Tag: planting

March Garden Update

This is a quick post about what is growing in the garden in March. Realistically, I can’t keep up with my blogs, photos, work, and gardening. In summer I should have more time because I won’t be going outside.

At this time of year, I am out in the yard most mornings. There has been planting to be done and I still have a few potted plants that need to find a home in the dirt.

Pineapple

Pineapples are easy to grow here, but they take years to create a new pineapple. I had forgotten how much space they take up while growing, and planted them in a couple of my raised beds! Now there is no room for other crops.

This pineapple is finally having a baby! It will grow up out of the center and become a tiny pineapple. After – not sure how long – It can be harvested.

Pineapple
growing a pineapple
Baby pineapple growing!

Blueberries

I purchased this blueberry plant on a whim… without any idea about growing it, or where I would put it in my small yard. Blueberries are acid loving plants and I’ve been trying to keep it happy. About a month ago it began to get loads of white flowers and now I have tons of little blueberries – still green.

Either the raccoons will get them, or I might have a tiny crop for myself! (I’m hoping the raccoons won’t realize it’s something edible.)

blueberries growing
blueberry bush Florida
garden blueberry bush
Blueberries!

Gone to Seed

I like to let some of the produce go to seed. This is mainly for the bees. For instance, the Hon Tsai flowering broccoli and the regular broccoli have pretty stalks of yellow flowers.

For a while, every morning a big black bee would come to the broccoli flowers. Other bees, like the one below, were also regulars.

I plan to grow the Hon Tsai variety next winter, just for the flowers.

bee on yellow flowers
Broccoli flowers
Hon Tsai flowering broccoli
Hon Tsai

Roselle, Squash, Carrots and Okra

The spaghetti squash is a new crop for me to try. The seeds have come up nicely and the plants are taking off. Fingers crossed I will have my own squash supply.

The Roselle plants were begun with seeds over the winter. They got bugs and a few seedlings died. The ones that kept growing have now all been planted in the yard. If you are wondering what Roselle is, check it out here: IFAS / UF Gardening Solutions: Roselle.

spaghetti squash leaves plants growing
Spaghetti squash
Roselle hibiscus plant
Roselle plant
Okra dried pod and seeds
Saved Okra pod and seeds
garden flowers spiderwort
Spiderwort
garden carrots
Danvers

Last year I grew okra and had a hard time eating it. Bleh… yuk. I did save a pod and have now planted some of the seeds. I won’t have a lot, but I love the plants and flowers – just not the actual okra!

I’m eating carrots now… finally. They took FOREVER to grow. Scarlett Nantes and Danvers did the best for me.

Spiderwort and Other Weeds

I’ve decided to let some Spiderwort and other flowering weeds grow in the yard. The area is small, and I plan to keep it all in check. Bees really love the flowers of these “weeds” and I want to bring bees to the garden.

I’ll let them grow where they pop up as long as it’s an okay place.

purple spiderwort with bee
Spiderwort with bee
Richardia Scabra
Richardia Scabra ground cover with little white flowers that bees love.
Walter’s ground cherry flower
Ground cherry
Bidens alba

This white flowering “Bidens alba” is a particular nuisance when the seeds form. They stick to everything… my clothes, my cats, and are hard to remove. I plan to cut them down before the seeds form!

Watermelon, Cucumber and Seminole Pumpkin

Three types of watermelon have been planted, along with my much loved Seminole Pumpkin. The cucumbers are also in the ground and I am hoping to beat the moths this year.

So much more is happening in the yard, but for now that is all I have to share. There is still much work to be done, with mulching and walkways, compost and watering. It is fun work.

Anyway… I hope you are planting, or planning an upcoming garden, and I’d love to hear all about it. Happy Spring!

Keep reading…

Building a New Garden Path

The past winter and spring months have kept me busy in the garden. The planing, planting, weeding, and watering has been a first priority and I’ve neglected the walkways. Also, I still don’t have my own vehicle and must depend on getting rides to the yard shop. Between all that and the weather, I’ve put…

by Pam

Florida Winter Growing Success and Failures

After the long, sweltering summer, I was looking forward to planting crops for Fall and Winter. It has been fun, and definitely a learning adventure. Some crops have done very well and others are on my “maybe again” list. Most things were grown from seeds I purchased, either from The Urban Harvest, or Southern Exposure…

by Pam

First Time Growing Tomatoes in Fall

The heat of summer here in Central Florida is something tomato plants don’t like. I grew one tomato plant this summer. It grew tall and big, but never had a single tomato. Now that things are cooling off a bit, I am hoping the tomatoes might grow and give me fruit.

But, I’ve had some trouble along the way.

I started the tomatoes from seeds. They grew tall and lanky and I put a few into the ground. They were promptly dug up overnight! I suspect raccoons, but maybe armadillos. We have both.

transplanting tomato plants
These tomato plants need more sun.

My only choice was to get them planted in a planter, off the ground, where they were not as likely to be dug up by the wildlife.

The white barrel planter at the back of my yard was being used as a compost bin. It sits alongside the Hot Frog barrels and I use it to throw larger branches and stems into. This raised bed area was full of good compost dirt. I decided to plant two of my larger tomato seedlings here.

You can see the barrel in my photo below, which I took for the Moringa trees post. Unfortunately it turned out that there is not enough sun back here for the tomatoes. I had to move them.

Moringa
Backyard area

It was time to transplant these tomatoes again to a sunnier area of the yard.

Without all my garden areas ready to be planted (it’s a slow process), I have few choices. Also, they could be dug up again by the critters.

I had cut back the hibiscus and cleaned up the garden area around it. Of the four flowering plants planted here in Spring, only one has survived! My new little flower garden was mostly a fail! Haha… what can you do but move on.

This is where I planted one of the Eva tomato plants. I have some native milkweed seeds coming, and I plan to grow milkweed in this area.

hibiscus trimmed
Changes to the Hibiscus Garden

The Eva Purple Ball tomatoes are in new spots, which now will get a bit more sun. Already the sun is lower in the sky and the whole garden area is less sunny. Most of it gets at least six hours of sun a day, so I hope we are good.

I’m hoping these little tomato plants will grow well and give at least a few tomatoes before the weather gets too cold. We have plenty of warm days ahead, but by December we could have a cold night or two.

This Fall weather is much like a northern summer, where I grew tomatoes just fine. It’s all an experiment, so we’ll see.

The tomato seeds I purchased were: Amish Paste, Druzba, and Eva Purple Ball. I also have a packet of Tropic VFN. I will plant the rest of these seeds in Spring, Only three Eva and one Druzba are currently growing. A couple of volunteer tomato plants have sprung up and I’m letting them grow to see what happens.

Buy Tomato Seeds For Southern Gardens

I buy seeds for southern gardens from either The Urban Harvest or Southern Exposure Seed Exchange – SESE. The Urban Harvest is located on the west coast of Florida (St. Pete), so the seeds they offer are meant to grow well here in Florida. At SESE, some of the seeds they sell will not work this far south, as they seem to cover a wide area of the southern US.

Planting Some New Flower and Herb Seeds

Planting new types of seeds purchased from Eden Brothers online.

Finally my seed packet order from Eden Brothers arrived. It took ten days, and I’d actually forgotten about the order because they sent no information updates at all! I’m not too happy with the company for that reason. I chose them because they had the Mimosa seeds.

Now I need to figure out what to do with these seeds, which include Nasturtium, Amaranthus, Powderpuff Mimosa, and Borage.

Nasturtium

I had loads of lovely nasturtium growing in my northern summer garden. I’ve never tried growing them in Florida. For that reason I will plant some seeds into the garden dirt, and the others will go into pots.

The seeds went into the ground around my pumpkins plants and watermelon. Two clay pots also hold seeds. They are the Alaska variety which is pictured below. The leaves and flowers are edible.

This is one of my favorite photos of my cat Skittle sitting amongst the nasturtiums and marigolds in my New Hampshire garden.

flowers of fall
Nasturtiums and Marigolds (and Skittle the Cat) in my NH garden
The full packet of seeds from Eden Bros.
nasturtium flowers
Alaska Nasturtiums grown from seeds in NH

Mimosa Seeds (Powderpuff)

I know nothing at all about the mimosa ground cover except that it has fluffy pink flowers. Most sites talk about growing it indoors, but here in Florida it should grow easily outside in the sun. Because I don’t care if it covers the grass, I’ll plant the seeds at the edge of my hibiscus garden.

This one is also called the Sensitive Plant because the leaves close / move when touched. And, I found it listed at the UF gardening site under Powderpuff Mimosa. I will put a few seeds in a pot and the remainder into the ground.

Amaranthus – Molton Fire (Edible)

Here is a page at UF, Gardening Solutions in the “food” section, all about the Amaranth. I guess it needs to go straight into the garden. Since I don’t have a lot of space left, some have been put into pots.

Borage (officinalis) – Edible

Borage is a herb that grows tall and is listed on this page at the IFAS site as a cool season crop. My Eden Brothers packet says that planting time is Spring, but shelter from “hot afternoons”. I think I will put some seeds into pots for now.

Borage has pretty blue flowers and it is edible. It also attracts bees. It grew wild near my house in New Hampshire, but I’ve never seen it here.

Borage (photo credit: Pixabay)

Herbs & Spices in the Florida Garden – UF IFAS

Recent garden stories…

Digging, Planning and Planting a Backyard Food Garden in Florida

Digging and planting a backyard garden takes muscle and planning, but is worth it to pick homegrown food. Here is my small beginner garden in my little Florida backyard.

I live on the central east coast of Florida. As a gardener, who knows quite a bit about gardening – in New England – this area has been a challenge. In fact, I have given up trying to grow my old favorites. Squash and zucchini turns moldy right away and even tomatoes seem to struggle in the heat. All I have had luck with are peppers and eggplant.

Time to change my outlook and ways, and adhere to a new way of growing things in this subtropical climate.

Over the past couple of years I have invested in a few grow boxes. My son made a few raised beds last year. We’ve been growing (or trying to) in these beds somewhat successfully.

This Spring I purchased a Tiller. It was not cheap but it did the work of creating a fairly small garden out back.

garden area tilled earth

I have removed a lot of the roots, vines and horrible grass that grows in tendrils. Next I mixed in three bags of compost.

The “dirt” in the ground here is sand. I never saw a single worm, which is typical. I think it will take a lot more compost over the months to create a decent place to grow things. For now, this will have to do. I can amend later with compost from the Hot Frog.

Spreading bags of compost into a freshly dug garden

First I found some boards to set down the center. I remember from my northern gardening that mashing down the earth is not a good thing. If I can remember to stay on the boards, the remainder of the dirt should stay loose for growing.

Next it was time to plan the layout for planting. I had to think about which things would be long vines (watermelon and sweet potato) and those would be in a place where the vines could go out into the grass.

Okra gets tall, I guess… have never eaten it or grown it … so I planted those seeds along the edge. I only planted it because it’s a southern thing and should grow well.

I saved a spot for the sweet potatoes yet to come, and will fill in the rest with some pepper plants and more eggplant.

My basic sketch for planting is subject to change.

backyard garden planting

I managed to get some watermelon seeds and okra seeds planted. Then an eggplant, which I covered with a piece of rug to give it shade.

It was so hot by then, that I took a break inside and waited for the clouds. The forecast called for rain later, but all I got was tons of hot sun!

Some dill plants went in the corners, along with a parsley plant. Last of all, I threw in some saved Marigold seeds.

Backyard garden planted with seeds, dill, parsley, peppers and eggplant

As soon as I took the rug covering off the eggplant, it began to wilt. They really cannot take the midday sun. I quickly watered the whole garden (each plant got it’s own soaking as I planted it) and put the rug back.

Already I am thinking of moving the okra to in front of the eggplant to give it some shade. I can’t run outside every day to cover it because of the sun. (Side note here – the okra was popping up out of the dirt on day 4!). The seed packet says this okra will be 4 -5 feet tall!

okra seeds sprouting
Okra – tomato cage animal deterrent

Although my summer garden may not do well due to the heat, this section of yard will remain a garden bed. When winter comes I can plant lettuce and kale. Also, I will continue to look for hardy, Florida crops to plant.

Bought My Seeds From Urban Harvest

I found this wonderful gardener online who has a YouTube channel called: The Urban Harvest – Homegrown Education. She lives on the west coast of central Florida and has lots of videos about growing things that actually will grow here in Florida! Immediately, I bought some of her seed packets.

The Urban Harvest website

seed packets from Urban Harvest
Seeds from Urban Harvest

I bought some organic Coconut Coir blocks and have added seeds and other things to the pots. I’ve never used the stuff before and I will compare to planting in dirt.

I’m getting ready to post this on April 15th and noticed this AM that one of my pumpkin seeds has sprouted! More about this unusual, southern Seminole pumpkin to come.

More Gardening Stories on the Blog

Starting Vegetable Seeds in Eggshells

While using my local, fresh, free range chicken eggs one day, I looked at the beautiful shell color and remembered something. I had read, at one time, about using eggshells as pots to start seedlings for the garden.

The shells were so pretty that I hated to just throw them out, so I began rinsing the broken shells to save.

free range chicken egg colors

Getting Ready to Plant Seeds in Eggshells

Here in central Florida frosts and freezes tend to happen in January and February, if they happen at all. By March the weather seldom gets all that cold, but can be chilly overnight. March is the month to plant in Florida.

However, seeds can be started indoors in February, or sooner, to have little seedlings ready to go into the ground by March. I planted mine in the middle of February.

With my organic bags of dirt – Black Gold by Sungro (Amazon affiliate link)- is what I used, and organic seeds purchased, I filled each eggshell and then stuck seeds down into the soil. Keep the egg cartons to use as the plant tray.

Duck eggs and boiled peanuts
Duck Eggs
Eggshell gardening with starter seeds
Eggshell gardening
planting seeds in eggshells
Seedlings in eggshells
seedlings in eggshells
I began planting my seeds in eggshells in February

When the weather got nice enough, I put all the cartons outside in the sun for the day. I brought them inside each evening. And checked them often to add water.

Difficulties and Challenges to Eggshell Gardening

Unlike little pots, the eggshells are delicate. One online site said to put a pin hole in the bottom of the shell for drainage. I did not do that because I tried and failed to make a little hole. It is not really necessary as long as you don’t overwater. Also, with a hole in the bottom, the cardboard containers would be wet.

Watering can be challenging. The eggshell pots are very small. They will dry out quickly when outside in the Florida sun. I water the seedlings twice a day, and this is March. Because the pots are so small and I don’t want to overwater and have them sitting in a puddle, I use my pour-over tea pot which has a small thin spout. Alternatively you could use a paper cup or anything that allows you to easily add small amounts of water.

Get the Seedlings Outside During the Day

Each day I put the seedlings – or soil with seeds – outside into the sun. Once the plants begin to grow they will need lots of direct sunlight and also some moving air. When plants grow in slightly windy conditions, it causes the stems to become strong. Or so I’ve heard.

Seedlings growing in eggshells
Seedlings are about a month old

I’m lucky enough to be home all day and can easily do this. Even if the plants can sit in front of a sunny window it will be helpful.

All in all, be ready to spend some time caring for the little pots. You can’t just plant and forget.

Choosing Seeds to Grow in Starter Pots

It is tempting to go overboard when picking out seed packets! I’m picturing the bounty of fresh veggies – arms loaded as I come in from the back yard. Realistically, I certainly don’t have space for many plants and seeds are generally good for one year only.

I love almost all vegetables, but must be picky about which ones I will grow. Fresh herbs are one thing I would use often. My basil and parsley has diminished over the years so I wanted to grow those two things again. I also have had difficulty finding dill plants here in Florida, so I am trying to grow that. Dill and fennel plants have flowers that attract the Swallowtail Butterfly.

Italian flat leaf parsley seedlings
Flat leaf Italian parsley seedlings – lookin good!

Getting to start plants from seeds gives me the chance to learn what’s what in newly sprouted form.

The basil did pretty well, but something did eat some of my basil. I planted as much as I could, filling all the saved eggshells. I knew that some things would do better than others.

Basil seedlings in eggshells
Little basil plants

My yard needs more flowering plants. Some of these eggshells contain marigolds and cosmos. I plan to plant more of those flower seeds in larger containers as well. Flowers don’t have to be planted in the garden – especially when your garden is made up of a few grow boxes. They can be in containers to save on garden space.

Flowering plants in pots can be moved around the yard as needed to keep bad bugs away and hopefully draw in the beneficials.

organic seed packets

Larger seeds such as zucchini and cucumber can go directly into the ground. Let’s face it, I would need a lot more egg shells to get everything started. Also, I don’t know how well transplanting will go. More to come on that!

For now I am keeping up with the shell starters.

Growing Chijimisai Tatsoi Greens

This year I learned about growing greens that will do well here in Central Florida gardens. I have just planted something called Chijimisai. It is supposed to be a lot like spinach. In general, greens like lettuce and kale, must grow in cooler weather. In order to pick greens for salads, smoothies and for stir-frying…

by Pam

Dealing With Worms on the Cucumbers

Wish I’d known more about growing cucumbers in summer here in Florida BEFORE I decided to try to grow them during summer. Apparently the pickleworm moth moves northward from South Florida and shows up around June / July – here in Central Florida. The moths lay eggs during the night, and worms hatch that eat…

by Pam

Why I Remove the Peat Pot When Planting Seedlings

From the time I first began buying plants from Pell’s Nursery in Osteen, Florida I was told to “rough up” the roots when the plant was removed from the pot.

I’m talking plastic pots here, which are the way big plants usually come. Often the plant is a bit root bound from growing in a container. In order for the plant to do well when it’s in the ground, the roots need to know they can now grow outwards.

Some plants with thick roots can actually be sliced, or cut to train them to spread. You do this at a few intervals around the root and dirt ball before it’s set into the ground.  The Pell family gave me good advice and I always had excellent luck when adding their trees and bushes to my Florida landscape.  Their planting suggestion was a good one.

Screen Shot 2018-05-13 at 8.17.22 AM
Hot pepper plant from store

These days little seedlings are often sold in biodegradable, plantable pots, which will disintegrate in the dirt. We are told to plop the whole thing (minus the bottom, says the label) into the ground. Easy-peasy, no muss, no fuss.

I don’t like it. Why would I want a pot in my garden? And what is it really made of? I also believe it inhibits plant growth.  “Peel off bottom of pot for optimum root growth” – it says this on the plastic.  So imagine if you let the roots around the sides have that optimum growth chance as well!

In short, it’s not necessary. Treat it like a regular pot and remove it.

Screen Shot 2018-05-13 at 8.17.15 AM
Everything removed and ready to plant

I always remove the peat pot when I plant something purchased at the store (in my case the Home Depot). I do this because it releases the roots so they can instantly grow into the garden dirt in a natural way. I see no reason to add a pot to the garden soil. It’s just as easy to remove the plastic wrap and the pot.

This type of pot is often used for starting seeds. When I tried this when growing things for my northern garden, the pots began to turn moldy! So they aren’t necessarily a good choice for that either.

Screen Shot 2018-05-13 at 8.17.05 AM
New little pepper plant

By the way, I’ve found that hot pepper plants are one of the easiest types of vegetable to grow.