Did you forget to plant at the proper time? Were you too busy to
plant? All excuses are accepted. Best of all, it’s still not too
late to get in a garden.

Many vegetables can still be planted in the last week of April or
even into May. It will surprise you, too, just how quickly they
grow. Many vegetables don’t do well in colder soils. Now, in
warmer soil, they will take off and grow.

Here’s a look at some of the things you can grow.

Plant late tomatoes. As the earlier tomatoes are retiring from
production, the late-planted ones will be coming on for great
eating. You can even take the suckers off the early ones and root
them. Just keep them watered. Extend the great tomato season.

Incredible Eggplant

I know many people don’t like eggplant — but it’s so good! Its
dark purple fruits make it quite a pretty plant, but when you
stuff those fruits with shrimp, they’re magnificent. Eggplant
doesn’t do well until soils warm up in May, so now is a good time
to plant.

You can plant the hottest item in the garden, too, in May. Over
the past few years, hot peppers — Aji, Ancho, Cayenne,
Charleston Hot, Inferno, Ring of Fire, Habanero, Jalapeno,
Serano, Thai Hot, Tabasco — comprise the single biggest increase
in garden crops.

If you have room, plant sweet potatoes, a true hot-weather crop.
Get the slips from someone, or take tip cuttings (the last 8
inches of the vines). Or get some sweet potatoes from the grocery
store and sprout them for the cuttings. Next fall, you’ll be glad
you planted them, when the weather is cool and you smell sweet
potatoes baking.

Never Too Much Okra

It’s also a good time to plant one of my favorite vegetables:
okra. Having grown up with it in the garden every year, on the
table four or five times a week in season and frozen or pickled
at other times, I still love it.

Okra is from tropical Africa and does best when planted later in
the season. I’ve heard all of the stories and jokes about the
properties of okra “juice,” but this texture can be remedied.

Allow small, raw okra in Italian salad dressing to marinate for 1
hour — this is much like a pickled product and is excellent in
salads.

However, remember that the properties that make okra
objectionable for some uneducated palates is the critical
ingredient for making that famous Creole shrimp gumbo.

There’s still plenty of time for good gardening and even greater
eating from your garden.