Summer in Arizona What Now?

Living in Arizona, I’ve learned that as summer rolls in, a lot of us gardeners shift from “growing mode” to “survival mode.” The extreme heat makes it tough to keep most crops happy for the next three months, so I’ve had to get creative with what I focus on during the hottest part of the year.

One of my favorite strategies is leaning into vegetables that actually thrive in the Arizona heat. My absolute go-to summer plant is okra. This stuff loves the warmth and can be incredibly productive. With a couple of well-prepared 4x4 beds, I can easily harvest a few pods every couple of days once it gets going.

What I love most about okra is how fast it moves. You’ll see a beautiful flower one day, and the very next day (or soon after) you’re harvesting tender okra. It grows like crazy, so it needs consistent daily watering, especially if you want the pods to stay nice and tender. While the plant itself is pretty drought-tolerant, irregular watering makes the okra get tough and fibrous quickly. I try not to let the soil dry out for long stretches.

My other reliable summer performer is eggplant. It handles the heat well too, but I’ve found it benefits from a 50% shade cloth during the most intense weeks to help it keep setting fruit. One thing I’ve learned the hard way: when temperatures get too high, the eggplants can turn bitter and start yellowing fast. So I keep a close eye on them once the real scorchers hit.

Of course, there are summers when I decide it’s just not worth the battle. In those cases, I use the time to rest and refresh the garden beds instead. I clean everything up, add fresh compost and soil amendments, and let the beds sit. It gives the soil a chance to rebuild and the compost to work its magic before fall planting.

This downtime is also perfect for starting seedlings indoors. By late September or early October, when the weather finally cools off, I’m ready to transplant strong, healthy starts into those refreshed beds for a great fall garden.