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

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.


Thanks for all the good advice. Actually, I would not want to plant
peppers and tomatoes, I have enough, I was just commenting on it being too
late to plant them. I don't have warm fuzzies about the beans. My beans
didn't start to grow good until late June when the weather warmed up.
Around here, the weather can cool off and stay cool at the end of August.
Also, I didn't see turnips or mustard on the list, I'm guessing you can
plant them also? I thought that carrots and beets should be planted in
August, when summer is almost over - goes to show how much I know


Beans want "warm feet" to grow well. Next spring, put some clear plastic
over the row, wait a week, then punch holes in it and plant your seeds.
They'll grow quicker that way.

Mustard will be slightly bitter in this heat, as will other greens, like
arugula. If they mature in September, the chill will take care of that. But,
there's a way to beat the bitterness during summer. Pick up a roll of 5' or
6' high fence wire, the kind with the green plastic coating (which makes the
stuff last much longer than bare metal). Cut a piece as long as the row you
want to cover, then bend it into a tunnel shape. Bend the ends closed,
secure with wire ties, and you've got a cover that's rigid and easy to lift
off. Cover the top or sides (depending on your sun exposure) with grey metal
window screen, to cut down on the sun. Grown under a structure like this,
most greens will be much less bitter when grown in summer, and go to flower
more slowly.

And, change your expectations, as far as greens. Notice that in
supermarkets, a premium is charged for baby spinach. And, fancy restaurants
use names like "field greens" for things you can grow, like swiss chard
picked when the leaves are half the size of a slice of bread. You achieve
two things by harvesting greens when they're small: They're not bitter, and
they're not too big to fit under the aforementioned wire cages.

Finally, go to www.powells.com and get yourself a used copy of Crockett's
Victory Garden. It was published in the early 1970s, and doesn't discuss the
now-trendy "gourmet greens", but the book is otherwise a wealth of
information on planting schedules, and dealing with weather oddities. Ignore
Mr. Crockett's advice on chemicals. He relied on them way too heavily.