HelpfulGardener.com

My spinach harvest is going well. Within a week or two it'll be gone, freeing up about 25 sq ft of garden.

I'm going to try to keep my garden going throughout the year this year, instead of just planting in spring, harvesting in summer/fall as I have always done. So what can I plant next, given that I have no other seeds started? Need a good summer crop that will survive the hot and dry summer months.

I'm thinking zucchini but open to other ideas.

If you like spinach, then plant some Swiss Chard. There's several varieties and my two favorites are Fordhook Giant and Bright Lights. Fordhook grows with thick central stems that are great for stir fry and Bright Lights grows in colors of yellow, orange, red, and all shades between colored stems and veining in the leaves. Chard tastes very much like spinach to me and is considered a substitute or it. It is also heat tolerant whereas spinach wants to bolt when it gets hot.

I second Swiss Chard. I'm growing "Neon Lights" this year, but "Bright Lights" is also a strong favorite. Lovely tender multi-colored stems (a bonus you don't get with spinach) & thick fleshy tasty leaves. Baby stems/leaves are great in salads & stir-fries; mature ones are great in so many sautéed/braised ways!! Big favorite year-round veggie around here.

Another favorite that I haven't grown myself yet (but plan to - just received some seed), but that I LOVED buying from our local farmers market is New Zealand Spinach, which is a hot-weather loving spinach substitute (it's technically a Tetragonia). I don't care for it raw, but cooked it's spectacular, & in my opinion even BETTER than regular spinach. It does take awhile to germinate & reach harvest size, but you may want to keep it in mind for the future.

Definitely swiss chard, the most productive thing in my garden all season long.

If you want something different to use the space, this is a good time to plant summer squash. You can plant the seed directly in the ground and it doesn't like to be planted until the soil is well warmed up. It's very quick growing and you can be harvesting in a couple months or so (assuming all goes well and you don't have a vine borer attack!)

Can't believe this is the first year I've ever tried Swiss Chard. Could only find one variety on the shelves around here: Large Ribbed Dark Green. So far I'm lovin it! Big fleshy juicy leaves! Great in salads. Fast growing. I tried some because of this forum, thank you! I think I'll plant a mid summer crop too.

I've never had much luck with spinach for some reason. It just seems to sit there trying to deal with the heat. Don't think I'll do spinach anymore. Just chard.

What about edamame? Fresh soybeans.

Some bush beans for green beans would work. Also red beets.

Bush beans are my 'go to' for any open space where I need something dependable, easy, and quick - Perfect between harvesting spinach and kale and planting fall crops. I never save a spot for them at the beginning of the season, but I always wind up having some growing somewhere in the garden. As all the others above mentioned, swiss chard is solid all season long. I have to get creative when it comes time to getting my family to eat it towards the end of the growing season...

I guess I didn't offer any new ideas, but give the suggestions above a +1 each

Looks like you have a lot of choices.
Beans, eggplant, beets, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, peas, pepper, radish, melons, potatoes, and more spinach.
I would plant heat tolerant lettuce like red sails, lolla rosa and butter heads.

https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planti ... MI/Detroit

Thanks all for the suggestions! I'm going with Swiss chard and I also picked up zucchini if I find room for it. I considered beets as well.

Never planted Swiss chard before and I seldom buy it, so that will be something new.

Bush beans are a favorite, I have two plantings of them now. The first has flowered and the young beans are about 2" so hopefully I can start to pick I'm about a week. I'm going to try to keep the beans going all season.

Another reason for a later planting of zucchini is that powdery mildew will sometimes take out older plants. The younger plants resist the mildew problems for several more weeks even in a bad mildew year.

Bush beans are also my 'go to' summer crop. I will happily sow seed until mid-July, confident of a harvest.

By mid-July, the sowing of seed for fall Asian greens begins.

Steve

I agree with all said.

The advantage of chard is that is it will tolerate (perhaps thrive) in partial shade. It will also produce all season long and can even withstand mild frosts (with improved flavor). I had Fordhook chard winter over (and this was a long and cold one) and in spring it shot up and went to seed. The rainbow chard all died back at the first hard freeze. I don't think the Fordhook grew any over the winter, but I could pick what I had throughout.

Same thing with parsley (flat leaf and curley). While they have a slightly different flavor, they are equally tasty in my opinion. The flat leaf will die back at hard freeze, but the curley will winter over (and also go to seed in spring). I did have one flat leaf sprout up this spring.

This is my first year planting dinasour kale, but I'm told it also will winter over. Just a way to extend your season (like an outdoor refrigerater). - meshmouse