5 Seeds I Plant Every July

You can start a garden in the middle of July, but only if you plant the right plants. In this video, I'm going to tell you five seeds I start every single July so that you know exactly what to plant, even if you're only getting started in the garden this month. So I've gardened in three very different climates. From Houston, Texas, where it is so hot in July you don't even want to go outside. To Chicago, Illinois, where it is glorious in July and you want to basically live outside because it's not good in January. And now in Nashville, Tennessee, where it's kind of a mix of both. Some days in July are amazing and some days you want to hide and never go outside. So in this video, I've got a list for all of you. Whether you're in a cold place, a hot place, or a mild place. I've got a list of 5 seeds you can start this month. Go ahead and tell us in the comments where you're gardening so we can kind of keep up with each other and track our progress this month. So if you're in the hot climate, I got you first because I know you're doubting that this is a possibility that there's something you could grow when it is so hot. We're talking 90°, 100°, 110°, and no sign of rain. First off are some greens. I know you probably don't think you can grow greens in the summer, but trust me, you can. Mizuna is one of them. So this is a heat tolerant green and it needs to grow under the shade of taller plants, which I'm going to show you in just a second. Mizuna is in the brassica family, so right alongside arugula, it's going to have that peppery flavor to it. If you don't like mizuna, if you don't like that flavor, you could substitute this with some basil. Basil still grows from seed and it's a great summer salad for those of us who are in really hot climates. Next is this Armenian cucumber. So you can still grow cucumbers, you just have to adjust the type. And, and cucumbers are a great plant to put in July. You put the seed right into the soil and these seeds will give you fruit before the end of the summer. So Armenian cucumbers are made to thrive when it's really hot. If you try to grow just that typical pickling cucumber, it's going to totally like just die out in July. But these cucumbers, they can Handle the hot temps. So switch to Armenian cucumbers, and you're going to have fruit to pick in about 60 to 65 days. I know. Too good to be true, right then. Another weird plant that you probably haven't tried before is a yard long bean. We had so much fun with these with my kids. They were all preschoolers. In the summers, we grew these in Houston. These things truly are almost a yard long. They're fantastic for a school garden, by the way. We did those for my kids, but grow them on a teepee, on an arch trellis, anywhere in the garden that you can climb plants. And seriously, you gotta get out a measuring stick because these things are gonna shock you. I just chop them up into little pieces, make a yummy stir fry, and boom, dinner on the table that you grew yourself, even though you started your garden in July. Next up is tomatoes. Now, this one you want to be putting indoors, starting from seed, because you want to move your tomato plants out into the garden around August. You guys that are in hot climates, you don't get to do tomatoes in the middle of the summer. You get to do them twice, first in the spring and then in the fall. So you can either buy tomato plants or start tomato seeds indoors so you can move these out into your garden next month. Finally, we got flowers. There are so many flowers that do not mind the temperatures being really hot. And cosmos are one of them. Coreopsis, another. Start these from seed right in the soil right now. Keep them watered for the first week or two, and then these things basically take care of themselves. They can keep growing even when it's hot and dry. And the bees and butterflies love these plants. All right, my cool season gardeners, it is finally your time. And if you're at July and you're like, I missed the window and it's about to snow, you're not too late. All these plants, they're going to grow in about 60 days from seed. Let's start out with arugula. This is a green that can handle the hotter temperatures. We know it doesn't get too hot where you live. Let's be honest. You're going to put this underneath some tall plants, give it a little bit of shade. You'll have greens for July, for August, for September, all the way into the fall. Next up is bush bean. These guys are going to give you a ton of beans. Plant these right alongside the edge of your raised bed. If you pull out some lettuces or radishes, stick in some bush beans, you'll hit tons of harvest in about 60 to 65 days. Next up we got cucumbers. These are so delicious. Plant these at the bottom of a trellis. 60 to 65 days until you harvest. You don't need the Armenian cucumber. Like those hot people. You're cold. You can grow the normal pickling cucumbers. These only need 60 days. So what are you waiting for? Get some seed. By the way, all the seeds in this cool climate package, plus a few that I've showed you, are all in our free seed giveaway. If you want to get some free seeds, then check out the caption right below. This video is a steal of a deal, literally. So cucumber up the trellis. Next up we got zucchini. So zucchini can be planted pretty much anywhere in your raised bed garden or in an in ground space. Zucchini will grow really fast. We're also looking at a 60 to 70 day cycle before you get a harvest. And you know what they say, teach a woman to garden and you feed the whole neighborhood zucchini. Yeah, you're going to be that girl. So put this seed in your garden in July and you'll get harvest before we get to fall. Last but not least is zinnia, my favorite. I did the giant mix here. These things will get 2, 3ft tall. They're great to put on the outside of your raised bed garden. So many pretty flowers, so many blooms, and every time you cut them, they grow back too in their place. Bees and butterflies love zinnias and it is a great cut flower to get started with. Not to mention you can still get a harvest even if you start in July. Ask me how I know the the first summer I started gardening, it was July. I planted zinnias and we had flowers all through the fall. If you're in a mild climate, then this is a great time to start thinking about the fall garden because you're going to have so many delicious greens if you start now. So kale is one. If you don't have it in your garden yet, you want to be starting this. You could start indoors or under shade in your garden directly from seed. You do not want to miss having kale in your garden in the fall. So if you don't have it right now, get it started so that you can have harvest. You'll have little small leafy green harvests in August and then you're going to have big huge harvests all fall long because kale loves the fall weather. Another one is Napa cabbage. This Chinese cabbage. Oh my Goodness, I love this green. You can cut the outer leaves and make little salads, and you can cut the whole thing, make a stir fry, make some fried rice. It's so good in the fall. But if you don't get it started now, you won't have it. So you can start it directly in the garden under the shade of taller plants, or you can start some plants indoors and move it out to the garden next month when it gets a little bit cooler. Does it get cooler in a mild climate in August? Probably not, but we can hope. Next up is marigolds. These grow so quickly to a full flower within about 50 to 60 days. So if you plant them now in July, you're going to have the most gorgeous marigolds all fall long. I did this a couple summers ago when I moved to Nashville. I didn't get my garden started until July 4th weekend, and I just randomly sprinkled all these marigold seeds I had left from the year before. I had the most beautiful marigold blooms all fall long. And they're just like the perfect fall colors, right? Like yellows and oranges. So plant these seeds now. You will thank me around October. And zucchini, you want to plant some zucchini? Squash any of these cucurbits that are ready to harvest in about 60 days. July is a perfect time to get, like a second flush of summer fruit, so zucchini can go in the garden. I like to plant it right along the edge of my raised bed, let it trail out or grow it up a trellis so it doesn't take up too much space. And last but not least, some beans. So if you've got any empty space in your garden, don't forget the gardenary rule. My personal rule, no bare soil in the garden. Bare soil is no bueno. So fill that bare soil you've got in your garden in July. I know you have some. Stick some bush beans in there in about 60 days. These plants hardly take up any space, and you get this nice big bushel of beans that are so much better than the ones at the grocery store, and they're so good for you. And you're going to be proud that you didn't just grow some soil, you grew some beans. All right, there you have it. July is not too late to start a garden. I'll see you next time. Thanks so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast. You can keep listening anywhere. You love getting your podcast delivered on apple podcasts on Spotify, iHeartRadio, you name it. We are there for you. And if you want to read the notes and get our free resources to help you grow more, you can go to gardenary.com podcast.