What should I plant?

[J Golden]

Greetings,

I live in NY and this year I planted corn, string beans, lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, cucumber, and bell pepper. The pepper, cucumber, tomatoes and melon are all coming along. The corn gave me one excellent ear until the local squirrels found it (the pepper wax didn't work) . The lettuce (black seeded simpson) gave me two picking a week but started flowering now that the weather has been around 90 degrees. I cleaned out the lettuce and now have a 6' x 3' part of my vegetable garden ready for planting something. Can anyone recommend something to plant? I considered Spinich but I have a slug problem and the probably would have a field day with the spinich.

Thanks,

J

[gonzo]

If you want to plant edibles, you might try: lettuce (warm season variety: prizeleaf, kweik) chinese cabbage (if you can keep it watered) reg'lar cabbage (if you cover it with floating row cover or recycled gauzy curtains to keep the bugs off) carrots/beets/turnips

All these should have time to mature yet this season. If you want to plant non-edible (ie, green manure) try: legume (white clover, alfalfa) non-legume fast: buckwheat, ANNUAL ryegrass slow: winter oats

[John Savage]

I guess you're hinting that you are in the last half of summer and want suggestions for a fast crop. What about a late planting of more tomatoes? If you can get advanced seedlings of the cherry tomatoes you should get plenty off them. Also beetroot might make it, esp as you can pull them at any size and don't need summer to last till they reach large size. Plant seedlings in well manured soil and they'll grow fast. You'll need snail bait to protect them from any slugs and snails. Can you get hold of celery seedlings? You can harvest celery at any stage. In your hot weather you'll need to provide shade for any seedlings that you plant out, this can be twigs of leaves off a shrub or fern stuck into the soil alongside each seedling, or some arrangement of shade cloth. Onion seedlings can be pulled even before they develop a bulb and used as shallots, so maybe put in some onion seedlings if you can get them. Zucchini are fast, but best grown from seeds rather than transplanted.

Perhaps experiment with mustard and cress, or radishes, or plant out some herbs from pots, e.g., basil, parsley, mint. You'll need snail bait. Maybe plant some edible flowers, I think marigold flowers are edible, so are the zucchini flowers. Nasturtium leaves and flowers are edible.

[J Golden]

Thanks,

Actually I planted Zuchinni but not from seed and the plant seems to be struggling. I decided to try Roma II Italiian Green Beans which weather the heat well.

[Maryc]

You can get rid of the slugs with a little beer poured into a containe and put in your garden as bait. They get in it and die. I guess the like beer just a little too much

-- Maryc