Good morning, and First Day of June already! It’s time to start thinking about succession crops, but also to start dreaming about fall crops (yes, I realize the irony that we haven’t even started summer yet….). But Mother Nature doesn’t wait for us. Start planning now for your fall garden means you will be eating well till the first frost. But it also allows you to start a garden, even in June. It’s never too late: Just pick varieties of seeds that have the shortest days to harvest, and look for F1 hybrids in particular, over heirloom seeds. Heirloom seeds often have longer grow times, which if started early work great, but if starting later, a good F1 hybrid seed will really ensure success.
Our grow zone on Whidbey Island, Washington is Zone 8b, however this list will work for a wide range of grow zones, even to Zone 7.
Let’s get going –
Crops to start from seed, direct sowed (Beans, beets, carrots and similar can be sowed every 2 weeks through summer):
- Bush Green Beans
- Bush Yellow Beans
- Bush Purple Beans
- Beets
- Carrots
- Kale, especially dwarf types
- Summer Squash such as zucchini
- Pickling Cucumbers
- Swiss Chard
- Kohlrabi
- Potatoes, smaller types, such as Yukon Gold, Red and similar
- Heat resistant radishes
- Lettuces that are heat resistant
- Turnips
From Starts (if buying starts, look for as large as possible and that they were kept well watered):
- Tomatoes
- Bell and Hot Peppers
- Green Onions (Scallions)
- Pumpkins
- Summer squash (zucchini)
- Cucumber
- Corn
- Winter Squashes
- Herbs
- Eggplant
- Tomatillo
- Celery
- Rhubarb
- Strawberry, consider ever-bearing as you get strawberries all season long instead of June bearing
- Blueberry bushes (remove berries first year)
- Raspberry plants (look for dual crop types)
Start from seed, in pots for transplanting later:
- Swiss Chard
- Lettuce
- Hardier spinach
- Kale
- Bush beans, to proceed with a second or third seeding, to give a crop all summer long
- Kohlrabi
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cauliflower (for fall)
- Broccoli (for fall)
- Green onions (scallions)
~Sarah
