Late summer vegetables sulk in cold soil and can’t tolerate frost, so now is the time to plant them.

Summer vegetables need long days and warm weather to thrive. Unlike spring plantings like lettuce or broccoli, warm season vegetables need longer periods of sunlight.

When your soil has warmed up after the long winter, it’s time to get your hands dirty again. This time with a crop of late summer bloomers.

Make sure you also know when the first frost will happen in your area. This will determine the length of the growing season,and let you know if you have time for your plants to mature and develop before cold weather sets in again.

Find your average last spring frost date.

If you live in an area with an extended growing season, like we enjoy here in the south, your best time to plant now would be around the summer equinox, June 21 or 22.

And if you still want to try your hand at tomatoes, you’re not to late. Just skip the indoor seeding process and pick up a few larger tomato plants (try “Early Girl”) at your local garden store.

Anyway, you still have time to plant and have a healthy, bountiful harvest this year. Varieties that should do well now are: Autumn and winter squash, bush beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peppers, summer squash and zucchini.

So what are you waiting for? Daylight’s a wastin’! Get out there!