There’s nothing more enjoyable than cultivating your own vegetables from your garden. Fresh, homegrown vegetables thrown on the grill or added to your favorite dishes are a delicious reminder that warm weather is here again.
It’s important to make sure that the conditions are right before planting your favorite summer veggies. Warm season vegetables require long days and warm temperatures to truly thrive. They can be planted after the last frost date in your area. You just want to be sure that there’s no longer any threat of freezing temperatures. Summer vegetables need the soil to be warm enough for the seeds to germinate or the roots of the plants to grow, and they require longer periods of sunlight.
Seed packets and plant containers will list the maturity date for the plants. Make sure that you know the first frost date and the last frost date for your area, so that you can be sure the growing season is long enough for your plants to mature.
Visalia is in planting zone or hardiness zone 9B. This area usually gets its first frost Nov 30-Dec 30th and its last frost Jan 30-Feb 28th. Knowing this information will help you to plan which summer vegetables to grow and when. If you do live in an area with a short growing season you can start seeds indoor earlier, plant varieties with an earlier maturation date, or select a larger plant to start.
Ideas as to what to plant now:
- Herbs are a great addition to your summer kitchen dishes and can be started indoors and transplanted to outdoors
- Summer Squash is versatile and can be planted to enjoy in the hot summer
- Tomatoes taste way better when homegrown. With all the different varieties available you can shake it up each time you plant.
- Eggplant loves warm weather and high temperatures with well drained soil. They thrive in moist cool soil, so be sure to add mulch.
We have the following summer veggies with more arriving weekly:
- Tomato
- Zucchini
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Peppers
- Watermelon
- Melon
- Herbs
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Thyme
- Mint
Our inventory selection changes daily, so be sure to check back frequently to see what’s new. If you are feeling brave, we dare you to try Scorpion pepper and the Ghost pepper!
We look forward to you stopping by for all your summer kitchen garden needs. We can’t wait to answer any questions that you might have. What are your favorite summer vegetables to plant? Do you have a favorite summer dish you make from your garden treasures? We’d love to hear about it!
