Early June Garden

I know the post is late since it is almost July but I wanted to show what has been up with the garden earlier this month.

Watermelon plant is starting to flower.

Roma tomatoes start to ripen.

We have a grapefruit that has not fallen from the tree!!!!

Key limes are ready to grow again this season

Starting some baby dills that I hope will make it through the summer.

New collard is getting some shade action by the palm frond.

This might be the first year the corn makes it….only time will tell.

Beans are hanging in there.

Garden Update : Late April

The ladies are back. They seem to like the grape vine for now. The lady above is wearing spots but the one below is in plain attire.

Muscadine grapes are starting to grow. Looks like we will have another good year for grapes. It looks like the little black bugs are back as well (see blurred leaf). They are there every year but appear to be harmless so I let them be.

One of the watermelon seeds germinated. I have yet to have a successful crop but I keep trying. I got these seeds from a watermelon purchased at whole foods a year or so ago.

We haven’t had much rain and days are getting hotter and longer. I am watering almost daily my seedlings. I hope they grow to a stable size soon so they won’t need as much attention.

What I am trying to keep alive this summer

The following is a list of what I am going to try to keep alive this summer. But it is only April you say? Yes, mid-April pretty much means summer has started in Central Florida. Only few things can make it outdoors in the summer heat. I have some leftovers in the garden from winter/spring and some new seeds planted. Some are gambles but you never know for sure if something will work unless you try.
The following is what is happening:

The plans for the summer garden. And yes I know I plant things too close together. I do it because I never really know what is going to make it. It is easy to just thin out what you don’t want. Did I misspell carrot, ha!

Seeds in and ready to go.

Trying a new type of basil. See if this one can tolerate the sun better. It is supposed to taste the same as traditional basil. Why can’t I ever get organic basil ?

Tomato plant leftover from the winter/spring tomatoes. I never have luck with summer tomatoes but why not try again. It is too healthy to pull out.

My Charlie Brown Key Lime tree. It is dying, like the lemon did, but it has looked sad like this for two years so I am holding out hope that it may make it. It has produced some great key limes.

Muscadine grapes are coming back. I am confident they will do well (they always do). The goal this year is to keep it trimmed well so the trellis doesn’t lean forward again this year.

Spring flowers (planted last fall).

I love these guys. They are going on their second year and add great fragrance to the yard.

Mint and rosemary
Who doesn’t love a mint infused cocktail?
Wish me luck!!!

Final Harvest

Today’s harvest will probably be the last until we get early summer tomatoes ( if any). It was probably the best year yet. I wish I know what I did different this year; but I don’t. The great weather and mild winter probably had something to do with it.

Spring is also bringing us herb blooms.

I am also liking how healthy this lime bush looks. Perhaps I won’t kill all the citrus?

Next up is to see if the blueberry bushes will bring us anything this year. We will see.
For now here is a cat picture….

Tomato Bounty

They did it. The tomatoes survived. They survived some freezes and the survived neglect while we were in India.
We came home from a vacation to this bounty. So far we have used them for salads, lentils, and spaghetti sauce.
The biggest problem is that we cannot eat them fast enough!!!