Here is what you can still plant in SC to harvest in your vegetable garden by the summer

If you wanted to plant corn, lettuce or potatoes in your garden this year forget about it.

It’s too late, according to Clemson University’s planning a garden guide.

But any number of types of beans, melons, cucumbers and okra are fair game. As are collards. And then there’s that trendy veggie — kale — go right ahead. Healthy smoothies in your future?

Clemson says all of those vegetables can be planted now, some until mid-May, others until June 1 in the coastal region of South Carolina, which Richland and Lexington counties are listed in.

Clemson splits the state in half with Aiken, Lexington, Richland, Sumter, Lee, Darlington and Marlboro, forming the upper boundary.

Clemson says time is running out to plant watermelon, eggplant and — eke — the all popular tomato. All Southern gardeners know there is nothing quite as good as a home-grown tomato. That is, as long as you couple it with white bread, South Carolina’s own Duke’s mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Nothing says summer quite like a ’mater sandwich.

Clemson says it’s best to get tomatoes in the ground by April 30. If you live in the Piedmont region — all counties west of Richland — tomato planting season begins on May 1 and ends June 30.

Clemson says there’s a coastal fall season for tomatoes (and many other plants) that runs through the month of July.

Clemson offers a full range of advice about your home garden and their first question for you as you’re planning is simple, yet, important.

Who is going to do the work? A question for the ages.

Other Clemson vegetable gardening tips

Draw your garden out on paper, show arrangement and spacing. Tall plants on the north side - keep them from shading out the short ones.

Group plants by how long it takes for them to grow.

Do not put the same vegetable in the same place every year. Like any good farmer, crop rotation makes a healthy garden.

Keep the growing area as small as possible.

Clemson says, “Remember that a small weed-free garden will produce more than a large, weedy mess.”

Gardens need at least 6 hours of sun a day. That all-powerful tomato — and any plants that bears fruit — needs a full day.

Clemson has an answer for areas with poor drainage or that are sloped. Raised beds.

“Permanent raised beds are easy to maintain and require less effort to control weeds and overcome poor soil or site problems,” Clemson says on its website.

This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 11:59 AM.