I am writing today to make you feel better. Yup, it’s a pretty depressing morning here, so I hope that will make you feel better about your bad start to the day. If you had a good start, yay for you. If you are having gardening troubles, you are not alone.
Here in the jungle, summer is the pits. It is too hot to be outside for long, and if I venture out, it’s either loaded with bug repellent, or covered in long sleeves and pants.
On top of that, there is very little in the way of food growing. All my Seminole pumpkins start to grow, then turn yellow and fall off the vine.
Finally, I have one that looks like it will continue to grow. And today I see that raccoons (my best guess) have scratched it all up!
The Dahlia is wilting. We just had a little tropical system swirling over our area of the state and it dropped 4 inches of rain. We had minor flooding, which went away quickly. But maybe the dahlia did not like all that water. Maybe it doesn’t like July in Florida. I can’t blame it.
The weeds, or should I say, grass has gone nuts. This is all getting away from me because of all the vines that are sprawling all over the yard. The squash vine is done, and I should pull it up. But it’s too hot and buggy.
The watermelon vines have 1 watermelon. The pumpkin vines – well, I mentioned that above. Those vines have nearly made it from the back of the house to the front. They’ve dropped about 10 pumpkins at this point.
Speaking of vines. That mound in the distance in my photo above is an Elm tree next to a Beautyberry bush. Below is a photo of the two trees with most of the vines pulled off. I used to work at this, even though this is not part of my yard. I’d love to see both grow and do well. As you can see it’s a losing battle.
These are trying to grow under that mound of vines in the photo above.
A banana pepper plant has died, and the other peppers don’t look so good. So it’s a depressing start to the day for me. I think I’ll stay inside.
May in the garden is mostly about finalizing the switch from winter crops to summer. This quick post shows photos of some of what I have growing at this time.
Now that May is here, the super hot weather is not far behind. Hopefully it will also begin to rain occasionally! My garden beds are mostly planted.
I’ve been on a milkweed growing kick, so I have lots of little pots going. I do not love having to monitor tiny pots, and the smallest seedlings will stay on the porch. More about my milkweed later.
For now, the Seminole pumpkins are growing vines. I have a random (spaghetti?) squash that came up. However, the vine doesn’t look great. My winter basil is still growing, with Tulsi Holy basil seeds sprouting for summer.
Pumpkin flowersSpaghetti squash? Random volunteerSeminole pumpkinHoly Basil, TulsiDesert Rose
The Desert Rose has come back from the dead (dormant really), to give a pretty display of bright pink flowers. The dill plants are everywhere, and most are flowering, but some have already gone to seed. I’m hoping for black swallowtail butterflies to show up soon.
I ate three blueberries on May first! And more blueberries are on the one and only plant. I’m eating a few banana peppers, and waiting for the Ubatuba pepper to turn red. The cherry tomatoes are ready randomly, so I get a few here and there. I was finally able to grow an Everglades cherry tomato plant from seed.
No water is falling from the sky, so every morning I am out keeping the plants alive. The sun is very hot during the day and things dry out fast.
Moringa and dillEggplantWatermelonSkittle after surgery – lounging in the garden
My cat had to have a growth removed from her back and now she is in recovery mode. Nothing stops her from wanting to be outside. The photo above shows her in one of her happiest places. In the garden path, with her nose in the oregano.
If you are in Florida, I hope your garden is in full summer mode. If you are just coming out of a long winter in the north, you will be planting soon.
My three Vegega metal raised garden beds are now set up. They are all mostly filled, but only two are planted.
I have three Vegega raised metal beds. It has taken me months to set them up (only a day or two) and then get them filled (this is the hard part). Now, two of them are filled with plants and the third one is nearly ready.
The first bed was round, and easy to manage. The second, larger bed was not so easy, but I got it done. It was a long bed, called a 9-in-1, and it had so many pieces! I put all of them together by myself, and I’m not so young! If you have a partner to help, or if your husband does all the work, then it would be a breeze! LOL…
I was able to put my third Vegega metal raised garden bed together inside the house. Thankfully, it was a smaller one.
I’m sharing photos, and information, of all three of my Vegega beds on this page. I’m very happy with them, and so far, my plants are too!
17″ tall, 3.5 ft. square Vegega bed with rounded corners.
I just signed up to become a Vegega affiliate because, why not? It’s super easy to sign up, and I am giving an honest review of a product I’m using, and that other gardeners may be interested in. If anyone clicks through and buys something, I could get a small royalty percentage. (Thank you if you do that, but I am not writing this page to make money.) I will mention it is a “paid link” whenever the link could earn for me.
Vegega Metal Beds, #1, #2, and #3
These beds are not cheap, and I really hope they do last many years (20 supposedly). It is work to peel the covering off each of the metal section. Then they are screwed together, placed in the yard and leveled. But the longest job is filling them.
Buy and begin the assembly and filling way before you think about planting. Especially if you are a one woman (older) gardener. My goal was to have the beds ready in March. I’m only a few weeks off.
So far, I am happy with the outcome. I have vegetables happily growing in two of the beds.
Bed #1
My first bed, or the first one I purchased and set up, is dark green and round shape. I have banana pepper plants, and an Everglades cherry tomato plant currently growing in this bed. Some holy basil, onions, and borage are growing around the edge.
Read more about the Vegega round raised beds (paid link) at their site. I like the 17 inch depth, and all three of mine are that height. It gives long roots plenty of space. This one was pretty easy to assemble and fill.
42″ round, 17″ high Green Vegega bed
Bed #2
The second bed I bought is long and narrow. It is a light green color, and I’m not sure of the official color name. It is planted right now with sweet potatoes. I also have Zinnia seeds popping up along one side. There is space for other flowers or small herbs at the ends.
This long bed was the most difficult for me to set up. It took longer to assemble and fill. This bed has two bars down under the dirt which help to keep the sides in place.
The metal is safe for growing food, and will hold up much longer than a plain, wooden bed. This is especially true in Florida where wood rots in no time. Some people complain that metal is not environmentally a good choice. Wood comes from trees, so how environmentally friendly is that? These metal beds are supposed to last for 20 years or more. Read more about Metal vs. Wood Raised Garden Beds here (paid link).
Bed #3
The third bed (featured on this page) is 3.5 feet square, with rounded corners. The color is Oyster White. Volunteer (squash or pumpkin) seeds have begun to grow, but nothing has been officially planted here yet.
3.5′ square metal raised bed. Volunteer squash or pumpkins are growing.
Although this Vegega bed has been sitting in my yard for weeks, it is not completely full. I have been cleaning up old vegetable plants and chopping the stems into this bed. The green beans are gone, and most of the broccoli. Because summer is coming, I’m not sure what I would plant in this bed, so I’m in no hurry. (I’m in Florida and summer is a tough time for gardening.)
To fill this bed, I have used the following;
Cardboard (in bottom – helps to level the bed) & random packing paper
Pine straw – also on the bottom over the cardboard. I chose this because they had it at my local yard shop. Straw would be a good choice.
Vegetation – old broccoli plants, stems, carrot tops, old vegetables for compost, and cuttings from the yard.
Purchased potting soil, my own compost, and Perlite.
Florida Vegetables For a Raised Bed
Summer is not a great time for gardening in Florida. It is our “winter” where we need to be inside where the AC keeps us cool. But gardeners know that the weeds never stop, so early morning garden checks are necessary.
Crops growing in summer should be hardy, drought tolerant, and love the heat. Sweet potatoes fit that category. My entire long bed is planted with sweet potatoes. They don’t need much attention. I have found old sweet potato vines in my yard, from years ago!
Okra, if you like it, is easy to grow and would probably love a raised bed.
Seminole pumpkins might work if the vines can travel over the edge to the ground without a problem. These pumpkins like some shade too, and root along the vine.
Even crops that like it warm may need some shade during a Florida summer day. My pepper plants are in the round bed which gets a lot of morning shade. I have an umbrella that can be opened to give them more shade as we heat up.
Eggplant will last for years here. An eggplant in the center of a round bed, or at the end of a long bed, would be a good idea. In fact, if you need the shade, put the eggplant at the end that blocks the sun. Eggplants attract ladybugs too, which is a plus.
In Fall, I will be using these beds to grow lots of crops. I have success with bulb onions, carrots, broccoli, beets, arugula, Tatsoi spinach, dill, parsley and basil. Radishes take up little space and could go around the perimeter. Tomatoes can go into the beds in early spring.
I plan to include flower seeds around the edges of all the beds, and seasonal herbs. Holy basil grows nicely in summer, but most others like cool weather.
I’m excited to get growing in my Vegega beds! I’ll keep you posted.
It is the end of February and here in Florida I am getting some seedlings and sweet potato slips into the raised beds.
Finally I have filled my long raised bed. This took some real effort. The metal bed is from Vegega and is 17 inches high. It had 12 pieces to assemble and it was a hot day. It actually took me 2 days to put it together, and then it was time to fill. That took many days and a couple of trips to the Yard Shop.
The last push to fill it took 8 bags of purchased soil. I also mixed in some perlite, compost, and fertilizer. At last it was full.
Garden bed set up and leveled with cardboardFilling with cut plants, paper, and soilFilled to the topSweet potato slips are planted
I’ve had some sweet potato slips growing on my windowsill for a few weeks. I kept finding sweet potatoes buried in the yard that were rooting. They really needed to get into the ground. Our weather is not super hot yet, but I figure the plants are better off in dirt than in water in my house. Also, we have an upcoming camping trip. The goal is to plant things before I leave.
Originally, I had planned to order some sweet potato slips. When companies send out the slips, they do not specify when they will come. We have a couple of camping trips coming up and I’m afraid I will not be home when the slips arrive. Also, I found so many potatoes in my yard that were already growing, that I don’t really have room to plant more.
I have one more raised bed to set up. It could take me a while. I’m feeling good that this one is planted and hopefully I will have sweet potatoes to eat in a few months.
Peppers and Eggplant
Both pots of peppers were doing nicely. I have not tried to grow either type before. I planted the seeds for the Sweet Banana and Ubatuba months ago. The seedlings were thinned to 2 in each pot. Have you ever heard that peppers like to touch each other? I remembered this so I left 2 together. I’ve always had a very hard time getting peppers to grow, so I don’t have high hopes for these.
Now they are safely planted into the round metal bed. I had to set up my umbrella because it was very hot and sunny. I’ll let them have sun all day once they are adjusted to their new grow space, or if it cools off a bit. They will definitely need this shade every afternoon during summer.
Seedlings with peppers4 pepper plantsLong purple eggplantShaded
In Hindsight
I’ve written about growing peppers often. Last year I had many plants that looked great for a while and then suddenly died. One had waterlogged roots, so I knew the cause of that. It made me empty my grow boxes and drill holes for drainage.
The other pepper plants were in fabric bags. I think there is a problem with these bags. First, I moved the plants from one area to another. I suspect the roots were damaged when I did that. Also, fabric bags dry out fast. I’m learning this from emptying them now. Even though I water like mad, there is lots of dry soil in every bag. I plan to write more about this.
Happy gardening! … to those who are lucky enough to be able to do it in February.
I’m done growing the Daikon radish. It grew so well in my garden over the winter, but I just can’t handle the taste.
When Fall arrived, I planted some daikon radish seeds. They began to grow right away. After a while, I planted more. I was really hoping I would like them. I tried. I don’t. This is my final word on this vegetable.
Daikon radish and new dirt section for plantingSeeds planted Sept. and Oct.
They are milder than a regular, small red radish. But they are still radishes. I tried numerous times to eat them in salad, or as a slaw mixed with carrots and sugar.
I would mix up the grated carrots, Daikon, sugar and oil, then let it sit for a while. This slaw mix ended up being okay mixed with greens as a salad. But not great. Honestly, it wasn’t worth my time and effort.
Daikon slawIt lasts about 3 days.
Now it is almost February. This means Spring planting is right around the corner. It was time to pull up the Daikons to make space for something more edible.
Growing Daikon Radish in Zone 9B
I had great luck growing the Daikon radish in my garden. The first seeds were planted September first. It is still very hot here and they grew. I planted another variety in October. Both types seemed to taste exactly the same, but the Miyashige White grew bigger. I bought the seeds at Annie’s Heirloom Seeds.
Some plants were a bit close together, but I don’t have a lot of space. They grew without any problems, through heat in early Fall, and cold, drought, and rain in January. Figures. All the foods I DON’T LIKE grow super well here. (Okra is on my mind.)
Many radishes became quite large, but others were still small when I pulled them. It is amusing how they push upward out of the dirt.
It might be a fun crop for kids to grow. Be aware that the leaves are a little bit prickly.
A big guy
I began a new compost pile with all the radishes I wouldn’t be eating. Nothing goes to waste. These will break down and provide rich soil to put back into the garden.
New compost pile, and FontanaNo waste gardening
I think that the only thing I can say about growing these big radishes is that they help to break up the soil. The roots are very long. Because they are so large, with bunches of greenery, they add goodness to compost. It’s not a good reason to grow them, so I am done.
Winter vegetables in my Florida backyard garden are mostly doing well. I’ve found that cabbage will be something to add to my planting list.
After gardening for only a few years, I’m still learning what grows best when. We can grow year round, but winter is a good time to grow the things that are normal. Carrots, onions, beets, broccoli and herbs do best in cooler weather. I’ve had success with all of these.
Cabbage
This year I planted a few cabbage seeds. I don’t have a lot of garden space, so I only grew a few. Now I am wishing I planted more! They took a long time to sprout. Once the cool air arrived, the big leaves began to show up. Now they are growing like mad. That is borage you may see amongst the cabbage leaves.
Next winter I will be adding more cabbage to my garden.
Cabbage and a few Borage leaves poking through
Although I had loads of Tatsoi and arugula last year, I’m struggling to grow it this year (photo below). I have been looking forward to having fresh greens, but I only have tiny little plants.
The Urban Harvest sells Tatsoi seeds and I didn’t get mine from them this year. I think they were sold out.
Tatsoi greens
The Rest of It
Cherry Tomatoes
The Apricot cherry tomato plant is giving me a few tomatoes. I struggle to grow tomatoes so I’ll take what I can get. They are yellow, not red, but yummy.
Tomato plants may grow in summer here, but no tomatoes will form. This plant was begun in late summer from seed. It kept growing, in a fabric bag, and is now full of little tomatoes. I have one more cherry tomato plant I will put into the ground in February.
Apricot cherry tomatoes
Squash and Zucchini
I am not fooled by this tiny squash and flower. Squash (of all kinds) and zucchini don’t amount to anything in my garden … ever. I won’t grow them any more. I threw some leftover seeds in just for fun. That little squash has since died.
Seminole Pumpkin Replaces Squash
In my sub-tropical garden, the Seminole pumpkin replaces squash. I love orange vegetables and need them to help my old eyes. The Seminole pumpkin tastes a lot like a butternut squash.
Alas, I had only one to eat this year. That doesn’t mean I will give up. The vines are long, and they trail all over the yard but I don’t get many squash. I will definitely try for more of these this summer.
Seminole pumpkinYum
Loofah or Luffa
Loofah is a crop that is grown in summer here, I think. I planted seeds in summer and they did nothing. So, I took a chance and planted some seeds this Fall. One plant grew and I have one loofah on it. Supposedly, you can eat the young gourds as a replacement for zucchini. It doesn’t sound appealing.
The bees love the big, yellow flowers and it would be fun to have some dried loofah to use. See how to use homegrown loofah in this video. With any luck, I will have seeds from this one. I need a good trellis if I plant more.
Loofah
Healthy Beets, Even If I Only Get Greens
Beets grow very slowly but are worth the effort. They never get very big in my garden, or maybe I am too impatient. I love that I can use the greens as well as the root, so I will keep growing these. They are perfect for planting in a shallow grow box.
Golden beet
Looking Forward to Spring Planting
January has been a pretty cool, gloomy and windy month. We went camping for a few days in the beginning of the month and after that the weather went downhill.
We haven’t had any freezing temps yet, but it’s been dry. While the rest of the country is getting deep freezing temperatures and ice and snow, we are safe with temps in the 40’s for lows here. So far.
As most gardeners do, I am looking into the future and planning my Spring and summer planting. I have two Vegega metal raised beds to assemble. Then they need to be filled. I’ll have to get this done soon so I can plant seeds and seedlings. There is a lot of clean up and planting planning to do.
Winter garden & Skittle the Cat
Meanwhile the seeds I started a few months ago are growing – mostly. I’ll have a few things to put into the beds. First I need to harvest that broccoli.
Hydrangeas Blue 