We finally have green peppers. The plants from last fall made it through the winter freezes and are producing green peppers. It has been years since I have been able to grow a decent green pepper. Looks like my luck has changed.
 |
| From Photo Challenge |
I know it has been a long time. Truth is, there hasn’t been too much to blog about garden wise. We have had lots of weekend trips, crazy work weekends, and miscellaneous events to keep us busy. Bottom line is the yard has been neglected and it is showing. Luckily we have so many bad yards around us due to foreclosures that the HOA doesn’t have time to bother us. This post will be long. I have 3.5 months to catch up on.
In the front yard, Carlos dug up the dead grass and replaced with nice new sod. Our butterfly garden, which was devastated by the freezes we had this year, has come back to life. All it needs is a little cleanup and 2-3 plant replacements and the front should be all good to go.
The freezes this winter also demolished the tomato crop. The garden was a big ole mess for a while. Tomatoes were dropping all over the place for months. Mostly because I was too lazy to pull them out.
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
Eventually I got around to pulling them all out to make room for spring veggies, all except one that I cut back. The last survivor is now producing new tomatoes this spring. I planted some roma tomato seeds which are growing very slowly. I got impatient and purchased 6 better boy tomato plants from a local nursery. I have bumped them up in bigger pots to prepare them for planting in one of the square foot gardens.
The Muscadine grape that I planted last fall must have went into hibernation over the winter. I thought it was dead but now it is back in full force. It will be lovely when it grows around the trellis.
I missed my rosemary and lavender garden from our old house. Recently I purchased both rosemary and lavender plants to make a new one. The plants surround the back and side of the trellis. I mulched them with pine needles purchased at Palmers Garden and Goods. All I need is the stone bench that we can’t seem to find. I can’t wait to sit on the bench and breathe in the fragrant plants on a breezy and shady afternoon. The plants were purchased at South Seminole Farm & Nursery.
 |
| From Garden |
I love how huge the Borage plants have gotten in the yard. They have beautiful purple-ish blue flowers and the bees love them. Unfortunately they are taking up prime square foot garden real estate and will have to be removed. It was nice while it lasted.
 |
| From Garden |
Two seasons ago I planted some carrot seeds. They grew nice long healthy greens so I decided to pull one up two months later. All that I got was an inch long carrot. Frustrated, I left them there and ignored them until recently when I wanted to make room for spring crops. What I got was monstrous genetic mutant carrots. They didn’t taste bad.
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
In addition to all the updates above, we have yet to get more than one eggplant from the two eggplant plants that are still alive in the garden but I have hope for the future. Collards and Kale are doing great. We just have to be less lazy and include them more as part of a balanced meal. Some green peppers are growing. I have never had much luck with them, maybe this is my year. Finally, the blueberries are blooming. Hopefully all my acid applications will pay off in some sweet treats!
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
Lastly, we have some irrigation drama. We found out that in a week that we will be switched to reclaimed water for our irrigation (I thought we were already on reclaimed water). Normally this is good news because it saves precious water but in the documentation it states that it is not safe for growing food that has no removable skin (80% of what I grow). I had to turn off all sprinklers that touch my food and have been manually watering. I only hope I can keep up with the summer heat.
It has been a while since my last update. The fall and early winter is always the busiest time of year. Gardening tasks have been a small part of my life lately and football and parties have taken over. This has been the best harvest season that I have ever had as a backyard gardener though. I still have lots of garden failures but many more successes this season. Here is an update on what has been going on.
Harvest
We have had and still have a great crop of Juliet and Cherry Tomatoes. I have not been keeping tally on our harvest but lets just say that we have been non-stop eating tomatoes and I cannot see the end in site at this time.
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
The tomatoes are taking up most of one of my square foot gardens and a large part of the second one. In spite of this, I was able to harvest a couple of other vegetables. We got one very nice eggplant that we ended up giving to my mother in law at Thanksgiving (we haven’t got an update on how it tasted). We also harvested a couple of small green peppers. I have always struggled with green peppers. There is something nutrient wise that they are lacking and I have not done research to figure out what that is. Figuring out how to grow better green peppers may be my springtime project.
We also have collards and kale ready to harvest. Here is a picture of one of our collard plants.
 |
| From Garden |
Squashes are not really growing well either this season. It seems like we have better luck when my husband randomly drops squash seeds throughout the yard than when I actually attempt to plant them in a garden. To their defense, I have not been hand pollinating them. I guess sometimes you cannot rely on nature to do it. We do have one acorn squash that looks promising, but that is one my husband randomly planted.
 |
| From Garden |
Baby it’s cold outside
Last winter we had unseasonable cold temperatures and it looks like this winter may be following suit. We have already had at least one night of freezing temperatures and there are more to come next week. Typically we don’t see freezing temperatures in central Florida until at least January or February. I have and plan to continue to cover my square foot gardens for as long as I can but I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Some of the vegetables won’t mind the cold temperatures but the tomatoes will definitely die off if I don’t protect them.
 |
| From Garden |
Future Plans
I am getting ready to start seeds again for some cold weather crops. I might be too late for some of them but I am going to try anyway. With my Juliet and Cherry Tomato success, I might try to grow some Roma tomatoes as well…..we’ll see……
Garden Preparations
 |
| From Garden |
Loading it up with good soil stuff (peat moss, compost, and vermiculite), adding some support, and measuring out the grid.
 |
| From Garden |
Early starts
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
Last Weekend – Busting at the Seams
 |
| From Garden |
A year ago this week, we moved into our current home. The backyard was a typical Florida suburb landscaped yard filled with St Augustine grass and various bushes.
 |
| From Garden |
Over the year some grass has died, some bushes have been moved, and some citrus trees have been planted. In the picture below, you will notice a compost bin in the corner and some work in progress. We put the weed cloth down temporarily to stop the weeds from growing while we were waiting to replace the grass. Additionally we added stepping stones to use in the walkway between the house and the back gate.
 |
| From Garden |
In place of the dead grass, we have started to plant Perenial Peanut and Mimosa strigillosa. Both are spreading ground covers with eye pleasing flowers that can be walked on. They seem to be an excellent St. Augustine grass replacement because they require less water and don’t get the same diseases as the grass does.
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
To make room for some other changes, we moved a couple of viburnum to the wall along the house where there is bad water drip during rain storms. Eventually we will want to put in gutters but for now the bushes will make a good rain erosion stopper. The plan is to move all the viburnum against the fence to this wall. We will wait for them to be dormant in the winter for the rest of the transplanting.
 |
| From Garden |
Finally, in the back we have removed a dying palm and the compost bin (It is moved to another area out of direct view). A muscadine grape and an arbor is placed in the corner. The bird bath was moved behind and soon there will be a stone bench in the middle so we can enjoy the afternoon shade.
 |
| From Garden |
 |
| From Garden |
Growing With Leala 