It's that time of year when gardening is more weeding and mowing than anything else. Spring pruning should be over. Citrus and fruit trees will need their summer treatment but otherwise it's keep the grass short and enjoy some cool shade in the garden.
There are some vegetables you can grow during the summer if you really can't let go. Summertaste tomatoes can give you salad fodder throughout the hot months as can Large Fruiting Cherry tomatoes. The best sweet peppers for summer are Cubanelle. Hot peppers enjoy our summer heat but do not our humidity.
Okras and sweet potatoes love summer weather, but for greens you pretty well have to stick with collards. There are some spinach substitutes that do well - Amaranth and Malabar spinach among them.
If you decide to give up on vegetables for the summer you may consider covering your vegetable patch with clear plastic sheeting. This is called solarizing and it prevents weeds growing during the summer. It also kills nematodes and bakes any weed seeds in the ground. When September or October comes, all you have to do is peel back the sheeting, fertilize and plant. Soak the ground thoroughly before applying the sheeting.
But when all is said and done, summer is the time to enjoy your garden. That's what I am going to do so, as the old song says, "See you in September!"
HTML Copyright © 2001,Abaco Journal