What to Grow Now—Mid-Summer, Zone 9a

 Volunteer Squash and Gourds
from a Halloween recycling pile
added to the VegHeadz compost bins.

The green beans are gone, the snap peas and potatoes, long since.  The tomatoes are fading but the eggplants and peppers are hanging on.  Summer squash will soon be done, but winter squash will continue to bloom, depending on variety.  It’s time to pull or cut the spent plants.  

Whether you pull or cut depends on the condition of the plants.  If they are relatively healthy when they stop bearing, they can be cut and dropped or added to your compost.  Roots remaining in the soil will still furnish some nutrients for microbes, decompose in place, add organic matter to the soil, and furnish pathways for water and air to reach deep into your soil and avoid compaction.  

Plants such as tomatoes which tend to become diseased, should be pulled and trashed.  If your crop is having a lot of pest problems, those plants should also be trashed.  Be careful not to plant varieties in the same family there next year.  Some insects tend to have preferences   

Wondering what to plant in those bare spots?  Any type of Southern field peas (cowpeas) are a good bet.  Plant a type you like to eat such as cream peas or crowder peas, or black-eyed peas   We particularly like pink-eyed purple hull peas for their taste, ease of growth, and beauty   They grow thickly, shading out weeds, and can be harvested in about 60 days to eat fresh, cut and dropped or composted, leaving a bonus of nitrogen in the soil for your next crop.  

It’s not too late to plant okra, and sweet potatoes make a great ground cover to keep the weeds down while producing a delicious harvest   Sweet potatoes do require a longer time to fully develop their roots into full-sized potatoes.  Depending on variety, wait 90 to 120 days until harvest.  Avoid planting sweet potatoes where you want to sow an early fall crop.  

Another option is cover crops such as buckwheat, sun hemp, or a summer cover crop mix.  They shade soil, feed soil organisms, discourage weeds, mine minerals, and provide organic matter when dropped and composted in place.  

Strong-smelling herbs such as various types of oregano and rosemary are always good choices.  They are perennials so you can leave them and plant around them to help repel pests during your next growing season.

Or plant some flowers which thrive in the heat and feed various stages of garden helpers—Zinnias, Coneflowers, Cosmos, Gaillardia, Salvias, or Marigolds.

At the very least, apply a deep layer of mulch to your soil, whether in bare spots or under plants.   The moisture conservation and soil temperature regulation will give your summer plants a huge helping hand.  Summer weeds are a real problem and mulch will help with them too.   

All of the suggested plants are relatively pest free and should survive on summer rains unless there is a prolonged drought.  Turn off water and timers when it rains at least an inch a week.  Water is not cheap and the unending supply is at risk. Plants should be watered if they are drooping early in the morning.  

It’s good to plant things that take little care because it’s too hot to spend much time in the garden for the next several months.   

Stay cool!

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