How to Grow Food in the Heat of the Summer
Discover essential tips for growing food in the heat of summer, from deep watering and mulching to composting and shading. Overcome common gardening challenges and keep your plants thriving despite the intense heat
7/16/20245 min read
Growing Food in the Heat of Summer
Disclaimer
This How to Grow In the Heat of Summer article may contain some affiliate links. The small commission we receive if you choose to purchase goes towards making this gardening education available for free! We do not affiliate for anything we do not personally use. Thanks so much for your support!
Click the video above for the audio/visual version

How to Grow in the Heat of Summer
4 Tips for Saving Your Plants from Dying
Wondering how to keep your garden thriving in the scorching summer heat? Look no further. Below we explain how to:
Let's dig in!
The main thing that is bothering most American gardeners right now is how hot it is and how that is affecting a lot of the produce we were expecting to get.
In our home, whatever has survived the heat (which surprisingly has been a lot) has been eaten by harlequin bugs (kale), deer, and my husband Dave's nemesis: The Groundhog!
But let's deal with challenge #1: The Heat
1. Water Your Plants
Water deep and during the cooler times of the day


Water
If your plants are drying out from neglect in a dry climate with little rainfall, your top priority should be: Watering.
Water deep and early in the day when there's less chance of evaporation. In our Virginia home, this usually happens around 6 a.m. We don't have a drip irrigation setup yet, but we have hoses and buckets. And that's what we're doing first thing garden-wise.
Drip irrigation is a great investment for those who struggle to keep up with a larger growing space and the time to fill up buckets of water. If your budget will allow it, I highly recommend it. We have the apparatus but have not yet set it up. This is costing us time, for sure. But we have other garden priorities right now such as a fence to protect more veggies from the deer and groundhog.


Using drip irrigation can be helpful.
Mulching with leaves from neighbor's yard
Why Mulching Matters
Mulching is often underrated, but it's essential. According to Brad Lancaster, author of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, mulching can reduce the need to water your plants by at least 25%. We mulch our beds with straw. If you created a Lasagna Garden earlier in the season and now notice bare soil, it's time to re-mulch, as the original mulch may have decomposed into the soil by now. This extra layer of straw doesn't need to come from outside your home.
2. Utilize Mulch to Conserve Moisture


Minivan stuffed with straw mulch and kids
Do you see the difference in soil color and moisture between dry topsoil and compost?
The power of compost (and compost tea)
3. Enhance Soil Health with Compost
In the middle of summer, plants such as tomatoes, are likely flagging or our cucumbers are curling and shriveling up on the vine from the stress that heat brings. Add compost to your garden if you haven't done this yet. And if you've been doing this and you feel like it's not working, soak that compost into a bucket and water it with compost water instead of just plain water. This delivers a much-needed dose of water + nutrients + life in the soil at a time of dearth.
I am a big proponent of using "compost tea." So much so that is my current research which you can read more about HERE
These "sails" act as shade cloth to plants beneath them
Use a shade cloth
Finally, my fourth tip is to create temporary shade for your plants. Rather than smothering them with a tarp, raise the tap on stakes to give your plants some shade. Sure it may look weird, but if it can help keep your crops alive, I'm all for it at this point in the season. Don't have a tarp? Use old bed sheets and a few tall sticks. Find creative ways to shield your plants from the sun they don't need, if only for a few days or weeks.
4. Create Temporary Shade for Your Crops


Sandy's Arizona garden covered in shade cloth.
If you're wondering which tip is right for you, the answer is simple—all four! And perhaps some that I may not have thought of that you are already implementing.
Feel free to share what YOU do with us via email at permaculturegardens@gmail.com or better yet, join the GIY Community, where you can find encouragement from gardens around the US with similar challenges as yours.
Which one of the above do I absolutely need to do this summer?
Addendum: What NOT To Do in Your Garden this Summer
Don't get heat exhaustion like I did. Don't go out without sunscreen or some sort of hat.
Don't water your plants at high noon. You can cover them but don’t expose them to shock during the hottest part of the day. And don't feel guilty if you can't get out to the garden right now.
Don't leave your small potted plants to bake or your composting worms outside
3 Tips

3 Things you CAN do
If the heat is overwhelming, it might make you feel like giving up on gardening altogether
Grow indoors, start with microgreens... See HERE for a blog all about Growing Indoors!
Bring in your potted plants
Conserve water—skip the baths, avoid using your full water allotment, and stay tuned for the upcoming video about the time we ran out of water on our farm!
Permaculture Gardens - your online resource for organic & sustainable gardens.
Contact
permaculturegardens@gmail.com
Bethany Farm
41558 Stumptown Rd.,
Leesburg, VA 20176