While spring showers bring summer flowers, June is the official start of the season for warm-weather crops like tomatoes and peppers.

Why June? By the time June rolls around, the soil is toasty warm, a condition that tomatoes and peppers need to establish good root growth before flowering and fruiting time.

Tomatoes and peppers, which can be planted in large pots or in the ground, are popular among all types of gardeners, including people who have little yard space, according to garden centers. Succession planting, or staggering your plantings for extended harvests, means you can have tomatoes and other veggies into late fall. Tomatoes, which need full sun and regular water, are easily planted into mid-July.

The vegetable garden is a great way to spend quality time and harvest quality food for the table, according to retired Virginia Cooperative Extension agent Jim Orband.

“There are minimum requirements when growing vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, the salad vegetables — eight-plus hours of sun, access to water and routine monitoring of the plants,” says Orband.

“Watering needs to be done early in the day and the water needs to be applied around the base of the plant and NOT on the plants foliage. Use porous mulch around your plants, such as pine needles that will help conserve water, reduce water evaporation, and reduce the spread of early blight disease.”

Here, we meet gung-ho gardeners with some of their tips on growing great veggies in any season:

In Hampton, Va., master gardener Larry Nisley suggests adding a thin layer of compost to recharge your soil for summer crops. This can be done before or after your plants have been placed and are growing.

Garden lime is important especially for tomatoes, peppers, squash and watermelon plants, he adds. Lime helps prevent blossom end rot that occurs later into the summer growing season.

“I use and recommend Bio-Tone by Espoma when you plant tomatoes,” he says.

“I also recommend planting tomato’s in a slanted angle into the ground but also use Bio-tone to encourage greater root development.”

During the growing season, Nisley uses a top dressing of Tomato-tone around the plant stem every two weeks. Tomato-tone has lime in the fertilizer that helps prevent blossom-end rot.

“I use a palm size or three tablespoons sprinkled around each plant,” he says.

To deter diseases and pests in the veggie garden, Nisley recommends proper spacing for good air circulation and light penetration.

“New gardeners tend to crowd too many plants in a small space which can create an environment for bugs and diseases,” he says.

“Proper spacing of 24 inches between tomato plants and proper staking systems helps eliminate problems, especially when growing indeterminate tomatoes. The use of basil, garlic, marigold and alyssum help prevent bad bugs and invite good bugs.”

If wormlike caterpillars bother tomato plants, he recommends the use of Dipel dust with Bacillus Thuringiensis, sometimes known simply as Bt; it’s also available in a liquid form called Thuricide, he says.

Slugs can be controlled organically with iron phosphate, which is found in a product called Slug Magic by Bonide. Neem oil is an earth-friendly solution for fungus, he adds.

“Inspect your crops regularly to help prevent and solve problems,” he says.

Master Gardeners demonstrate several simple and easy ways to grow vegetables at their Learning Garden in Poquoson, Va., according to master gardener Noel Talcott.

“For someone who would like an easy, high yield way to grow vegetables, consider raised bed or square-foot gardening,” he says.

Advantages of raised beds include:

n No digging or tilling is required. The beds are 18-inches high, but they are built with false bottoms that sit on cinder blocks and are only filled with 8 inches of soil. In low areas or areas prone to flooding, this prevents waterlogged beds.

The beds are filled with an appropriate soil mix that almost guarantees success; at the Learning Garden, seeds germinate and sprout within days.

The beds are topped with a decking board, which makes it convenient to sit while planting, watering or harvesting.

For growing tomatoes in raised beds, the Learning Garden uses a novel trellis concept that connects two 3-by-10-foot planting beds.

For more information on square-foot gardening, see www.squarefootgardening.com.

Straw bale gardening is another simple and easy way to grow vegetables, and a fun way to introduce kids to edible gardening.

Advantages of straw bales:

The technique requires no digging and costs little to get started.

The bales can be placed on any surface, and added to the compost pile at the end of the planting season.

“Straw bale gardening is simply a different type of container gardening,” says Talcott.

“The main difference is that the container is actually the straw bale itself, the outside crust of the bale serves as the container. During a 12-day conditioning process, the straw inside the bale begins to decompose, creating an extraordinarily productive, warm, moist and nutrient rich rooting environment for young seedlings. Once conditioned, you plant directly on or in the bales.”