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Hot Summer Vegetables That Beat the Heat

Most Americans experienced one of the hottest summers on record last year, and die-hard summer vegetable gardeners were more intimately tuned into the heat — spending untold hours watering and nurturing crops through the worst of the weather. This year, wise gardeners will enter the season prepared with proven heat-tolerant summer vegetables able to produce even through the worst heat waves.

Even among warm-season vegetables, some are more resilient to harsh, hot growing conditions than others. For example, not all tomatoes and peppers continue producing fruit once temperatures exceed 95° Fahrenheit, while others seem made for hot days and nights. Likewise, some bean and squash species are better adapted to heat than others.

Over the years, researchers and trial gardeners across the country have tested many vegetables for heat tolerance, with some varieties showing exceptional resilience. Then there are those popular southerly vegetables that everyone knows make good in the heat.

Summer Vegetables for Heat

Here are some “hot,” reliable favorites to consider adding to your midsummer garden this season.

Amaranth

Amaranth leaves and seeds are nutritious, and the plants are pretty!

The unique red leaf vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) is like most amaranths, tough and resistant to both high heat and moderate drought. Its tender green leaves have reddish-purple inner markings and a flavor comparable to spinach. Young leaves can be eaten fresh in salads or sautéed like spinach or Swiss chard. It is a must-have green for the sustainable vegetable garden.

Yardlong Bean

Yardlong beans produce for far longer than average green beans, and their beans are huge.

Beans are favorite summer vegetables, but the vigorous, vining asparagus or yardlong bean (Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis) grows particularly well when daytime and nighttime temperatures are high. Asian in origin, it is widely cultivated in both temperate and tropical Asia. Its tender pods grow to great lengths of 16 inches or more, and vines begin to produce very quickly in warm weather—usually only two months after planting. When picked young and tender, the beans are wonderfully crisp and flavorful, and well-harvested vines produce longer-than-average pole beans, even in scorching hot, humid weather. The purple-podded form is particularly high-performing, tasty, and loaded with nutrients.

Asian Eggplant

Southeast Asian Eggplants, such as ‘Ping-Tung Long’, are wonderfully heat-resistant!

Similarly, the sweet, non-bitter, Southeast Asian eggplants are some of the most delicious and best adapted to high heat. Two of the finest varieties for flavor and performance are the tender, long-fruited ‘Thai Long Green’ (8-10” long green fruits) and Taiwanese ‘Ping-Tung Long’ (12-16″ long purplish-red fruits). Both are mild, thin-skinned, and produce reliably in sweltering weather.

Peppers

The AAS award-winning peppers ‘Orange Blaze’ (left) and ‘Holy Moly’ (right) seem made for hot summers. (Photos courtesy of All-American Selections)

Peppers, sweet and hot, are always good for a very warm warm-season garden. Hot peppers are especially reliable in the heat; three highly recommended varieties include the super spicy classic jalapeno ‘Tula’, wonderfully flavorful pasilla-type pepper ‘Holy Molé’ (2007 AAS Winner), and classic spicy-sweet red bell pepper ‘Mexibell’ (1988 AAS Winner). Of the sweet bell peppers, nothing beats the tough, disease-resistant ‘Orange Blaze’ ( 2011 AAS Winner) and its crisp, bright orange peppers.

Okra

The prolific okra ‘Annie Oakley’ is one of many great okras that thrive when it’s hot.

Okra (Ablemoschus esculentus) is the poster child for deep southern cooking and hot, humid summer weather. When choosing an okra variety, it pays to choose a spineless variety with pods that remain tender. Two winning cultivars are the very tall (5 to 8’), high-producing ‘Emerald’ and the compact, high-performing ‘Annie Oakley’, which bears loads of tender green pods.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes grow best where summers are really hot.

Sweet potatoes are another southern favorite that won’t flag when the temperatures rise. Space-saving bushy (rather than vining) varieties tend to be most desirable for home gardeners, and of these, ‘Carolina Bunch’ and ‘Vardaman’ are two of the best. The disease-resistant ‘Carolina Bunch’ is highly productive, offering loads of pale-orange-fleshed tuberous roots, or “potatoes.” The equally productive ‘Vardaman’ has deepest orange sweet potatoes with award-winning flavor. If planted along berms amended with Black Gold® Garden Compost Blend, both varieties will bear loads of roots, even in the worst summer heat.

Tomatoes

The deliciously sweet cherry tomatoes “Jasper” (left, Photo courtesy of All-American Selections) and ‘Sungold’ ( center, right) will forge on through the heat.

When it comes to tomatoes, a few perform exceptionally when summer days exceed 95 degrees Fahrenheit and nights remain warm, while most simply stop growing until scorching days subside. A great classic red slicer for heat is ‘Heat Wave II’, which bears meaty, flavorful, medium-sized tomatoes, even in 100 degrees Fahrenheit heat. And luckily, the finest tasting cherry tomato, ‘Sungold’, just happens to be a top performer in hot weather. Its bright orange, super sweet, highly flavorful fruits resist cracking and are produced in profusion. The 2013 AAS award-winning cherry tomato ‘Jasper’ has also been shown to perform well under stressful summer weather conditions.

Zucchini and Summer Squash

Summer squash yields fruit quickly and grows well in heat.

Summer isn’t summer without summer squash, and the best-of-the-best for taste and heat tolerance, high yields, and good flavor is Zucchetta Rampicante Tromboncino (Cucurbita moschata ‘Tromba d’Albenga’). The vines are large and rambling, but they produce delicious, long, curved summer squashes all summer — through hot and cool weather — up until frost. Towards the end of the season, let a few hang on the vines until their skin hardens. These can be saved and eaten as winter squash.

Caring for Summer Vegetables

For best plant health and yields, be sure to feed all your vegetables with organic fertilizer early in the season. Amendments such as Garden Compost Blend and Earthworm Castings Blend will also ensure your plants thrive by maintaining proper soil moisture and aeration. Doing this will encourage vigorous root growth. Double–digging is another great way to optimize health, deep root growth, which enables plants to better withstand moderate drought and high heat.

Get this summer’s crop started off right with a well-prepared garden by planting tougher, heat-tolerant summer vegetables, and this year’s yield is sure to beat the heat.

Fight Chlorosis with Earthworm Castings Tea

 

Cure Chlorosis - Maureen Gilmer
The foliage of this squash plant shows varying degrees of chlorosis compared to a few normal, all green leaves. Note the green veins within the yellow leaves that distinguishes nutrient deficiency from pests and diseases.

My squash are screaming at me from the back of my garden in the silent language of plants. The big green leaves of my most productive summer squash are turning yellow. This isn’t a water problem because there is no wilt. Closer inspection of the leaves reveals no pests either. Only the veins of the leaves are still green. This condition is called chlorosis, and it can strike virtually any plant that’s experiencing a nutrient deficiency. But don’t let it get you down. Let’s learn more about the condition and how to cure chlorosis with earthworm castings tea.

Plants need two types of nutrients to grow. First are the macro-nutrients we all know from fertilizer packages, which are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. These also include to a lesser extent, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. The list of micro-nutrients is much longer, but these are all needed too, often in small quantities and sometimes just a trace. Among the most vital are boron, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, molybdenum and chlorine. The absence of any of these can cause chlorosis.

The actual nutrient deficiency I’m experiencing may be impossible to nail down exactly, and that’s not really necessary to solve the problem. Often folks assume it’s a nitrogen deficiency, but in my case all the other plants around that squash are nice and green, so that isn’t it. Plus, adding nitrogen rich fertilizer to green-up certain summer vegetables is not the best idea. Those that produce their crop via flowers and fruit such as cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, may stop flowering, which means no more fruit. Sure they’ll grow big and leafy as a result, but that will interfere with future yield.

The best way to rescue a chlorotic fruiting vegetable plant is to provide a multi-vitamin approach that brings a wide range of macro and micro nutrients into the root zone at the same time. However, for rapid uptake, it must be in a form that’s immediately available to the plant.

Black Gold Earthworm Castings are an all organic fertilizer-like material that is renowned for containing a wide range of macro- and micro-nutrients. That’s why it’s present in many other Black Gold products too. What makes earthworm castings so great is that these nutrients are held in a water soluble form. When applied in a water solution, they enter the root zone and are taken in by that hungry squash immediately.

How To Make Earthworm Castings Tea

If you’re experiencing chlorosis, or a plant that’s simply a poor-doer, create a tea out of earthworm castings and pour it directly onto the root zone of your plant. Though nutrient-rich, there’s no risk of burning the roots. Simply mix one cup or more of earthworm castings into one gallon of water. Be sure to mix again just before you pour it onto your plants to make sure any settled nutrients are again in suspension for even distribution.

Chlorosis in your leafy vegetables such as lettuce or cabbage is treated slightly differently. With these, lots of leafy growth is desirable since this is the part you eat. For these, work in a quality tomato and vegetable fertilizer, then water it in with earthworm castings tea to make sure you’ve covered all he bases. Since all these are OMRI listed, you can confidently apply your nitrogen to leaf crops at any time during the summer or fall season.

Gardening is about recognizing the silent language of plants and interpreting what it means. When leaves turn yellow, be sure to note whether the veins remain green to determine if it’s chlorosis or something else. Then consider if it’s a crop that depends on flowers, or one that’s foliage-based. That tells you exactly how to treat them with confidence using Black Gold all organic fertilizers and potting soils.

Growing Okra in Oregon

Okra in Oregon - Photo by Susanne Pope
Okra in Oregon – Photo by Susanne Pope

On my weekly radio show, I not only get questions from gardeners, but I often get comments and information that others want to share. It is especially interesting when a caller discusses plants that I am not familiar with. Several weeks ago I got a call from Susanne in Aloha, Oregon, and she wanted to tell me about how she was growing okra in Oregon.

Okra is not a common crop in Oregon and I have never seen it growing in a home garden. Actually, I don’t think I have ever seen it growing in any situation. Susanne started her plants from seeds in Black Gold Seedling Mix and waited until it was warm before she planted them in her garden. The plants are now flowering and producing pods. Susanne reports that the pods should only be about two inches long when picked. With the hot weather we are currently experiencing, I would think her okra plants would thrive. Judging from the photos, I think Susanne is going to have a good crop. Thanks for sharing, Susanne!

Is anybody else out there having success growing a plant that wouldn’t normally be thought to thrive here in Oregon, or wherever you are? Leave a comment below and tell us about it.

From Desert Dry Wash to Organic Vegetable Garden in One Season

Dry Wash into Organic Garden - Spring 2012 - Maureen Gilmer
Spring 2012: The garden in February 2012 – just prior to final fertilizer application with protective bird netting and straw bale barriers against voracious rabbits.

Last year my desert dry wash was nothing but porous sand and decomposed granite. They said I’d never grow organic food there. I had one year to build this ground spring planting season. Here’s how I solved the problems and grew this fabulous 10′ by 20′ organic vegetable garden using Black Gold products…

Increased water holding by tilling in organic matter from Just Coir and Garden Compost.

Introduced microbes and nitrogen with Black Gold Earthworm Castings.

Continue reading “From Desert Dry Wash to Organic Vegetable Garden in One Season”

Identifying and Beating Tomato Late Blight

Tomato Late Blight - Jessie Keith
LEFT: ‘Striped Roman’ tomato with tomato late blight on fruit and foliage. RIGHT: Tomato late blight lesion on ‘Striped Roman’ tomato. Photos by Jessie Keith

Tomatoes with oily patches and plants with stem lesions and browning leaves – it’s not what a tomato grower wants to see because these are the telltale signs and symptoms of late blight (Phytophthora infestans). Most commonly known for causing the Irish Potato Famine, late blight is spread by a fungus-like pathogen that survives and overwinters on infected plant material. Though it kills tomatoes more slowly than potatoes, it is equally lethal and destroys tomato fruits.

Tomato late blight is a disease that needs a live host plant from year to year, so several methods can be used to avoid it and control its spread if discovered. The first step is to plant healthy plants from reliable growers or seed suppliers. (Nothing is worse than being sold diseased plants!) In the garden, avoid moist soil by planting tomatoes in well-drained, aerated, raised beds and keep plants healthy and vigorous by feeding them with a tomato & vegetable fertilizer. It also helps to encourage air-flow by spacing plants well and keeping them pruned. Rotating crops on a three year cycle will also help keep soil disease-free. Finally, scout for infected plants and immediately remove any infected plant material far away from the garden and compost bin. Be diligent and you can beat late blight.

Halting Tomato Hornworms with Bacillus thuringiensis

Hornworm - Maureen Gilmer
Hornworm Caterpillar

Tomato hornworms arrive at night as gossamer-winged moths that lay their eggs on your carefully cultivated tomatoes. Hatchlings quickly grow to enormous green caterpillars that can decimate a plant overnight.

Inspect new growth daily for these voracious caterpillars. Hand pick them promptly and discard before they feed on the fruit itself.

Another option is to spray the plants with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis). This safe, non toxic, control is approved for organic gardening. Once BT is on the leaves, worms eat it and get a fatal belly ache. This natural spray is one of the greatest success stories in organic horticulture. You’ll find it in garden centers and home improvement stores wherever Black Gold products are sold.

Hornworm Adult

Double Digging for Flawless Root Crops

Root crops such as ‘Lunar White’ carrots will be long, straight, and easy to pull when grown in your newly double dug beds.

Root crops grow best in soil that is as fertile and deep as possible. Higher soil organic matter and tilth will yield longer, straighter carrots, heftier rutabagas and prettier parsnips. Double digging is the best technique to maximize bed depth, and early spring or midsummer are great times to prep your beds for spring or fall root crops.

The best way to maximize soil depth and quality is through double digging and ample amendment with lots of organic matter. Double digging is the process of digging deeply to ensure soil is light and porous down deep. Begin by designating a reasonable area to dig. Then with a good, sharp spade, remove the top 8 to 10 inches of soil and place it on a tarp so it can be easily returned to the garden. For the “double” stage of digging, use a hefty garden fork to work up the soil as deeply as possible along the floor of the garden where the soil was removed.

Double Digging - 3 Steps - Jessie Keith
1) Trench double digging is a faster, less arduous method of double digging. Just double dig a trench where you want to plant. 2) All double-dug soil should be friable, clump-free and amendments thoroughly worked in. 3) Double dug bed spaces will be slightly raised upon completion and should be easy to dig deeply into.

Once light and worked up, add a half and half mix of Black Gold Garden Soil and Black Gold Garden Compost Blend—one bag each for around a 5’ x 5’ garden area. Finally, work in additional bags of soil builder and compost at the same ratio into the soil on the tarp and add it back into your double dug garden.

This method is a lot of work but yields superb root vegetables for years to come. Follow up by planting rows of your favorite fall root crops, like carrots, daikon radishes, rutabagas, beets, and parsnips, and cover the seed lightly with Black Gold Seedling Mix before watering in.

Enjoying Root Vegetables - Jessie Keith
1) Kids enjoy helping harvest root vegetables and eat them too. 2) Long, straight ‘Kinko’ Carrots harvested directly from the fall garden.

Grow Gourds!

Growing Gourds - Jessie Keith
Learning to grow gourds is fun! Nothing beats beautiful, heat-tolerant, hard-skinned gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) for fall show and decorating. Growing them is fun and easy to do! They come in all shapes and sizes and are top notch garden plants for kids. In the fall they look beautiful in festive Halloween and Thanksgiving displays and for winter they can be dried and carved into everything from lidded containers to birdhouses or luminaries.

Plant these annual vines in spring after the threat of frost has passed, and provide full sun and well-drained soil fortified with a little all-purpose fertilizer for good gourd production. When temperatures heat up, the vines will start to spread, twine and ramble, so be sure to provide a strong trellis for them.

Corn Pollination

Corn Ear - Maureen Gilmer
Ears form down lower on the stalk where they’re ready to receive a “rain” of pollen.

We call it corn, but pointy headed plant geeks know this species as Zea mays, or maize. Of all our garden vegetables, this giant grass can be the most challenging to new gardeners. This is because corn grows differently.

Corn as we know it is not a naturally created plant. It was altered millennia ago by human intervention which began in Mexico. They started with a wild grass known as teosinte, which bears little resemblance to modern corn. The plant we know today is such an altered species it can no longer naturalize or reproduce itself in the wild. That’s why it can go so wrong in the garden.

The corn plant produces tassels at the top where pollen is formed, then when the time is right it rains down upon the developing ears held lower on the plant. But weather doesn’t always cooperate with trickle-down pollination. That’s why planting corn is done differently than other bee-pollinated plants.

First time corn growers become disappointed with their ears because kernels are missing. This is a sign of incomplete pollination. The cause is plants too widely spaced or when grown in just one or two rows. Farmers must have 100% kernel development to sell their corn. They ensure pollination by growing corn in blocks, which ensures sufficient pollen density to guarantee a perfect ear.

In the home garden, strive for a block as long as it is wide so there’s even access to pollen for every plant. Space seeds and rows exactly as it says on the package, which is optimum for pollination. This demonstrates why it’s hard to grow corn in smaller gardens. There simply isn’t enough room to create a block large enough. That’s why those who grow corn do so directly in the ground rather than in raised beds or well defined potagers.

Corn Field - Maureen Gilmer
This farmer planted a large block, then a second one which is just starting for 2 consecutive harvests.

Corn, like most grass, is a heavy feeder that demands more fertile ground to thrive. You may have used compost and other organic matter to fortify the soil this spring, but that may not be enough for corn. Like turf grass, its favorite nutrient is nitrogen, which stimulates leaf and stem growth. For the home garden, boosting nitrogen levels in your corn growing soil can make a big difference in the vigor of your plants and the size of ears they produce. While farmers use commercial synthetic fertilizers, organic gardeners can achieve similar results with Black Gold products.

The best way to spot-fortify soil for corn is to work some fertilizer formulated for vegetables thoroughly into the ground as deeply as you can. This is our most potent organic source of nitrogen that’s OMRI Listed so you know it’s safe. At a whopping 18% nitrogen, a little bit goes a long way. This organic nitrogen is available to the corn plants over the entire growing season compared to synthetics that are here today and gone tomorrow.

Indian Corn - Maureen Gilmer
Complete pollination yields great color and full ears suitable for decorating.

Give your soil a lift before planting seed no matter what kind of corn you grow. Indian corn will produce more brightly colored ears for decorating. Heirloom varieties will thrive on the modest nutrient loads for a variety of unique flavors. Best of all, you’ll proudly serve picture perfect organic sweet corn to your family and friends when harvest rolls around.