July and August are good months to start planning a fall and winter garden. October and November are the ideal months to plant a garden in Kihei as the night time temps normally begin to cool in November and that makes a significant difference in how well many veggies grow.
These are also good months to work on conditioning the soil for planting in the fall by amending the soil or planting cover crops. Cover Crop Recommendations.
Seeds to plant in July & August:
Amaranth
Basil
Beans - Hopi Red Lima
Buckwheat
Celery (the seedlings can be used in salads)
Chard
Chia (in the photo)
Corn
Lemongrass - Culinary
Sesame
Sunflowers
Winter Squash (Greek Sweet Red, Kabocha)
Bareroot Trees
If you planted a bareroot fig tree in February you should be enjoying some luscious figs in July and August. All of the bareroot fig trees I've planted have produced a crop of fruit during the summer of their first year. At right is the first ripe Black Jack fig (June 8th) on a bareroot tree planted in February.
If you're thinking of purchasing bareroot fig or pomegranate trees, now is a good time to reserve them at Kula Hardware & Nursery. They normally order bare-root trees in August for February delivery. The earlier you add your name to their call list the better your chances are of getting the tree or trees of your choice.
Kiawe
This is the time of year to start harvesting kiawe beans. Lots of links about kiawe (mesquite) can be found in my post on Harvesting Wild Kiawe Beans. Although many trees are on private vacant land, there are accessible trees at some of the Kihei and Makena beach parks. Our local kiawe trees have a long harvesting season that extends well into the fall.
Garlic
See my post on Garlic for more information about growing garlic in Kihei. Also, this post about the varieties of Garlic I've grown successfully.
I've purchased garlic from the following sources:
Filaree Garlic Farm
Forever Yong Farm
Hood River Garlic
Seeds From Italy
Territorial Seeds
Filaree Garlic Farm is my current source for Thermadrone and Elephant garlic. Hood River has possibly the largest selection of organic seed garlic available online. Forever Yong Farm and Filaree Garlic Farm have large selections of creoles. So far, Thermadrone, most of the creoles and the elephant varieties I've planted have bulbed in Maui Meadows. Sometimes Whole Foods in Kahului has elephant garlic in the fall - I've planted it with good results.
If you live at the lower elevations on Maui, make sure to vernalize (refrigerate) your seed garlic for at least one month prior to planting in late November or it will not produce bulbs.
Heat Tolerant & Heat Loving Veggies
See the May & June newsletter for information on planting during the summer months.
Destructive Bugs, Larvae & Disease
See the March newsletter for information about bugs that affect summer gardens in Kihei.
