Tag: garden

Disgusted and Sad at My Changed Yard View

The lot next to me has been cleared and I now have no trees and a view of a muddy landscape. This changed my thoughts on gardening.

The lot next door is cleared. Even though I knew it was coming, and I know how they do it here, I am disgusted and depressed. How things can change from green and shaded and private to hot, sunny, and wide open in a matter of minutes. I have before and after photos below.

It only took a few hours for the excavator to remove all the greenery – along with perfectly good trees – from the entire lot next door. This is how they do it in the lovely state of Florida.

tree filled lot next door before clearing
All trees and greenery except for one large tree are gone

This lot is one of the few left in our vast neighborhood. Just a few years ago the land sold for $20K. Recently it sold for $70K. Now a house will go in and it will sell for probably around $400-$500K. Florida is no longer affordable, but what is worse it the total disregard for wildlife and green spaces. This happens all the time, all over the state.

Apparently there are no laws keeping companies from mowing down every living thing to build.. and build…and build. I hate it here. I live here only because I can’t afford to get out, but I hate it. Now, I hate it even more. It has affected my life in a big fat negative way.

The good news was that they left one tree at the front on our property line. It’s a beautiful oak, and I was outside ready to question the reason for removing it if that claw came close – maybe climb up and sit in it (haha). But all the other smaller trees and shrubs along the line are completely gone.

The lot being cleared is low land and water sits in there whenever we get a bunch of rain. All along the edge, between my property and theirs, is was a line of oaks and maples.

I loved one maple in particular that I discovered a few years ago when it was tangled up in vines. I pulled off the vines and the tree began to take off. It was about my height at the time, but it became very tall, as you can see in my photo below. I swear that tree grew at least five feet a year! It was beautiful.

In a matter of seconds, the orange claw (can you see it behind the greenery?) grabbed my beautiful tree and carried it off to the pile. Then, the tractor went down the line and ripped everything else out.

The maple tree with claw excavator coming in to rip it out
My side yard before the lot was cleared
BEFORE – peaceful & green
Now, with the green gone
After – open and muddy

I watched helplessly as the scoop grabbed all the banana trees in the back corner and pulled them out. Those were not mine, but they were on my property, and I had hoped some might remain. The pole in the back is the property line, and the guy came right up to the line (and sometimes over) all the way down the edge. My Moringa tree was right there – on my property, but oh so close – it still stands, thankfully. We have a great view of all our neighbors now. Goody.

garden path before the greenery was removed
Path before
garden path with greenery gone
path after

The garden will now have to adjust to a lack of shade. With the tall trees along the property line gone, the entire yard will have mostly sun all day long. Mornings used to be nice and shady and I could go out and work, but no more. I’ll have to see how much shade I get from the one tree left.

He had to leave that one big oak tree because it was “18 inches”. Gee, lucky tree.

before the land was cleared, looking back to front view
Before
After the lot was cleared out I have no privacy while I'm gardening.
After – my view now

My yard seems much smaller, and because all my privacy is gone, I’m considering moving my garden to another spot. I’ve already considered doing some new things so I don’t have to be in this part of the yard as much.

Not only have I lost my shade and privacy, once the filling of the lot starts there will be dump trucks coming in all day. Then, they will dig the footers and build the house. I’m looking at many months of noisy construction to deal with.

My only option is to move to the back by the shed, and around to the front of the house – which is the other side, opposite my garden area. Thankfully I planted shrubs along the front which gives me privacy. I’m not sure of sun out front, but I may invest in another raised bed for the area.

Pivot and Adjust

I just wrote a post on another of my blogs with this “pivot and adjust” title pertaining to my design business. Now, here I am doing the same thing with my gardening hobby.

The little area back by the shed is shady late in the day. I went out and pulled the shelving unit around from the back to the side. My new seed packets from Cody Cove Farm have arrived and been planted, so this might be a good spot to keep the seedlings as they grow. Right now I have milkweed on the shelf. The orange buckets have dirt which I dug from the empty lot next door.

Shelves by the shed with potted seedlings

At my age I certainly have learned that life throws you curve balls. I’ve had to adjust to many things over the years. This is one more small setback, but it could lead to some more interesting gardening – who knows.

Keep reading….

Good Morning, or Is It?

Garden troubles.

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.

Dahlia wilting

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.

pumpkin vines along the pathway

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.

Vines covering tree

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.

Tomato Hornworms Also Like Hot Pepper Plants

If you are growing peppers, check often for the tomato hornworm. These caterpillars can eat a lot if unchecked.

Because I am not so great at pepper growing, I have never had to worry about the hornworm eating my peppers. I have had them on my tomatoes and eggplant.

My son is growing some hot peppers in Home Depot buckets. This is where the hornworms are currently congregating. I’ve already picked off five of these squishy, green guys. And they really hang on!

Personally, I think this is one of the coolest looking caterpillars. They can get very big, and they can eat a plant down to almost nothing.

tomato hornworm on pepper
Hornworm
hornworm
Hornworm #2

Apparently, hot pepper plants don’t bother these guys. Both caterpillars in my photos are eating Cayenne pepper leaves, but I’ve picked some worms from the super hot Carolina Reaper as well.

The Carolina Reaper is one of the hottest peppers out there. My son has one green pepper on the plant. It will be turning red before he will carefully pick it to make hot sauce. This pepper is sold by the PuckerButt Pepper Company and was created by Ed Currie. It registers between 1.6 – 2 million on the Scoville pepper heat scale. For example, a jalapeño is between 2,500 – 8,000.

Ed currently has one that is hotter called Pepper X.

We found these hot pepper plants for sale at the local Home Depot. My son is really into hot peppers, and the plants are all doing well. I look forward to using the cayenne peppers. With a Scoville rating of 30K – 50K, it’s about the hottest I can do.

Hot peppers in buckets
Carolina Reaper pepper
Hornworm

If leaves are disappearing from your tomato, pepper, or eggplant, look for the hornworm. He is sometimes easiest spotted above a little pile of brown poop on a leaf.

Once I pull the hornworm off the host plant, I deposit it into the yard. That way birds can have a treat. He won’t die for nothing.

Mail Order Native Florida Milkweed Seedlings Review

I’ve found a good place to buy milkweed plants online. Ordering plants online can be expensive, so the plants that arrive should be in great shape. Read my review of Whitwam Organics and The Growers Exchange.

I need to get this recorded because I found a mail order company that sends nice plants. Here I am comparing the two companies that mailed me milkweed plants. The Growers Exchange and Whitwam Organics were the two I chose.

After my butterflies came out, I see all three of the Monarchs flying around the garden every day! The only milkweed currently available for them is the tropical type, and one small, blooming white Swamp Milkweed.

White swamp milkweed flowers and tropical milkweed with caterpillar
Tropical milkweed w Monarch caterpillar
White Swamp Milkweed with aphids
White swamp flowers

The more milkweed in the yard, the better chance for caterpillars to have enough food. At one time I believed that the Tropical milkweed was bad, but that may not be altogether true. Read more at the link.

The Need for More Milkweed

I ordered some seeds from Johnny Butterfly Seed. Those are popping up in small pots and beginning to grow nicely. Growing from seed can take a while. I wanted plants.

You may be wondering why I don’t buy local milkweed at a nursery. Well, for one it’s hard to find, and when I do see native varieties, the plants are not in good shape. The white flowering milkweed, in my first photos on this page, came from a local nursery. I bought the best looking milkweed plant and it was around $10. It’s looking good, but growing very slowly. I have no idea if it was grown organically, without chemicals. So, I began the online search for pesticide free plants.

Whitwam Organics

This post is about my order of live plants from two places. The first plants arrived from Whitwam Organics. They e-mailed a notice about delivery, and the plants ended up at my door at 8:00 at night! I suppose I can’t blame the company for the late delivery, but unboxing live plants at that hour really ticked me off. The plants are; a Coral Bean, Coral Honeysuckle, and Orange Butterflyweed (milkweed).

Whitwam organics box with two wrapped plants
Whitwam packing
tuberosa milkweed seedling in black pot wrapped in plastic
Whitwam wrapped milkweed
Paper bag with "coral bean" written on it.
Whitwam plant in bag
Three seedlings after arriving from Whitwam Organics
Daylight photo: Milkweed, coral bean, Coral honeysuckle from Whitwam Organics

The Whitwam plants were unboxed in the house, until sand began to come out all over. I took them outback to finish and set them inside on the porch for overnight.

The photo above was taken the next day. The packing was sufficient, but nothing special. Plastic wrap mostly kept the soil in the pots and then the entire plant was closed up in a paper bag. The soil is more like Florida sand than potting soil. The dirt you see in the big photo is after I filled in what was lost when the dry sand poured out. All three plants look okay, but they are small. The Milkweed has lost a few leaves.

Cost: $42.57 which includes shipping and tax. Not really worth it IMO as these plants are very small.

green divider leaves long

Growers Exchange Milkweed Seedling Order

I ordered four Pink Swamp Milkweed from The Growers Exchange. These were not labeled organic, but the site says they do not use any chemicals when growing. The site offers lots of herbs and medicinal herbs, but they also have a few varieties of milkweed.

I was very impressed with the boxing and size of these milkweed. (This milkweed is a different variety than the one shown above from the other company.)

All four plants were wrapped around the pot to keep dirt in place. Each pot was tucked inside a cardboard divider which kept the pot in place during travel. The plants were so tall that the tops were bent over to fit. They straightened up completely within two days.

unboxing milkweed plants
Unboxing nice big plants
Four Pink swamp milkweed seedlings in small black pots outside on table
Stems have straightened

After unwrapping, I watered them, and set them on the porch, out of direct sun, for two days. After that they went outside for a couple of days. Now I have two in the ground, and two in larger pots.

Swamp milkweed likes it wet, which makes sense. Especially while it is setting roots, I want to keep it well watered. Our drought continues, which means I water every day.

Swamp milkweed planted
Swamp milkweed in the ground
Two milkweed planted

I am absolutely impressed with this milkweed plant order. They offered a discount of 20% (I think it was), and the total for these four plants, with $15 shipping was $50.89. The plants are healthy and large and I am happy. I’ve already seen lady bugs and the Monarch on these!

I’m considering having a herb garden in the future. I need to learn more about when to plant which herbs. The Growers Exchange might be my go-to shop for those.

How to Care for Live Plants

Both companies mentioned here has fairly quick shipping. I’d say the plants arrived in about a week’s time. Shipping also depends on the growing zone, and time of year. Each company has it’s own information.

I’ve pretty much mentioned on this page how I cared for the plants when they arrived, but here’s a recap. Unbox immediately. Check the soil and re-fill if necessary. Water them well! Here in Florida, do not set them out in the sun right away. Due to the stress of being packed and traveling for days, give them an easy life in the beginning. Give them light, but no direct sun. Keep them watered and watch for signs of disease.

Have you purchased native, organic (or chemical free) local milkweed – or other plants – online? Please leave us a comment on how it went.

butterfly divider flowers

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Garden After A Year

In the beginning of 2023 my plan was to create a small vegetable garden space in what little bit of yard I have. I’ve been blogging about some of my journey, and this page has photos of the before and after. A lot has been accomplished in a year.

When I came across these old photos from last year I thought it would be fun to show the difference.

Before…. and …..After

small backyard garden
2023 Planning future vegetable gardens
mulch path in garden
2024 Path to the back – Roselle bush

For much of the past year I have been working to create dirt spaces and pathways. Occasionally I have also grown some veggies! I can work outside year round, which is beneficial, although there is little rest.

The Roselle hibiscus bushes have grown like crazy. They were grown from seeds planted in Fall. The Moringa tree has also grown after slowing down for the winter months.

cardboard new garden
2023 Expanding gardens
growing garden summer
2024 Summer greenery

Before I had a chance to finish writing this page, the garden has filled in even more. Some plants really enjoy the extreme Florida heat and humidity.

It is now July, so this photo is after about 1.5 years of gardening.

More from the blog

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The Best Way to Acquire Garden Dirt if You Have the Muscles For It

Changing my small backyard from all grass to a permaculture plot for growing food has been a challenge. It can also be expensive. Although I was dreading doing this, the best way to acquire my garden dirt was to fill the truck with purchased soil. We had to buy in bulk and do some shoveling.

Not only would I have lots of dirt to work with, but buying dirt by the yard is cheaper. I bought two yards of soil which filled the back of the F250, along with two bags of mushroom compost and two bags of mulch.

dirt and compost in truck bed
Two yards of dirt fills the truck bed.

Winter is the Time to Do Yard Work

Now that a Florida winter is upon us, the desire to get outdoors and fix things up is high. After a long, very hot summer, the cooler weather feels great. And by cooler I mean near 80 degrees some days, but cooler in the morning and evening. In other words, it’s more like a normal “summer” elsewhere.

Finding a Place to Store the Dirt

I need dirt. I’ve had the boxes piling up on my porch but can’t put that cardboard out on the grass without some dirt to help hold them in place. I’ve been buying bags of dirt, but that doesn’t go far. I considered ordering a load of dirt to be delivered, but there is no good place near the road for the shop to dump it.

cardboard boxes saved
Boxes piling up
cardboard boxes in the garden
Getting the garden area ready last spring
cardboard on grass
Boxes down at the hibiscus garden

As my garden planning has progressed, I realize that I need more sunny spaces. I want to grow Roselle Hibiscus which will be large plants. They can’t grow where my vegetables area, so the plan is to begin a new garden in the front yard.

The area pictured below is where I believe there was once a flower garden. I’ve found a Beautyberry Bush and Firespike back in this overgrown location. Now it is also full of ferns, and little trees are growing. The only tree I have cut down is the invasive Brazilian Pepper. The front of this patch of ferns gets lots of sun all times of the year. If I can get the Roselle to grow, they will be planted here.

cardboard spread on grass
Broke down some big cardboard boxes for the new front garden

This was where the dirt pile would sit until I needed it. I put down big pieces of cardboard, (see my post about using cardboard in the yard) and we unloaded the dirt onto it from the bed of the truck.

In order to get to this spot, we had to back the truck across the front yard. It meant moving some of the Christmas lights and taking down part of the fire pit. Then, of course, we (my son and I) had to shovel all that dirt out of the truck! It was a chore, but worth it.

cardboard spread on grass
Broke down some big cardboard boxes
dirt in truck
Ready to shovel!
garden dirt pile
Dirt for gardening

From here, I can fill the wheelbarrow and move the dirt to the back gardens as I need it. And the cardboard underneath, will be the spot to plant new things once all that dirt is gone.

The cost for all of it was right around $100. If you live near The Yard Shop in Edgewater, I highly recommend them for dirt, mulch, compost and stones. The people are super nice and helpful.

Now the Garden Plans Can Move Ahead

I have the dirt and I have the cardboard. My gardening plans continue to emerge with more space being made to plant. Over winter I am growing green beans, arugula and Chijimisai spinach, and a few other things.

Skittle is overlooking my garden work, and I’m not sure if she approves or not!

Skittle in the garden

Keep reading my Florida gardening stories

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