"Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam wrote in message
...

What kinds of things can you plant in July and August? We want to plant
some basil, is it too late in the year? I understand that you probably
can't plant beans and squash and tomatos (can you?), but what can you
plant in July and August, and when should you plant it?

Depends on where you live and if you start from seeds I guess.
Peppers, for instance, take 80-90 days or so from seed. Do you have that
long till first frost?

Carl

It's mid July, and average first frost is the end of September or first
week of August. So we have about 10-12 weeks left. Not enough time for
peppers, probably not enough time for tomatoes. I'm thinking of trying
Okra one last time, maybe a few more squash, and then just plant winter
stuff in the middle of August. Does this sound reasonable?

Around here, the weather doesn't warm up until July, and it cools off at
the end of August. My eggplants are just now *finally* starting to take
off. My peppers are growing very slowly. They look healthy, but are just
not really doing much. My tomatoes are exploding. My pumpkins are doing
this OMG look at me grow, 10 foot vines already! But this is my first
garden in 10 years, and I really don't know what I'm doing LOL. I just
throw seeds down and see what grows, and what doesn't :-)


Why would you want to plant tomatoes & peppers if you already have them
growing? Here's a list of things you could plant in July, ***if*** you were
gardening in Boston. This is from Crockett's Victory Garden. Obviously,
you'll need to make adjustments because Boston has at least an extra month
of growing season. But, this is a decent guideline. Anything with an
asterisk is something that'll handle some cold weather, and so might be a
better bet. And, for beans, stick with the bush variety at this point, not
pole beans.

Plant:
Beans
Beets*
Carrots*
Chinese Cabbage*
Collards*
Cucumbers (bush variety, fast grower)
Kale*
Lettuce* will handle some frost, with protection at night
Radishes*
Rutabagas*

You might also get away with broccolli. Some are as tough as kale &
collards, and will laugh at frost. Tastes MUCH better when it matures in
cool weather. And, here are a few things NOT in the books' list, which I
have good luck with at this time:

Spinach
Swiss Chard
Fennel

In August, you can plant peas, endive and spinach (again). You might also
consider investing in a cold frame. It'll enable you to grow quite a few
things right into October or November.