FL summer gardening ideas - best tasting & productive vegetables/herbs

[Julie]

Share your ideas on what vegetables to plant over the summer that actually taste good & are productive.

Basil - all types.  Thai, Genovese are what I've tried.  I'm going to try lettuce leaf basil & red basil this summer.
Lemongrass
Mint
Pepper - Habanada & Cubanelle
Eggplant - ping tung long (does not set fruit in hottest part of summer but plant survives & produces after/before the ends of the regular growing season).  Tempted to try thai frog egg & chinese string from Baker Creek.
Green Papaya
Okra - tried it before and didn't like the taste/texture, but will try again this year with new recipes
Garlic Chives
Bottle Gourd - tried it last year and it only set one fruit.  Anyone know where to get seed that can produce better in the heat?

[Galatians522]

Almost everyone overcooks okra. Start by bringing your water to a boil. Next, add the okra and leave it in the hot water for 3 minutes--it will usually just start boiling again. At 3 minutes remove it from the heat and immediately drain the water. Butter and salt. I didn't really care for okra until I had it cooked that way.

[Galatians522]

For summer vegetables, I am planning to grow several things that have worked well for me in the past. Cranberry hibiscus is a great leaf vegetable when you need a couple leaves for a sandwich or tacos (anything where a little tartness won't be out of place). Sweet potatoes are another good one. They are one of the only tropical root crops that has a short enough cycle to actually harvest in the middle of summer. Leaves and vine tips are great in stir fry or as a cooked green. Cooking bananas and plantains come in summer, too. Bell peppers grow well in the SHADE durring summer. I am experimenting with a nematode resistant variety called Carolina Wonder from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I am also looking to grow day neutral pigeon peas, day neutral winged beans, and chayote. I'm not sure if the peas and beans will set pods over the summer when the temps are high. As I recall, my eggplant continued to fruit over the summer, but I had them in about 50% shade. Chayote won't fruit until fall, but the vine tips are good (1# green vegetable in Papua New Guinea) and will grow all summer.

[Julie]

Almost everyone overcooks okra. Start by bringing your water to a boil. Next, add the okra and leave it in the hot water for 3 minutes--it will usually just start boiling again. At 3 minutes remove it from the heat and immediately drain the water. Butter and salt. I didn't really care for okra until I had it cooked that way.

Will try this.

[roblack]

Okra rocks! Will try your recipe Galatians. I like it fried too.

[Julie]

Almost everyone overcooks okra. Start by bringing your water to a boil. Next, add the okra and leave it in the hot water for 3 minutes--it will usually just start boiling again. At 3 minutes remove it from the heat and immediately drain the water. Butter and salt. I didn't really care for okra until I had it cooked that way.

Do you just put the entire okra in whole or are you cleaning out the interior?

[Eggo]

1I second sweet potatoes as a must. They can get invasive but if you have space they grow easily. All parts of the plants are edible raw or cooked.  They are not poisonous raw vs regular potatoes

I think people don't grow wingbeans enough. They're good cooked or raw. Galatians, Baker Creek sells a day neutral variety, I have yet to grow it.

Winter melon/Ash gourd. You'll need a trellis. But the mature gourd can be stored like a year without refrigeration. 

Luffa.  Mature ones can be made into sponges but young luffa can be stir fried or made into soup.  The texture is unique and very different from many gourds but it's very productive.

[Galatians522]

Almost everyone overcooks okra. Start by bringing your water to a boil. Next, add the okra and leave it in the hot water for 3 minutes--it will usually just start boiling again. At 3 minutes remove it from the heat and immediately drain the water. Butter and salt. I didn't really care for okra until I had it cooked that way.

Do you just put the entire okra in whole or are you cleaning out the interior?

You boil the pods whole with the stems on. Do not cut them in pieces--that contributes to slimyness. You'll notice that the color changes to bright green when its cooked.

[Galatians522]

I think people don't grow wingbeans enough. They're good cooked or raw. Galatians, Baker Creek sells a day neutral variety, I have yet to grow it.

That is the one I am growing. Its growing very slowly compared to the pole beans on the same trellis. We'll see how it does when summer gets here.

[1rainman]

Peanuts

[roblack]

Peanuts

Which peanuts do best?

Growing some here, forget the variety.

Green peanuts are the best to me, harvested when still a little soft. Makes the best boiled peanuts.

[turtle_hermit]

Seminole pumpkins are a really good summer plant to grow.
The vines are very productive and handle the summer weather like a charm.
Gourds are good for storage and last several months once picked, quite tasty as well.

[Rispa]

You can eat okra raw. It gives a different texture and flavor.

Black eye peas will also do well. As will many beans.

If you do sweet potatoes do them in pots or tall raised beds. If they spend all their energy spreading they don't produce big tubors. Their leaves are also the best green I've ever had. The one I grew at my previous house was a white skin white flesh one from the store.

Rat tail radish is good and productive.

[Rispa]

Peanuts

Which peanuts do best?

Growing some here, forget the variety.

Green peanuts are the best to me, harvested when still a little soft. Makes the best boiled peanuts.

I've never done peanuts, but the little yellow peanut flower definitely does well in Florida.

[Julie]

Peanuts

Also interested in what peanut variety to grow here during south florida summer

[Rispa]

For basil try African Blue Basil. It is an incredibly good pollinator attractor. Over winter you can bring cuttings inside to root in water. I also like the taste better than many other basil.

[FloridaManDan]

Peanuts

Which peanuts do best?

Growing some here, forget the variety.

Green peanuts are the best to me, harvested when still a little soft. Makes the best boiled peanuts.

Rob, I sent you a few Schronce's Deep Black peanuts, if thats what you are recalling. My Deep Black plants have been thriving, even being mostly neglected. I recently cleared them out for some extra space.

As far as other peanut varieties, I have had success with Fastigiata Pin Striped and Tennessee Red Valencia, not as much with Carwile's Virginia -- these varieties are all supposed to be well suited to the conditions of the southeast US. And they also produce lots of gorgeous flowers.

Might have some seeds leftover of these varieties.

[roblack]

Thanks Dan! I have 2 or 3 of those growing pretty well. Need to repot them. What time of year do you harvest? Fall?

[mcoambassador]

Share your ideas on what vegetables to plant over the summer that actually taste good & are productive.

Basil - all types.  Thai, Genovese are what I've tried.  I'm going to try lettuce leaf basil & red basil this summer.
Lemongrass
Mint
Pepper - Habanada & Cubanelle
Eggplant - ping tung long (does not set fruit in hottest part of summer but plant survives & produces after/before the ends of the regular growing season).  Tempted to try thai frog egg & chinese string from Baker Creek.
Green Papaya
Okra - tried it before and didn't like the taste/texture, but will try again this year with new recipes
Garlic Chives
Bottle Gourd - tried it last year and it only set one fruit.  Anyone know where to get seed that can produce better in the heat?

My habenada plants were besieged by bacterial spot and fungal rot. Peppers also had a weird plastic flavor too them so I didn’t plant them this year. Meanwhile my datil peppers and Thai bird chilis made more than we could eat and kept alive straight through the winter. Italian banana peppers did well too but were kinda tasteless. I’m growing the datil and Thai bird chilis again, and trying some larger hybrid types from burpee: Chinese giant, Costa Rica sweet, and Big Boss hot. My seedlings are almost ready to plant out.

For eggplant my Chinese string and Aswad did well, while Thai miniature eggplants didn’t produce enough to make it worth growing. I’m adding Cambodian giant and Kamo Japanese eggplant this year.

My yardlong Taiwanese string beans produced well but were tough and nobody loved the flavor. I’ve heard there’s a red yardlong bean that’s much better, but I went with bush beans (burgandy and dragon tongue) this year as I tried a few on my family in the fall and they were a hit. Cool looking too.

For tomatoes Galahad produced but were more susceptible  to RKN than advertised. I went with Medusa for mtg RKN resistant type this year, which tastes better than Galahad anyway. Sart Roloise produced well, while Brandywine languished with sunscald, and pineapple tomatoes which didn’t like the cold weather so we’ll see how they do in summer. Adding Green Giant to the mix for a large slicer.

In my non-RKN tomato plot I planted cherry tomatoes, and I tried sunrise bumblebee, rosella, and sun gold select II. The sun gold were fine, sunrise were big and beautiful but just good flavor, nothing amazing. Right now the Rosella are tasting and producing best. I’m adding Green Doctor this year.

[mcoambassador]

Late spring updates:

Re: sweet / bell peppers… my Costa Rica sweet peppers are out producing my Chinese giant sweet peppers 4:1, so unless the Chinese taste much better they’ll not make it back.

Re: tomatoes, once it warmed up, the pineapple tomatoes were amazing, but green giant were perhaps even better, though not super productive. I had issues with sun scald and uneven ripening with the Brandywine and Sart Roloise. Definitely won’t grow Brandywine again. Sart Roloise looks so cool, but not sure I’ll grow them again either since everyone loved the green giant and pineapple so much better.

Re: eggplant, my Aswad continues to pump out beautiful eggplants, and carries about ten fruits at any given point. Loving the baba ganoush and caponata, and almost getting sick of eggplant just from a single plant! Given away a half dozen eggplants the past couple weeks and kept a dozen so far this season. Foliage and eggplants are beautiful and disease free too.

I’m going to plant some lime basil (Thai type) this week, and some calypso cilantro (supposedly slow bolting) so we’ll see how those do.

Brian

[roblack]

Everglades tomatoes are now growing wild here, spreading like wildfire and I love it! They are tasty and fun to eat.

[Rispa]

You should try okra raw. Also I'm trying a few new things. Georgia Candy Roaster squash, garlic vine, and tindora everbearing cucumber

[Galatians522]

Late spring updates:

Re: sweet / bell peppers… my Costa Rica sweet peppers are out producing my Chinese giant sweet peppers 4:1, so unless the Chinese taste much better they’ll not make it back.

Re: tomatoes, once it warmed up, the pineapple tomatoes were amazing, but green giant were perhaps even better, though not super productive. I had issues with sun scald and uneven ripening with the Brandywine and Sart Roloise. Definitely won’t grow Brandywine again. Sart Roloise looks so cool, but not sure I’ll grow them again either since everyone loved the green giant and pineapple so much better.

Re: eggplant, my Aswad continues to pump out beautiful eggplants, and carries about ten fruits at any given point. Loving the baba ganoush and caponata, and almost getting sick of eggplant just from a single plant! Given away a half dozen eggplants the past couple weeks and kept a dozen so far this season. Foliage and eggplants are beautiful and disease free too.

I’m going to plant some lime basil (Thai type) this week, and some calypso cilantro (supposedly slow bolting) so we’ll see how those do.

Brian

Seems like the sweet "snack peppers" are just better adapted to Florida than most true bell peppers. I've got some Jimmy Nardello ripening up now and will report back if they are as good as has been reported. They do seem disease resistant so far.

[growinginphoenix]

Almost everyone overcooks okra. Start by bringing your water to a boil. Next, add the okra and leave it in the hot water for 3 minutes--it will usually just start boiling again. At 3 minutes remove it from the heat and immediately drain the water. Butter and salt. I didn't really care for okra until I had it cooked that way.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/204478/roasted-okra/

I'll throw out another okra recipe. Everyone I have given this okra too has liked it.

[BajaJohn]

It would be helpful to post your summer average max and min temps and possibly humidity.
I'm in Baja Sur which has summer daily highs in the mid-90s and lows in the 80s, humidity below 50%.
Basil under the shade of trees is doing well, that in full sun has dried out. Thyme in full sun is doing well. Rosemary is a perennial doing well. I also have a few watermelons. Celery seems to grow well under the shade of trees. I also plant sweet potatoes and some varieties of beans, mostly for ground cover, but they produce a little. I'm just planting tree spinach which seems to be popping out new leaves.
Somewhat off-topic but really cool is I've just set up a tower garden in the house which is air conditioned. It has to have grow lights but has produced harvestable lettuce, arugula, parsley, thyme, basil and spinach in about 8 weeks. Still experimenting - all of the spinach and about half of the lettuce has bolted in 75 degree AC but it looks a lot better than I expected.

[Coconut Cream]

The most vigorous and productive summer crop I ever planted here was Mavuno Cow Pea from Cody Cove Farm. Those things grew so much they took over the world, and they even did a little bit of climbing, despite their reputation as a ground-only vine. They produced a ton of beans and didn't care at all about the sandy soil. The problem I had was the constant need to trim the growth and ultimately I pulled them out. I was hoping to enrich the soil with the "green mulch" concept and nitrogen-fixing properties but I didn't notice much of an improvement in the areas I planted it versus just adding composted manure.

Has anyone had luck with growing taro? What conditions have given you good results?

[Galatians522]

Has anyone had luck with growing taro? What conditions have given you good results?

I have only grown upland Taro. I think that is mostly what is available here. It likes as much organic matter as is feasibly possible and lots of water and fertilizer. Build swales 4' appart. The depth does not make that much difference just as long as it gathers the water to the low point (I think mine are 8"-10" deep). Fertilize and lime the bottom of the swale where the taro will get planted just like for any typical garden crop (1/2 cup of balanced fertilizer like 6-6-6 for every 10' of row). Plant the huli (taro planting pieces) 3' appart in the bottom of the swale. I like long huli (about 12"). Set them about 10" deep so just the top 1-2" sticks out above the ground. Mulch everything with 6" of oak leaves or other lose mulch and keep well watered. Harvest as needed when the main corm starts dying back. Plant in a new location the following year to prevent nematodes from building up. You can go back to the original bed in the 3rd year. This is what has worked for me. You may need to make some adjustments at your specific site or based on your growing preferences.

[DavidBYE]

I plant taro with the bananas. They love some shade, lots of food and water. Some are five feet high. They also pup really well.

[Coconut Cream]

I have only grown upland Taro. I think that is mostly what is available here.

Wow, thank you for the detailed response. That's why I haven't really done well with it. I can see how having a wet trench area would really make them happy and productive, but I don't think I can make that happen in my yard, especially rotating locations. As far as sun requirement, is full sun ok or do they prefer more dappled light?

I would love to plant them in the understory of my banana patch, that would look so tropical. Maybe I'll give that a shot since it's probably the wettest plantable area that I have.

[Galatians522]

David is 100% right. Taro likes the same conditions as banana. It would probably do well for you there. Like I said, you may need to adjust my recipee some for your conditions and style and that is fine. It can be grown in full sun if you give it lots of water (may need to water multiple times per day). However, shade is fine and probably better for most people. Taro and Malanga are the only root crops that I know of that can be grown under the shade of an oak tree and still produce a meaningful crop.

[DavidBYE]

Best thing I have done for the banana, taro guild is ash. Either from charcoal or wood. It makes them go from average to giant in about a month. I have piled mulch, kitchen scraps, chop & drop, compost, chicken mature, 10 10 10, miracle grow and any other source of food I can throw at them but never had results like ash. It is like turning on the growth switch. Always lots of water, they love water.
During our wet season, Taro grows in the ditches here.

[CrowdedTown]

The only vegetable I grow during the summer is chaya AKA tree spinach. We have been  trying different things to make with it. Everything from adding it to eggs to a pretty decent swiss chard substitute. Nice thing is once the plants mature you get a lot of leaves. Its fairly pest resistant, the  Sri Lankan weevils, aphids,squirrels and rabbits so far have not touched any of the plants. Maybe due to the sap and the need to boil the leaves before they are safe to eat.

I tried growing longevity spinach. It grows well here but is a slug and snail magnet. Plus the leaves are a bit slimy when cooked. I can't eat it raw .

[BajaJohn]

Just harvested sweet potatoes grown over the summer in a subtropical arid climate. I plant them around June mostly for ground cover and compost greens but they've been very productive this year. This is from about 3 square meters.

[mcoambassador]

The only vegetable I grow during the summer is chaya AKA tree spinach. We have been  trying different things to make with it. Everything from adding it to eggs to a pretty decent swiss chard substitute. Nice thing is once the plants mature you get a lot of leaves. Its fairly pest resistant, the  Sri Lankan weevils, aphids,squirrels and rabbits so far have not touched any of the plants. Maybe due to the sap and the need to boil the leaves before they are safe to eat.

I tried growing longevity spinach. It grows well here but is a slug and snail magnet. Plus the leaves are a bit slimy when cooked. I can't eat it raw .

I grew Lagos spinach this summer as a greens option, and it grew great, and was a pretty looking plant too. It grows such tall stalks it’s like a vertical garden for spinach.