Brian Minter: It’s still not too late for your food gardens

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Food prices continue to rise dramatically, so perhaps we need to revisit the issue of growing more of our own food.

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Here we are, in early July — a time when many folks think the vegetable gardening season is over, when actually, it’s the perfect time to begin a food garden and to have it thrive into the winter months.

I never have time to plant our own veggie garden until early July, and it has always been a great success. At this time of year, daylight hours are longer, temperatures are warmer and the weather for growing is ideal. Also, seed germination is faster — often with a higher percentage of success — and transplants take off very quickly, soon producing a wide range of vegetables.

Root crops are a great choice for planting now because they can stay in the ground until winter for a continuous harvest. Beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes, rutabagas, turnips, leeks and onion sets, started now, will, with a little protection and mulching, provide valuable food through the winter months.

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From a wide range of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, collard and many Asian vegetables, leafy crops can be planted every few weeks for a succession of harvesting through the fall.

Brassicas, like kale, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, planted now, will also provide a continuous supply of produce. For an extended harvest, the trick is to plant the right varieties to match the season; there are early, midseason and late varieties that will carry you right into frost. There’s still time to plant brussels sprouts for winter harvesting, but they need to be in soon — preferably using transplants.

Beans, both bush and pole types, love the heat and can be seeded now for a long harvest. Pole beans are, by far, the most space efficient varieties; you can train them on a pole tripod to grow upwards of ten feet, resulting in a significant level of production.

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Peas, too, will tolerate the summer heat if you select either the Wanda heat-resistant types or sugar snap peas, which will stay vegetative if given good care. Exposure to full morning sun and a little shade during the hottest part of the day will keep them producing over a longer period.

Yes, there is still time to plant tomatoes, but you will need to start with transplants or larger potted sizes for faster production. At this time of the season, I would choose early maturing varieties, like Early Girl, Fantastic and Ultra Girl. Many cherry types, like Sweet 100, Sungold and Sun Sugar, are great options, as are the grape varieties, like Juliet. Roma and San Marzano, two great sauce tomatoes, also produce early crops. Plants started now will take your production well into September.

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Some of the fastest crops are the many varieties of cucumbers. Without a doubt, the long, burpless, Japanese types, like Burpless Supreme and Tasty Green, will produce in about 50 days from germination. There’s also plenty of time for all the pickling varieties, which you can preserve and use all winter.

Zucchinis also produce in about 50 days from seed germination and even faster when grown from started seedlings. Ideal for salads, stir-fries and so many other recipes, zucchinis and other summer squashes, like scallopinis, deliver fast produce.

Winter squashes are great to enjoy all through the winter and well into spring. From the traditional smaller Acorn, Buttercup and Butternut varieties to the larger Hubbard types, you can still plant and get great harvests in late fall.

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Many smaller melons, like Sugar Baby watermelon, Halona cantaloupe and Diplomat honeydew, will just make it to maturity if set out now from transplants.

Peppers, especially the hot ones, have become the new favourites with the Millennial generation. Starter plants will still produce lots of fruits if set out now. Newer varieties, like Mad Hatter and Hungarian Cheese, have many smaller fruits that you can harvest well into fall. Although the hot varieties take longer to mature, upwards of 100 days, some of the newer, crossover, ornamental edibles, like Loco and Basket of Fire, mature in 85 days for a continuous crop of hot, spicy fruits.

After our cold, wet spring, basil is just now making its debut in our gardens. It loves the heat and will give you a long harvest period. All summer herbs can still be planted. Now is a great time to plant biennial and perennial herbs, like parsley, chives, thyme, sage, winter savory and mints to enjoy as flavourings all through the winter. Rosemary, too, with a little protection, can be set out now.

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We often forget about perennial foods, such as rhubarb, horseradish and Jerusalem artichokes, all of which, if planted now, will provide a long supply of produce for many years.

Everbearing strawberries, like the new Berry Hill Montanas, can be planted now for continuous cropping till fall and again next year. Fall raspberries, too, can be set out now for late summer berries and even bigger crops next year. All summer fruits, including blueberries, currants, thornless blackberries, grapes and gooseberries, planted now, will quickly develop and become strong producers next spring. If you don’t already have one, be sure to pop a haskap bush into your food garden — next year, it will produce the earliest berries to ripen.

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Columnar or espaliered fruit trees allow us to be more efficient and creative in how we use the space in our gardens. Now is the time to get them established for next year. From delicious cherries, peaches and apples to plums, pears and apricots, fruit trees will produce an abundance of fresh fruit year after year. Nut trees, too, will provide a tasty, nutritious harvest each fall for years to come.

As if all this garden goodness wasn’t enough, mid-July through August is the time to start our winter vegetable seeds and transplants for winter and early spring produce.

With summer upon us, let’s fill our containers and garden beds with food. In an unstable world, it’s never a bad idea to be prepared.