5 Uncommon Crops EVERYONE Needs to Grow in the Summer Garden

what's going on Growers it's James Prigioni  coming to you live from Jersey today me and   Tucker are going to share with you five  uncommon veggies everyone should be   growing in their summer garden these plants  thrive in the summer heat let's let's go! now that the weather has shifted to intense summer  heat we also need to shift what we're growing at   this time of the year so in the spring I like to  grow a bunch of different lettuces because I love   eating my salads but now that it's getting super  hot out it's a little tougher to grow some of   your lettuces because they really start to bolt  I still have a few lettuces grown down here you   can grow them in partial shade but we're heading  into the second week of July and soon it's going   to be so hot out over 90 degree days and it's just  a little tougher to grow lettuce if you do want to   try to grow lettuce at this time of the year you  want to make sure you grow it in partial shade   and use some heat tolerant varieties like the slow  boat leaf lettuce but what me and Tuck love doing   is growing a number of other highly nutritious  greens at this time of year the first veggie   everyone should be growing in their summer garden  is Malabar spinach I like growing the red Malabar   spinach I'll take you over to a plant right  now back here so red mob Malabar spinach has   thick glossy leaves and it does fantastic in the  intense summer heat this is a climber so you want   to make sure you're growing it up a trellis like  here or even a fence I've got another one growing   back there I have grown this in containers too  and it grows fantastic in containers again just   make sure you have a fence for it to grow because  this thing's really going to climb large one thing   about this plant is it's actually a perennial in  the tropics but here it just grows as an annual   because it's really Frost sensitive but it's  fantastic to grow as an annual for a number of   reasons one thing is that itself seeds so easily  so I planted years ago red Malabar spinach in the   back here and a lot of these have just come up  on their own like this one right here self-seeded   itself the one right next to me here which isn't  doing great but that's self-seated itself also   so it's kind of one of those things where it  almost feels like a perennial because you only   have to plant it once and then let it seed and it  will keep coming back year after year let's get a   taste of it you can eat the leaves when they're  raw just like this like I mentioned it's it's a   it's a glossy texture they're pretty thick and  uh it's known to be a little mucilaginous so   compared to other greens but I still really like  the flavor of it let's get a taste right now strong earthy flavor relatively mild a little  mucilaginous like I mentioned like almost kind   of slimy but it's not off-putting at all it's  really great to add into salads that's one way I   love using it but it's also good to add it to stir  fries and stuff this plant is highly nutritious so   it has high levels of vitamin A c and e and you  can even juice these greens because it's got so   much uh you know water and stuff in them and  it's a really healthy option another fantastic   thing about red Malabar spinach is that it grows  so beautifully some people even grow it as an   ornamental so you get that extra bonus tuck thinks  it's definitely approved he doesn't like this   green but he's looking for him fishing for a snack  if you love seeing tuck in the videos spam some   hearts down low and let's move over to the second  veggie everyone needs to be growing in their   summer garden the second uncommon green or I'm  calling them veggies for now that everyone needs   to be growing is actually not a veggie at all this  is the moringa tree this is a perennial tree but   I'm growing it as an annual because it grows so  quickly I've never grown it before this is my   first time ever so I really want to get a taste  of it something about this plant that's amazing   is you could eat almost all parts of the plant the  leaves the seeds so it's a it's a fantastic green   let me get a taste of these uh leaves because  I've never had one before so let's just pick   a leaf off you can go full giraffe mode on  this thing and just eat the leaves just like   just like a giraffe went right from  the tree so let's get a taste of it hmm really reminds me of arugula and it has  a little bit of that that sharpness at   the end like in brassicas because it contains  mustard oils and those are the compounds found   in Nebraska's like cauliflower and cabbage  that make them a bit slightly bitter really   decent tasty with that would be great to add to  a salad I think it's just an incredible plant   it's known as a superfood because it's so highly  nutritious it has high levels of vitamin A C zinc   iron potassium and one of the Fantastic things  about this plant is that it has high levels of   protein in the leaves and it contains all nine  essential amino acids so absolutely a winner   definitely good to sprinkle into the garden and  this particular variety it is a dwarf variety   from India and it's bred to stay nice and small so  it's perfect for growing in containers just like   this so I think everyone should get a moringa tree  planted you can plant it in a pot you can plant   it in your garden and uh grow it as an annual  before we move over to the third uncommon veggie   it looks like tuck wants a snack let's grab my  carrot want a carrot boy I'll grab one from here this looks like a decent one snap off the end for  them bring it over what do you think boy Tuck over   here boy here you go he almost took the piece that  I snapped off looks like he's a little bit hot too   so we'll see if he wants some water also want some  water first boy it's definitely a scorcher out   here I don't think he wants the water though he  wants to carry it let's wash it off a bit for him what do you think boy yeah  we'll let him go to work on that   let him hang out in the shade have some  fresh carrot he's a pretty good guy   we wanted to mention what we had you here to check  out the merch down at JamesPrigioni.com grab one   of the grow shirts for summer and we're still even  selling the gardening is life T-shirts if you want   one of those and don't forget to check out the  fertilizer too so he's having a blast out here   pretty good stuff right boy and we'll  move over to the third veggie now the   third uncommon green or veggie everyone should  be growing in their backyard is amaranth this   one is known as a nutritional Powerhouse as well  and it grows so well in the heat of the summer   Baker Creek calls it the go-to Green in the  mid-summer when everything else has bolted   this variety right here is a is Chinese multiple  color spinach so this isn't a true spinach just   like the Malabar spinach isn't a true spinach  this is amaranth but it just has so many   High nutritional value to it it's a it's  a great plant overall let's taste it   let's get some of the leaves the leaves are best  you can eat them raw but they're best when they're   young and tender and this is supposed to be  one of the sweetest most delicious varieties   of amaranth so let's just we're going to  cut this one the whole plant out because I   want to thin them down to one plant so let's  get a taste of some of the leaves real quick sweet mild has that like uh has definitely  has a spinachy flavor to it really good stuff   definitely a winner and not to mention how  beautiful the plants grow let me just have   one more quick bite actually cut this one out  just so we can thin them out and eat the extras fantastic this isn't the only kind of amaranth  that I'm growing and I use the amaranth in more   than one way not just for food but also as a  trap crop let me bring you back to amaranth I   have growing by my cucumbers and show you how  that's doing and talk a little bit more about   how amaranth has more than one function back here  there's some amaranth that I've been growing for   years I just let it self-seed and it just comes  back year after year this you can eat as well   take some of these young leaves here try a  taste of these ones compared to the other one   a great thing about amaranth is  it grows so quickly it's super   drought tolerant and it's just an  overall really easy crop to grow   the amaranth that I showed you the Chinese  multi-color one that only takes about 30 to 40   days until you can start harvesting and eating it  so it grows really quick let's get a taste of this a little drier kind of not  as juicy as the other one   decent flavor but the Chinese multi-colored one  was definitely better and definitely sweeter so   you'll notice I've got a lot planted here but look  look over here where it's growing too I allow all   this amaranth to grow right next to my cucumbers  because this amaranth Works fantastic as a trap   crop heading into late summer which we are now  um the cucumber beetles are going to start coming   out like crazy but the thing is the cucumber  beetles really love the amaranth so I allow   all this amaranth to grow the cucumber beetles hit  the amaranth and attack that instead of attacking   my cucumbers so not only am I getting a little  food crop out of it I'm also getting a trap crop   and that means more cucumbers in the future so  everyone should get this in their Garden plant   it next to your cucumbers it's a great companion  for cucumbers and get a couple little harvests out   of it as well the fourth uncommon veggie everyone  should be growing is purslane here's some right   here this is often considered a weed but you  shouldn't look at it like that because this   plant the leaves are super high and an excellent  source of omega-3 fatty acids I don't even have   to plant it around here because it just comes up  on its own let's grab some of the leaves and taste   it you can eat the leaves the stem let's get  a taste of them this thing is super adaptable   and it grows fantastic in dry air climates so  it's a kind of one of those plants that you just   let it do its thing you don't even have to worry  about it it'll just keep kicking out food for you the leaves have a fantastic texture a nice little  crunch to them and a bit of like a lemony flavor   they're so incredibly good so wherever I see  personally and pop up like here or over here   or even here I always let it  grow because you really want to   have this one in your garden it's  such a good performer in the heat   this is said to be one of Mahatma Gandhi's  favorite all-time veggies or plants so   I mean it must be a real winner it's easy to grow  it's nutritious it's adaptable what I like to do   is I'll let this thing go to seed and then it  self-seeds on its own really easily so I'll   just let it go to seed come back in the spring I  meant in early summer and I'll just see it popping   up everywhere another great thing about it is it's  super easy to identify when it's young so when you   see person growing in the garden make sure you  let it grow the fifth uncommon veggie everyone   should be growing is a bit more common than the  others but according to Bill Mollison people in   North America just do not plant this enough this  beautiful veggie is Swiss chard look at the color   of it is the Bali red Swiss chard an excellent  green and look at the look at the silver beet ones   over here so this is a nutritious plant containing  high levels of vitamin A C and K you can eat the   leaves raw and you can cook up the stems let's  get a taste of the leaves let's just say charm Raw High earthy flavor nice water content a bit bitter  at the end but overall a great green this thing   this plant is highly adaptable you plant these  things in the spring they keep kicking out food   all summer long and they grow deep into the winter  this is one of the plants that I can grow all year   long under a cover this is a cut and come again  green so you could come out to it grab some of   the leaves and it will just keep producing more  and more so you want to harvest this thing often   you can see I just have so much that needs to be  harvested look there's like four different colors   right in there this is the silver beet Swiss chard  we've got a bit of the orange the green the red   in the back and the pink so I mean this thing's  basically an ornamental it's so beautiful but it's   also a excellent plant to grow I've got some more  Swiss chard plants over here I think this is the   orange Oreo one so I'm basically planting Swiss  chard in every bed it's a Non-Stop producer and   an absolute winner so you've got to make sure  you're getting some Swiss yard planted in your   garden it wouldn't be right if I didn't leave you  with a bonus veggie that grows through the summer   this one isn't as uncommon as the other ones  but it's still something everyone needs to have   in the garden I'm talking about kale so kale is a  nutritional Powerhouse as well known by many as a   superfood one of the amazing things about kale is  there's so many different varieties like the dino   kale my favorite one of my favorites the Lacinato  we've got the walking stick kale the Behemoth   of a plant we've got the dazzling blue which is  probably my all-time favorite variety the color   the beauty the flavor it's all there let me grab  a piece and then we've even got the Scarlet kale   look how incredible that one looks as well so  you can eat kale raw let's get a taste of it   and one reason I think kale is so great is because  it uh it grows through the heat of the summer   and well it basically just never stops  so kale will grow early spring through   the summer into the winter and I grow  this year round under my covering some   varieties like the red Russian kale they  will survive here in zone 7a without a   covering surviving the hard Frost all year  long producing food let's get a taste of it hmm sweeter than their Swiss chard nice cabbagey  flavor and it gives you that Brassica flavor   that you're missing mid-summer when a lot of the  cabbages and stuff are finished our cabbages are   almost done some of the late varieties are still  massive and have cabbages but after this is gone   we're still going to have our kales producing so  much food we can juice them we could cook them   we could eat them raw so many options you got  to get this one in the ground everyone should   be growing kale it's like one of the highest  value crops I think in the whole entire Garden   those are our six uncommon veggies because we  added the one bonus one let me know down low   in uncommon veggie that we might have missed or a  green that thrives in the summer that never stops   producing and when we have to get in the ground I  didn't mention lamb Lamb's quarters that's a good   one too but I figured I'd stick with the other  amaranth that's today's video Growers thanks   for watching we hope you enjoyed it we hope you  got something out of it me and Tuck really hope   that you get some of these veggies planted in  the ground not only do they Thrive In the Heat   of the summer one of the toughest times to grow  some fresh greens that you can get some delicious   snacks from but they're also basically every one  of them really nutritious really good for you and   great additions to your overall diet so we really  hope you guys get some of them planted and like   the moringa tree I think that's so cool like such  a unique idea I mean I didn't come up with it but   planting that tree as a annual and then kind  of letting it come back every year they swear   we get all the advantages of it and like I showed  you can even grow it in a pot so basically anyone   can do it me and Tuck had a blast out here we  hope you did also we want to mention to check   out the merch down at JamesPrigioni.com grab  a grow shirt grab a gardening his life shirt   and be part of the team we also wanted to mention  to check out the fertilizer down low this is what   we're using to grow basically all of our plants  in the garden and we think it works really well   another thing I wanted to mention was a thank you  to one of our new channel members Lauren Griggs   thanks for being a part of Team growth thanks for  having your hand in everything we're doing out   here look at the size of the Tomatoes behind me  they're gonna start turning soon look at the sets   and we've got so many tomatoes planted  the harvests are going to be massive   I can't wait to run around with Tuck a smile on  my face just grabbing everything he went inside   because it's wicked hot out right now we're  at the time of year we're there's like a four   week period where it just gets so incredibly hot  that's one of the reasons we wanted to make this   video because it's really tough around here in  zone 7A to grow lettuces and stuff at this time   of the year but we still want to get our greens  so I think these plants are great options and   we want to equip you with the tools to make  sure you can grow food year round and always   have something coming in and that's what we  hope to do today we had a blast out here we   hope you guys got something out of the video tuck  and James we will be back again real soon we out!

Channel: The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni

Views: 82,866

Keywords: summer garden, summer plants, summer crops, summer veggies, raised bed, raised bed garden, raised bed gardening, amaranth, spinach, malabar spinach, moringa, moringa tree, swiss chard, kale, superfood, garden answer, epic gardening, gardening, self sufficient me, James prigioni, mr beast

Id: nCqVaRIsuPo

Length: 16min 47sec (1007 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 08 2023