Keeping Your Vegetable Garden Going as the Weather Heats Up

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Article Title: Keeping Your Vegetable Garden Going as the Weather Heats Up
Author: Stephanie Foster
Category: Gardening
Word Count: 417
Keywords: vegetable garden,vegetable gardening,hot weather,summer
Author's Email Address: workingathome@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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A vegetable garden is a real pleasure when you get a good start to it, but sometimes the weather takes a turn you just aren't ready for. Things heat up fast and suddenly your perfect garden is wilting and dying.

It's a painful thing to see, but don't accept defeat immediately. You may still be able to save quite a bit of your garden.

The first thing is to stay very aware of your garden. This can be hard to do if you end up working extra hours and just kind of miss that the weather has changed and your plants need more water. But do your best.

I've had experience with this kind of thing, although it wasn't from work. We went on vacation at a time when the summer had been extremely mild. While we were gone the weather turned unusually hot. We hadn't arranged for anyone to give the garden extra water in that event, and so we came home to a nearly dead garden.

But if you catch these things soon enough, some of it can be salvaged. Try to give your vegetable garden at least an inch of water every week, especially as your vegetables grow.

I suggest getting a soaker hose. These allow you to put the water right onto the soil rather than spraying it into the air. You'll still want to water first thing in the morning or in the evening so as to minimize evaporation, but doing this can help you to cut your water bill by not spraying so much water into the air.

This is especially good for squash and other plants that aren't terribly fond of having water on their leaves. On the other hand, tomatoes do like water on their leaves, and you may want to use the sprinkler on them a little more.

One thing you will want to be aware of is how hot weather impacts the taste of the vegetables you harvest. Excessively hot weather can change the taste of crops such as broccoli and cauliflower, for example. Harvest as necessary to get the best produce from your garden. Some herbs may try to go to flower, but you can cut these off to try to continue their growth.

On the other hand, hot peppers love to grow in warm weather.

A hot spell doesn't have to be a disaster for your garden. Be aware of the weather and start giving extra water before problems appear. You can continue to have a delightful vegetable garden that will survive the heat.

Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.gardenmedley.com/gardening/ about her garden and how it grows. She offers more tips on successful vegetable gardening at http://www.gardenmedley.com/gardening/category/vegetable-gardening/
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