Now that temperatures have warmed up and with the official arrival of summer, its a great time to plant a variety of vegetables.

Jefferson Garden Club Member and Master Gardener Jeanne Myers tells Raccoon Valley Radio people can plant cucumbers, onions, sugar or snow peas, lettuce, spinach, pepper and tomato plants in their gardens. She says once you’ve planted your vegetables use a fertilizer with a mixture of “5-10-10.”

“Those numbers refer to the percentage of nutrients in that fertilizer. The first number is always nitrogen, which is important for foliage growth. The second number is phosphorus, which is important for blooming and fruiting. And the third number is for potassium, which is important for vigor and heartiness of the plant.”

She advises that when tomato plants start to grow to use a support mechanism to keep the fruit healthy and strong.

“And this can be either a stake that you’ll continue to tie the plant to as it grows bigger or we actually use tomato cages. Then that keeps the tomato supported so it stays off of the ground. Why that’s important is once the plant or the fruit is on the ground they’re more susceptible to blight, or other disease, or even insect damage.”    

Myers adds some vegetables that were planted this spring are getting ready to be harvested such as radishes, lettuce, onions and peas. Other veggies such as carrots and green beans can be harvested in June and July, while cantaloupe and watermelon are typical