1. Vegetable Garden  The timing always feels a bit strange, but this
is actually the month to renew your vegetable garden for the fall harvest
season. From seed, plant snap and lima beans, sweet corn, Swiss chard,
cucumbers, summer and winter squash (my favorite), black-eyed peas,
okra, cantaloupe, pumpkin and watermelon. For transplants, it’s the right
time for tomatoes and peppers.

2. Tomatoes  Be sure to plant determinate varieties with reputations for
heat survival. (Spot the clues in their names.) My favorites are surefire,
solar fire, solar flare, celebrity, heatwave, sunmaster, and BHN444
(healthy surprise).

3. Water   We have been lucky this week with the weather... but it's

unlikely that our luck will last. Your plants will need watering to survive.
Not just a splash on the surface… but a deep watering. This will give
them a more established root system and a better reservoir to draw from.
Try to water on a 4 to 5 day schedule. Don’t run automatic sprinkler
systems during the day. (Loss to evaporation is too great.)

4. Mulch  Keep all flowerbeds, vegetable gardens and trees mulched.
This will conserve water, cool the root zone and generally relieve heat
stress.

 

5. Mow High Choose the highest setting for your mower. Longer grass
blades will help shade the roots and conserve water.

 

6. Survive!  Want to avoid heatstroke? Three rules for central Texas
gardeners: 1.Wear effective sunscreen and a large brimmed hat.
2.  Garden early in the morning. 3.  Drink gallons upon gallons of water!