What to plant in your vegetable garden: Dog Days of Summer

We are in the “dog days’’ of summer here in Tallahasssee, which means we are right in between the two major planting seasons for your vegetable garden: Spring & Fall. It’s typical at this time of year to have a few empty spaces open up in your garden as plants like squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and more, begin to succumb to the oppressive pests and heat.

We often have customers coming in at this time looking for vegetable starts to plant in those spots, but we don’t have any in stock. It’s too hot and wet to keep them healthy in small transplant pots, and our local growers go on their much-needed vacations in summer. Trying to establish tender young veggie transplants in this weather is near impossible. There are however, several options for you to take advantage of that open space. 

Veggies such as bush green beans, southern peas, corn and okra can be directly seeded into your garden. You can even begin to plant Cauliflower, Carrots, Collards, Cucumbers and Onions from seed a little early if you want to give it a try, though we usually wait for August.  

Plant Zinnias or Sunflowers from seed now if you’d like to attract butterflies and provide food for pollinators – they make nice bouquets too! It’s also a good time to pull out your basil that has begun struggle and bloom, and replant it from seed.

Garden to Table: Herbal Infused Honey

The possibilities of herbal infusions for both health and flavor really are endless from basic tea to your favorite herbal/flower vinegar. You can use your fresh picked from the garden herbs in tea, honey, vinegar, aromatic pastes, cooking salts, mix up fragrant cocktails, etc. I love these herbal concoctions because they are simple, straightforward and a great way to concentrate and preserve herbs.

Below is a recipe for a herbal infused honey that can be used in tea, baking, marinades, salad dressing, drizzled over ice cream, fresh fruit or as a sweetener for your favorite summer tea or lemonade. Learn more ways to infuse herbs along with recipes, proper techniques, materials and storing methods at Elizabeth's Herbal Infusion Workshop. See our workshop calendar for upcoming classes. 

Lavender Infused honey

Ingredients:

Fresh or dried lavender leaves - if using fresh, make sure the herbs dry out from any excess water completely (see safety note below)
Honey (preferably raw honey from a local bee keeper)

Other herbs that lend well with honey include Lemon Balm, Chamomile, Basil, Sage, Peppermint, Texas Tarragon, Rosemary, and Thyme are just a few of the many options.

Equipment

Clean, dry jars and lids
Chopstick, wooden spoon handle, or other stirrer (avoid metal, which can scratch jars)
Clean cloth for wiping jar rims
Strainer

Method:

Fill a clean mason jar halfway with fresh herbs or a quarter full with dried herbs.

Top with honey, stir, and cap with a tight-fitting lid. Important that the herbs are completely submerged in honey. Wipe the jar rim with a clean cloth and cover tightly. Place in a sunny windowsill, and turn the jar over once per day. 

Tip: Label the jar with the contents and date so you don't forget!

Allow to infuse for a week or longer, then strain once the desired flavor has been achieved. The longer the honey sits the more fragrant and flavorful it becomes.

Strain the honey into a clean jar. Seal tightly and use within one year. 

American Beautyberry

The pale pink blooms of American Beautyberry, Callicarpa Americana, appear in early summer, clustered along the arching branches of this deciduous native shrub. The flowers are highly attractive to pollinators and are followed by showy clusters of bright purple fruit. The purple fruit are edible and favored by birds, like catbirds and mockingbirds, for fall and winter forage.

Beautyberry is tough and easy to grow. It’s not picky about soil conditions and is often found growing naturally in the woods and more wild yards (planted by birds that have feasted on its fruit). It grows in sun and shade, but flowers and fruits best when it gets full, direct sun for at least part of the day. The berries are edible, but mostly flavorless and not sweet. Some industrious folks make a jelly with them – lots of sugar added! They are however, very ornamental and may be used to add a pop of color to cakes, salads, etc. The crushed leaves have been used traditionally stuffed into horse harnesses or rubbed on skin to repel mosquitos. Recently scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's research division isolated three beautyberry compounds effective in repelling biting insects: callicarpenal, intermedeol and spathulenol. In particular, the callicarpenal proved to be as effective as DEET in fighting mosquitoes. Other tests found beautyberry compounds also repelled ticks and fire ants.

Beautyberry blooms in the morning light here at Native Nurseries.

Clusters of attractive beautyberries. Great food for wildlife.