Mylonite's Patch of Homegrown Florida at GardenStew.com

plantings thus far - Florida cool season garden

mylonite — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:00:32 -0500

Author: mylonite
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:00 am (GMT 0)

I thought I'd post a list of what I am growing - mostly so I don't forget =)

First Planting - 20 Oct 08:
16 plants Green Arrow peas
12 Cherry Belle radishes
12 French Breakfast radishes
12 Sparkler radishes

Second Planting - 3 Nov 08:
16 plants California Blackeye southern peas
16 plants Oregon Sugar Pod II snow peas
16 plants Wando english peas
10 plants Contender bush beans
10 plants Henderson bush limas
10 plants Provider bush beans
10 plants Royal Burgundy bush beans
18 Champion radishes
18 Chantenay Red Core carrots
Indoor Seed Starting:
2 plants Waltham 29 broccoli
2 plants Long Island Improved brussels sprouts
2 plants Golden Acre cabbage
2 plants Self-Blanche cauliflower
5 plants Lucullus swiss chard

Third Planting - 5 Nov 08:
6 plants Parris Island Cos romaine lettuce
9 plants Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach
6 plants Salad Bowl Green leaf lettuce
6 plants Salad Bowl Red leaf lettuce
12 plants Early Wonder Tall Top beets

The plan is to keep the radishes and carrots on a two week replanting schedule, all winter long. I also plan on planting another pair of each brassica (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower) every month. I still haven't decided if I'm going to attempt those in my soil, or stick to containers. I'm afraid that if I plant them in my soil, I'll end up with some ugly soil disease buildup and won't be able to grow radishes everywhere - and I plan on planting them between virtually all my crops.

EDITED to detail third planting - and yes, we plan on eating well out of our garden all winter long!

'winter' in florida

mylonite — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:09:03 -0500

Author: mylonite
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:09 am (GMT 0)

So I had yet another unproductive late summer, but the cool season is off to a good start.

I got my kid brother to till up my beds with a ton (literally!) of manure, and gave a try to some form of square foot gardening.

I planted some radishes and peas I had on hand immediately (about two weeks ago) and ordered a whole slew of heirloom seeds specially picked for Florida. they arrived last week, so I got a bunch of them in the ground on Monday, and a bunch more in today.

I should be harvesting our first radishes next week - squee!

trials and tribulations...

mylonite — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:26:24 -0400

Author: mylonite
Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 10:26 pm (GMT 0)

OK, so I disappeared there for a while, because life was being kind of rude. I'm more or less back on an even keel, and figured I'd give an update.

A couple weeks ago, I got my seedlings into the ground. I knew it was a little early to put the tomatoes in, but the beans were begging for it, and I was fighting quite a lot of mold and wanted to get them out of my porch. All was going well, none of them appeared any worse for the wear after transplanting, and then Fay showed up on my TV screen. Then she showed up in my backyard, and refused to leave. We were actually pretty lucky compared to many of our Florida neighbors, but we still had standing water in our yard for more than a week.

All of my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are dead. A couple of my bean seedlings actually survived, though they don't look very happy. I'm babying them as best I can. I was lamenting the losses one afternoon to my husband, and all the jerk had to say was, "Well, you've got more seeds, just plant some more." The worst of it was, he was right - it just wasn't what I wanted to hear. I did get another batch of seedlings going, and they are all starting to get pretty. I'm keeping them indoors this time, instead of on my porch, hoping to avoid the mold, and will put them in the ground next week, if Hanna will just stay away.

::sigh::

On a different note, send any spare good wishes my way - I finally got my certificate of eligibility from the state, and am officially looking for a teaching position.

Seedlings just appearing!

mylonite — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:48:19 -0400

Author: mylonite
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 5:48 pm (GMT 0)

I soaked all my seeds in some dilute rooting solution overnight last Saturday, and put them in damp paper towels on Sunday.

When I went to put them into seed starter soil on Tuesday, I was amazed - all the bean AND tomato seeds had already started to sprout right there in the plastic baggies. The limas had grown so much that two of the six seeds I planted had broken their poor first shoots - I tossed them out, since I was running low on soil anyway. I also disposed of two cucumber sprouts, because I know I won't need six of them, and I somehow ended up short a few pots. Anyhow, I got them all planted, and today I had my first sprouts poke their pretty little green heads out of the soil. What an absolutely beautiful sight!

EDIT: Posting pics of these first few sprouts - not the best quality, my apologies:

And yes, I think my favorite stage of gardening (except maybe the harvest!) is those first days when you get to feel almost like you've created your own little bit of life.

Garden design and planning

mylonite — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:54:18 -0400

Author: mylonite
Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:54 pm (GMT 0)

I think I've got a garden plan worked out - it's all a little close together, but I'm hoping it'll be OK since I'm not planting rows upon rows.

So, opinions? Suggestions?

Getting Started (Late) in Central Florida

mylonite — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:31:56 -0400

Author: mylonite
Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:31 pm (GMT 0)

OK, so I'm a little (lot) late - but according to the University of Florida 'Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide' we've got a long enough season here to reasonably expect success at one last planting of summer vegetables.

I got these seeds soaking last night, and this morning moved them to damp paper towels before their move to seed starting mix in the coming days. I ordered all of these from Southern Exposure, attempting to choose varieties that can survive Florida's rough summers. If anyone would like a few seeds of any of these varieties, let me know - I bought the smallest packets but there are still many more seeds than I plan on using this late in the season. The asterisks (*) indicate certified organic seed.

Late Summer 2008 Vegetables:
Contender - Buff Valentine - Snap Bush Bean
Rattlesnake - Snap Pole Bean
*Liana - Asparagus Bean
Christmas - Lima Pole Bean
*Straight Eights - Slicing Cucumber
*Early Prolific Straightneck - Summer Squash
Ping Tung Long - Eggplant
*Arkansas Traveler - Pink Tomato
*Eva Purple Ball - Purple Tomato
*Roma VF - Canning Tomato
*Tropic VFN - Red Tomato
*California Wonder - Sweet Bell Pepper
*Jimmy Nardello's Italian - Sweet Drying Pepper
*Doe Hill Golden Bell - Frying Pepper
*Jalapeño - Hot Pepper
*Aji Dulce - Spice Pepper

Pictures of seeds will be coming soon, possibly on my website as 500 pixels would require a lot of resizing work on my part. Cross your fingers for me - this could actually be the season where more than just one variety ends up on my table!