Most east texas summer crops will be planted in March, April, and May. Our average last frost for this area is around March 16th. One of the biggest mistakes spring gardeners make is to plant too early. The weather starts to warm up and people are ready to get their gardens started. We've seen many, many, many cases of people having to re-plant their whole garden because they planted too early. So resist the temptation to plant when the weather starts to warm up. A good rule of thumb is to wait until after Easter. To the right is a brief overview of a few of the most popular and well-adapted warm-weather crops for our area.

I'm sure there are many summer crops that we've left out, but these are a few of the most basic, and well-adapted crops for backyard gardeners. For more information, give us a call and/or check out one of the many organic gardening books we have for sale.

Tomatoes are the most popular crop grown in our area. There are so many methods of planting, growing, fertilizing, and harvesting that it can be confusing for beginners and experts alike. Here's what we do: After amending the soil with the "Fantastic Five", we pull all the leaves off the bottom few inches of the plant. Then, before removing the plasic pot, soak the roots in Garrett Juice plus Thrive before placing into the ground. We then plant deeply, at least 3 inches above the root ball. You can mix fertilizer into your soil before you plant, and/or top dress around the root zone of the plant about every 30 days. Adding dolomtic, or high-calcium lime to the soil will help prevent blossom-end rot.

Peppers a another well-adapted crop. They have about the same nutritional and soil requirements as tomatoes. In fact, we use a fertilizer named "Tomato/Pepper Food". The only difference in planting methods is that you don't plant peppers as deeply in the soil as you do tomatoes.

Summer Squash is a favorite in east Texas! Whether it's yellow squash or zuchinni, they are planted the same way... on small mounds. Squash bugs can kill a plant and a whole crop very quickly, so if see any any bugs or eggs, remove and crush them right away. Plant any time between Easter and the end of May.

Radishes are easy to grow and fun! They're great for ids because the time from seed planting to harvest is only about 25 days. All you do is poke a hole in the soil with your finger, drop the seed in, and lightly push in the soil back into the hole. Plant about 2 inches apart, and keep them moist. You can get about 16 radishes per square foot.

Beans and Peas are similar in planting methods. at about the end of March, soak the seeds overnight in a solution of equal parts water and apple cider vinegar. For vines, plant seeds along a fence or lattice (we use cattle panel) about 3" apart. For bush-type beans, plant in rows. Once plants sprout andare about 3 inches tall, thin them out to about 6" between plants for vines, and 18" for bush-type (don't throw out the bean sprouts, they're delicious on a salad!). For continuous crops, plant more seeds every 3 weeks until about July 15th.