Some Like it Hot!


If you're anything like me, you've suffered during the horrible heat wave of 2012. You've sweated profusely, drinking water or gator aid constantly, and hibernating in the great air conditioned indoors as much as possible. The garden, however, didn't have a choice.  It had to take the heat.

I'm happy to report that some plants like it hot.  Beans, eggplants, okra, squash, tomatoes, and peppers thrive in the heat, as long as they receive adequate water. These are all short season, hot weather vegetables.  In fact, some of these veggies won't thrive until the temperature starts to rise.  Squash and melon seeds will not germinate if the soil is too cool, and can be planted as late as the fourth of July.

I managed to plant most of my summer garden and am watching the tomatoes, peppers, and beans grow by leaps and bounds. The weeds are also growing like -well - weeds and sometimes getting ahead of me.  (More on that in my next post.)  I'm watering and fertilizing often, eagerly anticipating the taste of my first ripe tomato, which I intend to eat in the garden, with the juice dribbling down my chin.  Sigh...I'm glad that some vegetables like it hot.

-Christina Scheltema, aka Brookland Garden Lady