Category Archives: Gardening by Month

Aug19

Time to Plant the Fall Garden!

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For us in North Florida, spring is here again! Many of the spring crops can be planted again, and many of the fall crops can be started this month.

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I really want some green beans, so I am planting some of them, and a few zucchini plants. I saved seeds from my prolific ‘National Pickling’ cucumbers, and I hope to make some more homemade pickles.

I am only going to plant a few tomato plants. I have some cuttings rooted in water on my windowsill. I just clipped some cuttings off the plants before I pulled them. For more tips, read this post.

Many leafy vegetables can be started next month. Collards and kale did well for me last year, so I plan to grow them again.

For now, my garden has quite a few plants that will keep producing for a while: peppers, okra, sweet potatoes, and pink-eyed purple-hulled peas.

For a spectacular Florida Vegetable Planting Guide, visit the University of Florida site. If one of your spring crops failed, chances are that you can try again!

Gardening in Florida is awesome!

What are you doing in your garden now? Are you relaxing in the air conditioning or sweating in the summer sun? I confess, most of my gardening is done before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. Florida sun can be brutal!

Jul31

My Gardening Hat and I Visit the Beach

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Sometimes it’s nice to have a little variety.

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The repetitive sounds of the waves are very relaxing, and I really do have to fight the temptation to fall asleep on the beach.

Blister City awaits me if I fall asleep on the beach.

Here there are no seeds to plant, no weeds to pull, no crops to harvest.

At first I am antsy, then I relax.

It’s a shame to live so close to these beautiful beaches and not visit once in a while.

I visit, then head home, hoping that I did not get burnt, and eager to see garden green.

Do you prefer the beach or the garden?

Jul3

Blue Basket Farms- Blueberry Time!

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Have you ever been blueberry picking? My blueberry-picking expedition to Blue Basket Farms was a great success!

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The bushes were tall and loaded with large sweet blueberries.

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They really were the sweetest that I have ever eaten. I did make sure to pick some semi-ripe berries for jam-making.

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The berry-picking apparatus looks really strange, but it really is a smart idea. Both hands are free to pick the yummy berries. I have about 6 pounds in my container.

I just saw that their prices are down to $1.75 per pound. That’s a great price for blueberries!

Visit them on their Facebook page and at their farm. Time to make some blueberry jam!

I really like blueberry jam – see my blueberry jam post here. I’ve already made some Easy Two Ingredient Strawberry Jam (No Canning Required!).

What would you do with 6 pounds of blueberries?

 

Jul1

July To-Do List

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Florida summers can be brutally hot. This can be a bit of a rest period for North Florida gardeners, as many of the popular spring crops are declining.

However, there are still crops that can be planted in July, and this is a great time for making compost. Keep adding grass clippings and weeds to your pile, and you should have a good batch of compost for a fall garden. If you are new to making compost, you can check out my post on how to make compost.

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The large garden is growing well. The cucumbers are going crazy and the tomatoes are gloriously overgrown.

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‘National Pickling’ cucumber on trellis

I did staple the DIY cucumber trellis in a few strategic spots, but it seems to be holding well. Time to make more refrigerator pickles!

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The teepee has been a disappointment. The pole beans did not do well, so now I have resorted to training sweet potatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe vines to grow on it.

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I do have a tiny ‘Sugar Baby’ watermelon near the top. There is a larger one on the ground behind the sunflower.

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The shed bed has some basil, green beans. onions, and cucumbers. The arch you see has a cucumber vine growing over it. It was a transplanted volunteer that has been producing very well.

My to-do list:

1. Can some tomatoes.

2. Can pickles. I absolutely love my crisp refrigerator pickles, but I want some for months to come.

3. Plant more eggplant. I have them already started in flats, they just need to go into the ground. I’ve already planted another row of okra. Both of these crops do well in the heat.

4. Propagate marigold for more color.

5. Harvest onions. The tops are dying, but they don’t seem to have made bulbs. Any ideas?

6. Propagate basil from cuttings.

7. Enjoy some of Easy Two Ingredient Strawberry Jam!

8. Make even more jam! My Small Batch Fresh Peach Jam recipe is pretty popular, as is my Easy Two Ingredient Blueberry Jam. A beautiful pairing of the two is in my Blueberry Peach Quick Jam. These recipes use little sugar and canning is optional!

I love to garden, don’t you? What are you doing this month in the garden?

Jun29

Harvesting Jackson Wonder Lima Beans

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The dreaded pasty lima beans of your childhood are not the same as the ones that I harvested from my garden.

The Jackson Wonder lima beans that I planted in my Florida garden in March have been growing well and producing pods. Some of them have started drying so I decided to harvest.

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By harvesting the pods now, I have some for fresh eating and some for dried beans or seeds.

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I harvested half of my double row to get these. Not much of a harvest for the space, but they are tasty.

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Pretty too. Pale green lima beans and purple-speckled dried beans.

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Some of the soft ones have the pretty purple mottling too. They are the prettiest lima beans that I have ever seen.

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Here are the dried beans. I can use them in hearty soup later or use them as seeds next year.

Time to make some succotash with some of these yummy garden vegetables! Recipe coming tomorrow!

Jun23

Akers of Strawberries

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I finally went to Akers of Strawberries in Baker, Florida, to get some strawberries for jam and smoothies. Strawberry season was just about over when I picked, but I was still able to find some berries for a good price.

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Look at all those strawberry plants! That’s not even all of one side!

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The berries were small, but they were destined to be smushed into jam or frozen for smoothies anyway.

 

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My mom gave me this hat. I used to try to be tan, but it is really hard to fight genetics. I think I’m done with that exercise in futility.

Plus, I hate being sunburned.

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Strawberry jam-here we come! If you are near Baker, Florida, be sure to visit Akers of Strawberries during March or April for their peak strawberry picking time. You can like them on Facebook to be updated on what they have available.

My favorite deal right now is the 20 pounds of peaches for $25! That’s a great price for fruit!

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Strawberry season may be over now, but the fresh vegetables and peaches are plentiful.

Adventures in jamming are beginning! Be sure to check out my post on how to make Easy Two Ingredient Strawberry Jam- No Canning Required!

What fruit do you look forward to each year?

 

Jun11

I Left My Garden for 6 Days

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Yes, I was that crazy lady with a tactical flashlight looking for cherry tomatoes last night when I returned.

I’ve had crazier ideas-remember the seeds in the oven?

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Not pictured: a handful of cherry tomatoes picked by flashlight

I was so excited to go on a treasure hunt this morning and find the rest of the vegetables!

So what do I plan to do with this bounty?

The yellow squash are destined for being sauteed with some onions in olive oil and of course a bit of butter. 🙂 I think I will just blanch and freeze the green beans for now.

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Most of the cucumbers are overripe and yellowing, but should make decent pickles.

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I was pleasantly surprised to see these banana peppers. They were grown from seeds saved from a pepper purchased last year. What do you think of stuffing them with a cream cheese-dill mixture?

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white patty pan squash

The patty pan squash are so big that I think I am going to make some chocolate bread with them, following a suggestion given by tinywhitecottage in response to my UFO squash post.

There were some casualties too; my zinnia, tomatillo, and basil seedlings are roasted, and I may not get any ground cherry plants after all. Yes, the ground cherry plants were grown from free seeds, but they were valuable to me.

While I was in Kentucky, I visited a very nice edible garden. I’ll share pictures of that soon. They had  neat compost bins that are similar to my compost system, and some biodegradable planters that really were a neat feature. I think you will enjoy the pictures.

I hope your gardens are doing well!

Jun2

June To-Do List

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This month, I have more fun than work planned.

Large Florida backyard garden

Large Florida backyard garden

The large garden has been producing green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, and green onions.

Hopefully I will have some cherry tomatoes ready in the next few days. 😀

As you can see, the DIY cucumber trellis is up and the cucumbers are climbing!

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I can hardly bear to look at this garden. It is getting quite a bit of shade now and the fall crops are bolting and I have some bare spots, which I despise!

I should be able to grow some basil here. I also just planted some ‘Kentucky Wonder’ green beans there today.

Here is my list for June; I only consider the first item to be work, the rest is fun!

  1. Mulch shed garden.
  2. Get 200 likes for the Coffee to Compost Facebook page. I’m sooo close!
  3. Plant sweet potato slips that I started from a potato from last year.
  4. Plant purple-hulled peas. These do a  great job of enduring the North Florida summer heat and humidity.
  5. Plant more basil for homemade pesto.
  6. Hopefully, I will have tons of tomatoes soon. Guess I will have to endure harvesting those orbs of awesomeness.
  7. Make Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad. 
  8. Make homemade PICKLES!!! I made some last year and we have been looking forward to them so much!!
  9. Oh yes, one more thing. BLTs!

What’s on your to-do list?

May25

Backyard Garden Harvest!

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In the Florida panhandle, we can garden all year long. I really enjoyed the kale(did you try my favorite kale recipe?) and collards from my winter garden, but I have really missed fresh green beans.

This last week was the start of the harvests from my spring garden.

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I love fresh green beans! They are nothing like their commercially canned, mushy counterparts or the watery, commercially frozen beans.

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I love fresh yellow squash too. So far I have harvested 6. If you are having trouble with your baby squash or cucumbers shriveling and dying, be sure to read my post on how to prevent wrinkly baby squash syndrome.

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My cucumber plants are beginning to sprawl so I must put up a trellis for them ASAP. They are near a large privacy fence and I have a neat idea for a support. I plan to post pictures of this DIY cucumber trellis-the trellis will be quick to assemble and inexpensive to make!

I have many tiny green tomatoes and am looking forward to juicy BLTs and fresh salsa!

What are you harvesting?

 

May11

7 Ways that Mommies are Like Gardeners

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1. Mommies are like gardeners because they see the potential in the smallest of life.

2. Mommies are like gardeners because they anticipate and applaud even the smallest hint of success.

3. Mommies are like gardeners because they try to provide all that is needed to grow to full potential.

4. Mommies are like gardeners because they try to eliminate anything that could hinder or discourage.

5. Mommies are like gardeners because they provide support and training.

6. Mommies are like gardeners because they are happy just to be near you.

7. Mommies are like gardeners because their influence can be seen even when they are absent.

To all the gardeners who are blessed to be also called “Mommy”,
Happy Mother’s Day!