Time to plant your summer desert garden!
Today, I started planting my summer garden, which (if all goes well) will consist of:
- Black-eyed peas (with seeds from last year)
- Lima beans (with seeds from last year)
- Cucumbers
- Spinach (not good in hot weather, but I’ll try it anyway)
- Daikon radish
- Sunflowers
Coming soon:
- Carrots
- Lettuce
While I usually start with lasagna gardening, this year, I still have my spring plants in place and don’t want to uproot them quite yet, so I’m planting around them.
First, I added compost (of my own making!) to the beds.
Next, I planned what seeds would go where. Some things to consider:
1) Move your plants
We’ve all heard of crop rotation. Plants take nutrients from the ground, but they all do so differently. Rotating placement helps ensure the plant will get what it needs.
2) What does best with what?
Beans do not do well with onions, therefore I will need to use mine, pronto.
Black-eyed peas work well with cucumbers and radishes.
Carrots are good next to leeks and onions.
Sunflowers are good with cucumbers and beans.
More about companion planting
Other good summer-time fruits & veggies:
- Corn
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Melons
- Okra
- Eggplant
