Key Takeaways
- You can still plant quick-growing crops in July for a late summer or fall harvest.
- Choose early-maturing vegetable varieties by checking the “days to maturity” on seed packets.
- Late July is also great for sowing cover crops to restore soil nutrients before the next planting season.
For gardeners, spring is all about planting seeds and starts to give summer crops ample time to reach maturity. But planting doesn’t have to end just because summer is in full swing. In fact, there are plenty of quick-growing crops you can plant in July that will mature in time for a fall or even late summer harvest.
Some of these plants, like greens, simply grow quickly, especially with summer’s warm temperatures and abundant sunlight, while others are bred to be “early” varieties that mature quickly.
Whether you’ve already harvested spring or early summer crops and want to plant something in their place or simply got a late start on gardening this year, you can still plant in July to enjoy a harvest later in the season.
Here are 6 fast-growing crops to consider for high summer planting in your garden.
Beans
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Both pole beans and bush beans can be planted in July for a late summer or early fall harvest. Plant seed in a garden bed with full sun and loamy, moist, well-drained soil. Keep the soil evenly moist as the plants grow, and be sure to provide pole varieties with stakes, a trellis, or other support for them to climb.
Pick the beans when their pods are flat and tender to eat them as green beans, allow them to size up in the pod for fresh shell beans, or let them dry on the vine and harvest them at the end of the season to use them as dry beans.
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Radishes
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Fast-growing radishes are an ideal addition to your vegetable garden starting in mid-July. Radishes require six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day and rich, well-drained soil to thrive.
Many small varieties are ready to harvest in about a month from planting the seed. Plant again every two weeks through September to extend your radish harvest into fall.
Kale
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Kale, collards, and other brassicas are ideal to seed in late July or early August for an abundant crop of greens in fall. Seed kale in the ground or in a container in a spot that receives rich, well-drained soil and full to part sun.
Plants take roughly three months from seeding to mature and are ready to pick once they’re about 12 inches tall. However, you can harvest tender leaves as baby kale to use in salads or cooking in as little as 20 to 30 days.
Carrots
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Carrots take longer to mature than some of the fast-growing vegetables on this list, but July isn’t too late to plant seed for a late summer or early fall crop. Direct seed carrots in the ground or in a container at least 12 inches deep.
Choose a spot with full sun and rich, well-drained soil, or amend the site with compost before planting. Water consistently to keep carrots from splitting or cracking. Some carrot varieties can be ready to harvest in about 50 days, while others take 75 days to mature.
Waiting until after your region’s first frost can help your carrots taste sweeter.
Beets
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Another fast-growing root vegetable, beets are ideal to seed in July for a late summer or early fall crop. Their seeds can germinate in hot summer temperatures up to 90°F, and the plants are also frost-tolerant.
Plant beet seeds in a spot that has moist, well-drained soil and gets full to part sun (though they’ll grow best with at least six hours of direct sunlight per day).
If you’re not a fan of the earthy flavor of red beets, consider planting golden or Chioggia varieties, which taste milder.
Cover Crops
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While it doesn’t result in an edible harvest, July could be a great time to plant a cover crop. Cover crops, also called green manure, are plants like legumes, grasses, and some brassicas that are grown before, after, or between vegetable crops to add nutrition, keep weeds down, and support overall soil health.
Cover crops like legumes are often planted in spring, but quick-growing grasses like winter rye, winter wheat, annual ryegrass, and oats can be planted in midsummer or late summer after you harvest vegetables.
You can let grasses planted as cover crops grow for at least one month before turning over the bed to terminate the crop.
Another option is to allow the cover crop to overwinter, then turn it in before planting the following spring. However, it’s important to terminate the crop before it goes to seed.