Your garden may be struggling with the extreme heat that is blanketing the planet this year. There are vegetables that do well in summer, however. Focus on these vegetables to make the best use of your garden this year.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes love the heat! They produce abundantly and are pretty maintenance-free after the vines are established. Sweet potato vines grow as low ground covers, so do take some space to grow.
Black-eyed Peas (also called Cowpeas or Southern Peas)
These legumes grow well in the heat. Trellis the vines so they do not take up as much space in the garden and are easier to pick. As a bonus, legumes fix nitrogen in the soil, so enrich it for the next crop.
Hot Peppers
While bell peppers struggle in the heat, hot peppers love it. In fact, the peppers will grow hotter the higher the temperatures. Be sure you allow for that when deciding which hot pepper to grow. Jalapenos will be potent. Habaneros may be too hot to eat when grown in extreme heat.
Tomatillos
While tomatoes may struggle in extreme heat, tomatillos do fine. Tomatillos are native to Mexico and are used to make delicious salsas there. They grow on vines like tomatoes, so don’t put away your tomato cages just yet.
Okra
Ask any experienced garden what vegetable loves heat, and they will say plant okra. Once of the few vegetables to thrive all summer, okra came over from Africa with the slaves. Harvest the okra when they are 4-6 inches long. Any longer, and they get tough and fibrous.
Sunflowers
Another plant and forget it crop, sunflowers do well in the summer. Water until established. The seeds will attract birds, so you may have to use bird netting to get much of a crop for yourself.
Eggplant
Eggplants do well in the heat. There are many varieties, from the classic Black Beauty to Japanese eggplants. Eggplants actually produce more when they are not under shade cloth.
Amaranth (Amaranthus gangeticus)
This grain has edible leaves that can be cooked like collards or spinach. As a bonus, you can eat the grain. In addition, amaranth grain is a maroon red so looks nice in the garden.
Malabar Spinach
While Malabar is not a true spinach, it can be used like one and tastes similar. Trellis this vine to save space and make it easier to pick.
Cucumbers
While many types of cucumbers struggle in the heat, Armanien cucumbers do very well. These vegetables are actually melons, not cucumbers. Long and green with deep ribs, the skin is as edible as the rest of the melon. Slice and use in salads as a substitute for cucumbers.
Melons
Most melons are native to Africa, so they grow well in the heat. You can trellis these plants if you provide slings for the melons, so they do not tear the vines as the melons get bigger.
While many vegetables are struggling in this heat, these vegetables will continue to grow. Provide supplemental water, but do not overwater. A moisture meter is inexpensive and can help you determine how much to water your plants.
Want to learn to garden? My first attempt at gardening ended up in failure. The weeds took over and squeezed the vegetables out. I was very frustrated by this waste of good seed, time, and money. So I became a master gardener and spent a lot of time helping other people avoid or overcome problems in their garden.
In order to help others garden successfully, I have written a book, Vegetable Gardening from the Ground Up, available in an ebook or a paperback from Amazon. It is also in Kindle Unlimited.
