July To-Do List

Florida summers can be brutally hot. This can be a bit of a rest period for North Florida gardeners, as many of the popular spring crops are declining.

However, there are still crops that can be planted in July, and this is a great time for making compost. Keep adding grass clippings and weeds to your pile, and you should have a good batch of compost for a fall garden. If you are new to making compost, you can check out my post on how to make compost.

The large garden is growing well. The cucumbers are going crazy and the tomatoes are gloriously overgrown.

‘National Pickling’ cucumber on trellis

I did staple the DIY cucumber trellis in a few strategic spots, but it seems to be holding well. Time to make more refrigerator pickles!

The teepee has been a disappointment. The pole beans did not do well, so now I have resorted to training sweet potatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe vines to grow on it.

I do have a tiny ‘Sugar Baby’ watermelon near the top. There is a larger one on the ground behind the sunflower.

The shed bed has some basil, green beans. onions, and cucumbers. The arch you see has a cucumber vine growing over it. It was a transplanted volunteer that has been producing very well.

My to-do list:

1. Can some tomatoes.

2. Can pickles. I absolutely love my crisp refrigerator pickles, but I want some for months to come.

3. Plant more eggplant. I have them already started in flats, they just need to go into the ground. I’ve already planted another row of okra. Both of these crops do well in the heat.

4. Propagate marigold for more color.

5. Harvest onions. The tops are dying, but they don’t seem to have made bulbs. Any ideas?

6. Propagate basil from cuttings.

7. Enjoy some of Easy Two Ingredient Strawberry Jam!

8. Make even more jam! My Small Batch Fresh Peach Jam recipe is pretty popular, as is my Easy Two Ingredient Blueberry Jam. A beautiful pairing of the two is in my Blueberry Peach Quick Jam. These recipes use little sugar and canning is optional!

I love to garden, don’t you? What are you doing this month in the garden?

9 responses »

Survival Gardener/David The Good on July 1, 2014 at 8:09 pm said:

Looking good!

The three crops I’ve found that can still be planted and do well in this heat:

1. Snake beans, also known as yard-long beans (there’s a profile for them on my website if you haven’t seen them before – they’re amazing).

2. Okra (of course, if you hate okra this isn’t helpful)

3. Southern peas, also known as black-eyed peas

I just planted more snake beans a week ago and they came up in just a couple of days. They love this weather, unlike myself.

You’re definitely right on this being composting season. Lots and lots of weeds, sunflowers and brush available and it all breaks down wonderfully fast in the heat.

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Sarah on July 1, 2014 at 8:29 pm said:

I have been looking for yard long beans!! I’d love to grow some, but I haven’t found a local source. I really should just buy some online as my green bean yield was pretty low. Do they twine like pole beans or climb like cucumbers? Maybe I could let them take over my cucumber trellis.
Love okra and am looking forward to my recently planted row producing. I planted some purple-hulled peas- and after I yank the onions I could put more in that spot. Great ideas!

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- Survival Gardener/David The Good on July 1, 2014 at 8:58 pm said:
  
  They twine like beans and grow like crazy. E-mail me your address via the e-mail link on my site and I’ll send you some seeds I grew in my garden. Local to Florida! 😉
  
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  - Sarah on July 3, 2014 at 6:54 am said:
    
    I”m so excited! I’ve heard so much about them and can’t wait to grow them. Thanks!
Julie on July 1, 2014 at 10:17 pm said:

You have reminded me of how much I love growing eggplant! I was thinking about okra, but the aphids make me crazy! Eggplants are awesome! I will take action tomorrow!!!!! Thx!

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- Sarah on July 2, 2014 at 10:18 pm said:
  
  Yes, I love eggplant too! Glad you are going to grow some!
  
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Pingback: How to Make No-Slime Okra | Coffee to Compost
Serviced Apartments Resident on July 24, 2014 at 6:20 am said:

Your garden looks so pretty, you’ve made fantastic progress! Keep us updated!

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- Sarah on July 24, 2014 at 5:32 pm said:
  
  Thank you for the kind words. July definitely is an interesting time in the Florida garden.
  
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