Are y’all ready for a July Zone 9A garden update? I’ve been busy trying to keep my pepper and tomato plants alive with the scorching temperature. The sun is taking a toll and sunscalding a lot of my peppers. *Note to self…invest in shade cloth for next year.
Bell pepper, poblano, and jalapeno pepper plants all start to produce smaller fruit in the heat of the summer. Also, with less moisture, the peppers seem to be spicier.
The Roma tomato plants are no longer producing, however, I knew this was going to happen with determinate varieties. I will pull up my Glacier and Money Maker tomato plants this week too as the plants are scorched and production has massively decreased.
The personal size spaghetti squash seeds I planted are growing beautifully. There is a bunch of squash forming. I also planted a Honey Bear Acorn squash plant to try something new. The Honey Bear Acorn squash is a compact bush-type squash and perfect for growing in a small area like a raised bed.
Have you ever grown vinca flowers? The vincas planted in the flower pots on our deck are doing wonderfully despite the heat. I highly recommend these flowers if you garden in zone 9A!
The okra has been prolific all summer. I have 8 plants that are currently producing pods and it provides more than enough for my husband and me.
Now for our harvest totals so far this year!
Radishes 1 pound 10 ounces
Lettuce 15 ounces
Turnips 4 pounds 15 ounces
Carrots 5 pounds 8 ounces
Cabbage 1 pound 8 ounces
Dewberries 1 pound 3 ounces
Jalapeno Peppers 4 pounds 3 ounces
Tomatoes 39 pounds 13 ounces
Cucumbers 3 pounds 14 ounces
Poblano Pepper 1 pound 11 ounces
Okra 2 pounds 14.5 ounces
Bell Peppers 1 pound 14 ounces
Corn 2 pounds