What can you plant now?

I get this kind of question pretty often... Here's my quick answer... there are probably other things he could start now... feel free to chime in in the comments.

I have a small area 10x15 in my back yard & I'm looking to start some veggies for the summer. Would these be good as a start? Pole beans, Okra, a tomato plant? What else could I plant out back? consider buying one or two beefmaster tomatoes from lowes--i got a couple for $2 each. have you seen tomato prices lately? it's too late, probably, to start from seeds, so this year at least you'll need to buy tomatoes and peppers as seedlings from somewhere... for summer planting (rainy season, for crops that you HARVEST from mid-june until november) you should try: peanuts (buy some green ones from publix, open them, stick the beans in the ground), pole beans, sweet potatoes (buy slips, or start your own--google "sweet potato slips"), lima beans, yard-long beans, cowpeas, eggplant, okra, ANY hot pepper. if you have a tub, you can grow watercress in partial shade--buy some at publix, eat most of it, throw a couple shoots in the water, stand back! plant the pole beans in the next week or so. buy an eggplant or two from lowes (black beauty or an asian variety--they're all pretty much the same i've found). okra, peanuts, hot peppers (better done by april, but doable anytime), limas, cowpeas and sweet potaotes can be planted anytime the weather is hot. between now and the start of the rainy season--you don't really have time for anything from seed except salad (any cut and come again mix) and sweet peas. next year you can seed broccoli, caulfiower, kale, collards, potatoes--as early as mid-august.