs,
JESS
Hi Jess, I started growing inside April 1st and planted outside May 15. It was a struggle for about two weeks, it was too cold. But then, BAM everything warmed up and all my efforts took off! Yay! I have squash popping out, I can’t wait! What a blessing to have an Amish family to trade with. Love it! Linda
Linda,
It’s June 30, 2026, and I finally have beans coming up. Normally, I can plant them in early April and get at least three good crops before Winter. But this year the beans I planted early didn’t germinate well and those that came up died immediately. So I waited until a couple of weeks ago to replant and so far, so good. I am spreading DE around them as I suspect the first crop failed as much due to pill bugs eating them as to the cold.
The rest of my garden crops are doing extremely well. Jane and I have canned seven quarts of apple pie filling and a few quarts of applesauce, 9 pints of plum syrup, and 4 quarts of carrots. In addition Jane is making apple cinnamon bread, apple muffins, apple/carrot muffins and God only know what else as we work to preserve as much of our bumper crops as possible.
I’m her official taste tester (as well as apple peeler, corer, slicer and carrot peeler, grater). I know. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. Poor me, huh.
Hi Ray, oh my gosh, how exciting! I love hearing about all the canning you do with the food you produce. You are the official taste tester, I LOVE it! I thought at first my squash seeds didn’t germinate and then BAM, I had too many, LOL! I let them grow a bit and my neighbor came and transplanted them into her yard because her seeds never did germinate. We had a cold spell and then it started to warm up and I had way too squash plants. I’m glad I could give her like 12 plants. Half zucchini and half yellow straight neck. I can almoost smell Jane’s apple pie! Love it! Linda