This question comes up every single year:
Q. It’s June, did I miss my opportunity to plant for spring?
A. Well, it kinda depends. It depends on where you live, what you wanted to grow, and how quick the plant takes to actually grow. Next time, you might want to do some more prep work, but for the time-being there are actually a handful of things you can plant right now!
You may have already missed the boat for growing veggies like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants but there’s still a lot of late-summer producers that you can still plant.
You should try growing some of these right now:
- Basil (buy Basil seeds – and – check out this Watermelon Basil recipe)
- Beans (buy seeds to grow your own beans)
- Beets (beet seeds)
- Carrots (non/hybrid/heirloom carrot seeds)
- Chard (favorite is the rainbow swiss chard mix)
- Lettuce/Salad/Mesclun Mixes (seeds to grow all your leafy greens)
- Mustard Greens (easy to grow from seed)
- Oregano (oregano seeds)
- Pumpkins (try growing this 1,000+ lb. pumpkin)
- Squash (squash seeds are one of the easiest to grow)
One of the most important things you can do is buy good seeds for your garden. Make sure to buy only Non-Genetically Modified (NON-GMO) seeds. Don’t support companies that support genetically engineering our food supply. 3 sources to buy your vegetable seeds.
The good thing is that most all those varieties listed above don’t take forever to grow and they’ll do well in partial sun. So even if it gets really hot in the next couple months you can still plant them in an area that doesn’t get the most amount of sun but still get a healthy harvest of herbs and veggies.
Here are some more links to get you started on the right track:
- 7 Location ideas for your urban garden.
- How to make a self-watering container.
- How many plants per container (chart).
- How to Make a Hanging Herb Garden Using Recycled Soda Bottles
- 3 Sources to Buy NON-GMO Vegetable Seeds.
Just plant something! Growing your own food is all about the experience and learning each time you do it.
Spinach, tomatoes – buy a seedling, peas, rutabaga, parsnip, green onions, cilantro, parsley, zucchini, potatoes, onion sets. Lots of veggies will still produce if planted late – planting too early is more detrimental up north where I am.
I live in south Florida, can I still play tomatoes and peppers this week?
I live in hot, sunny Southern California in Los Angeles! Please, please tell me I didn’t waste time planting my garden this late!
*(My first garden in my new place, so i had to do lots of prep as soon as i moved in, but it took a long time)
for all those who worry about planting late. I live in eastern pa. this is the first time in years that my garden got started before the second week of july. I have always had an awesome garden so don’t worry, just plant and enjoy. you can always look for short season varieties.
I really like this post. The very first time I did a vegetable garden, It didn’t even occur to me to start it until June. (I’m in Maryland) I was in my local big box store a few days ago and was surprised to see that they even still had many transplants still for sale. Also, though you may be limited starting summer vegetables in June, it’s a good time to prep a space and your soil for a fall garden. Lettuce, all greens, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbages all do best in the fall, and some of them can be planted in late July if you’re putting them in as seed.
good
novaledlights . com
I wanted to start a raised bed garden, tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers. Is June to late to plant. I’m in Tn
Too bad whoever wrote this article has no basic understanding of science and the fact that any seed they buy to plant is a GMO….
Please do a little research before you jump on the anti gmo bandwagon. All human consumed foods grown on a commercial scale are the product of millennia of genetic engineering.
Before you pop off you should understand the difference between GMO and hybridization. GMO seeds are highly controlled and not available to the average person. You are the one who needs to do some more research.
Ahhh so you are talking about genetically engineered seeds.
There is a difference. But you should already know that Mr research.
Hybridization is a form of genetic modification, unless you are just trying to argue semantics. And my point is still valid that the article has needless GMO fear mongering.
Funny how you are quick to jump on me because of a lack of clarification by informing me of how you can’t even get gmo seeds if you’re a member of the general public, yet you don’t address the article and it’s author’s attempt to make it seem like you have to be very careful not to avoid gmo seeds.
Seriously people think these things are giving them cancer and autism…. That kind of quackery should either be corroborated with evidence or silenced.
But hey you’re the crusader stopping gmo misinformation right?
Typical, get your facts wrong but blame the one who pointed it out. Used to seeing that from people with limited knowledge.
monsanto alters the dna of the plants to make them tolerant of harsh chemicals like round up. Round up is stuck in the vegetables, in a safe amount, they say. They tell us the herbicide is destroyed in our stomach. I believe it is the other way around.