Plant food now: broccoli & other veggies from seed for fall as well as fruit trees & bushes

by Connie Oswald Stofko

If your garden was wet or you were busy and didn’t get any food plants in your garden this spring, don’t fret. It’s not too late.

You can plant vegetables, including broccoli, from seed. You can also plant fruit trees and bushes.

Vegetables

Now is the time to plant seeds for many vegetables that you can harvest in fall. In addition to broccoli, seeds that you can sow now include lima beans, coriander, dill, collards and beets, said Mark Yadon, vice president of Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville.

In early August, plant Chinese cabbage, turnips, peas and radishes.

Mischler’s is having a sale on seeds: Buy one, get one free. Hurry in before they’re all sold out.

Fruit

You can also plant fruit bushes and trees now, as well as hops.

“The bushes are full of berries right now,” said Fred Safford, referring to the bushes they have in stock now at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg. “You can enjoy berries this season and get a jump on next season.

“Now is a fine time to plant; you just have to pay attention to watering, but we seem to be having a wetter summer than we’ve had in awhile.”

Lockwood’s has raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, sea berry and gooseberry bushes as well as grape vines.

Fruit trees in stock include cherry, apple and chestnuts. The tree of the week is the plum tree. It’s 20 percent off through Monday, July 14.

Lockwood’s also carries hops for home brewers.