It’s crunch time for those who want to plant a garden this season and haven’t done so yet.

But not to worry.

Many of our most popular vegetables can still be planted, whether from seed or seedling, in late June.

Green and yellow beans are two of the most popular. Most beans take about two months to be ready for picking, eating and/or preserving.

Lettuce, spinach and radishes are all perfect for planting each month, so a supply will be ready for turning into fresh, home-grown salads right up until the first or second frost.

It may be too late for planting such nutritious vegetables as winter squash or pumpkins, but summer squash — such as crook neck or patty pan — will most likely have plenty of time to grow and ripen.

Onion sets may also be planted, along with some other seedlings still available at the local nursery such as peppers, well-established tomatoes and a few others.

The first frost has been arriving later and later during the past few years, but the number of daylight hours also has a significant impact on plants and flowers. The fewer hours of sunlight make a huge difference in the success of growing vegetables and flowers as August arrives.

For right now, though, lots can be done to ensure a good harvest for the plantings already underway:

* Mulch and stake those tomatoes so the heft of the fruit won’t weigh down the plants; tomatoes also remain healthier when they don’t touch the ground.

* Keep a close eye out for insect pests and remove them whenever you see them. I suspect this year may be a bad one for potato beetles since I have already seen one of these striped, voracious insects.

* Side fertilize squash, pumpkins, onions and other vegetables to give them a boost in their growth; onions like lots of fertilizer.

* If you have perennial flowers, now starts the time to pick and display a lovely bouquet as a kitchen table centerpiece. Our Siberian irises are in full bloom right now, showing off their beautiful purplish-blue colors, as are the perennial, bright-red poppies.

* Keep the garden beds or rows as weed-free as possible so the plants won’t have a lot of competition for the soil’s nutrients.

* If rhubarb is among the backyard options, pick about half of it and either bake it into cobblers, pies or cakes, or freeze it for use during the cold winter months. A perfect use would be in a strawberry-rhubarb pie, a classic New England treat that combines the sweet and tart main ingredients for a delicious dessert. In a week or so, local farms will be offering fresh, local strawberries, so the timing is great. And once the rhubarb patch has been harvested and the stalks have died back, cover the patch with a thick layer of compost or other soil amendments so that next year’s crop will be even heavier.

Here’s a tried-and-true strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe:

2 cups rhubarb, chopped

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

Three-fourths cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 or 2 eggs

Half-teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 two-crust pastry

Method:

Place one crust in a 9-inch pie plate.

Combine all pie filling ingredients except the butter in a bowl. Pour into the crust. Place butter pieces on top of the filling. Top with the second crust and seal, then poke holes in it with a fork to allow steam to escape.

Place the prepared pie on a cookie sheet to catch any juice that may overflow.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes. Check for doneness after 45 minutes, then continue baking until the crust is light brown and the juice is flowing.

And when you’re not in the kitchen making delicious desserts, keep checking the garden for any vegetable or green that may be ready for harvesting. Young, tender greens are the epitome of a summer salad.

Eileen M. Adams has been gardening for decades and is still thoroughly amazed at what the Magical Earth can do. She may be reached at [email protected].