Central Florida Organic Gardening

Crazy Weather

2013-11-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

The cabbage is doing wonderful especially the red cabbage. The lettuce and broccoli is total confused and some is starting to bolting on me before getting very big. The pepper are doing OK, I will make sure next year to them in front they are getting too shaded behind the broccoli. Waiting for a day when it not too windy or cool to plant some more.

Celery

2013-10-27T05:21:00.002-04:00

I'm trying a new way to grow celery, since my seeds didn't seem to want to grow this year. I just cut off about two inches from the bottom of the celery and I put one straight in the soil and one in water in the kitchen. Lets see which one grows faster. :) I'm loving these cooler mornings.

Zucchini & Squash

2013-10-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

I'm harvesting Zucchini and Squash and keeping ahead of the powder mildew for now with pruning and Neem oil. I pulled my cucumbers and the mysterious bugs I had are gone. I kept a couple and froze them to send to University of Florida. I will update the blog when I get the results which I'm sure will take a few weeks. Everything, Broccoli, Cabbage, Red Cabbage, Peppers, Tomatoes and Lettuce are growing great, no full grown fruit yet, but should be harvesting soon. I will be planting the last bed my up coming weekend. I wanted to plant it two weeks ago, but other tasks came up. I love this time of year, it's getting cooler. :)

Neem Oil

2013-10-05T10:16:00.001-04:00

I'm not a big fan of Neem oil, I really dislike the smell. However, my squash and cucumbers fungus issues were getting bad and some little bugs I have never seen before were all over the plants. Well the cucumber vines are looking sad, but it still producing plenty of good fruit. The little bugs are still running about, but in much smaller numbers.

Rain Great! Mildew not Great!

2013-09-27T19:37:00.002-04:00

I'm getting hit with Powdery and Downy mildew on my cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins, and squash. the Marketmore 76 cucumber seem to have suffered the least and the pumpkin was the first to show signs of disease. I picked my two watermelon even thought they were too small. I hope they will be ripe enough to be sweet. I don't think I'm going to any small sugar pumpkins it suffered the worst. I think I will try the Seminole pumpkins next year. I can't find if they will be good in a pumpkin pie, so I guess I will be the tester of that next year. :) The cucumbers are still producing as is the squash, it's just a matter of time they will stop. I think next year I will also try the mixture of tsp. of baking soda, a couple drops of soap and neem oil and see if it prevents the disease. I read a few articles that will stated this mixture would help prevent it if done every week or after rains before the disease shows up. The winter veggies are all looking good and the broccoli is really taking off. I'm still putting on Spinisad since I seen a few chew marks.

Harvesting Cucmbers!

2013-09-22T22:41:00.001-04:00

Cucumber Harvest

The Suyo Long and Marketmore 76 cucumbers are both maturing now and they are delicious. I still only have two watermelons,but they are getting bigger. I got squash starting, but no pumpkins yet. I'm a little wooried, the pumpkin plant seems to be suffering from power mildew. I cut off the infected leaves hoping to beat it from speading. I don't care for Neem oil, but I may have to use it if the mildew keeps spreading.

Another Good Guy - Long-Legged Fly

2013-09-22T22:22:00.001-04:00

Long-Legged Fly

A Good Guy

2013-09-11T22:37:00.001-04:00

Bee Pollinating Watermelon Flower

Flowers Everywhere

2013-09-11T22:27:00.000-04:00

Watermelon 2013

The cucumbers, watermelon and pumpkin are bursting with flowers. The watermelon is getting some good size fruit. The squash bug seem to be staying to a minimum and I have been keeping the plants sprayed with Spinsad every week since I have seen some moths in the plants. It still seems to be bug season, but manageable.

Two Firsts This Morning

2013-08-31T22:44:00.000-04:00

Watermelon Flower 8-13

This morning I have two flowers in bloom on the watermelon plant! The other first was I found a squash bug. I got him and a green anole was happy for an easy breakfast. I can't wait until everything else starts popping!

Garden Bed Three Planted

2013-08-31T22:33:00.001-04:00

I planted Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage in the third garden on Thursday, August 29th. We got heavy rain that night hopefully the seeds stayed in place.

Uncovered the Third Garden Bed.

2013-08-24T20:57:00.002-04:00

I have uncovered the third garden bed which was done solarizing. I will be planting that bed sometime this week. I love all this rain we are having, making everything grow!

Planted the Second Garden Bed.

2013-08-24T20:55:00.002-04:00

I finished planting the second garden bed and the broccoli and cabbage seedlings have started to break ground. Always exciting!

Next Garden Bed is Ready

2013-08-16T23:09:00.004-04:00

My next garden bed was done solarizing, so I uncovered it. I've put in my watering ollas, so its all ready for planting this week.

I will be planting in this bed:
DeCicco Broccoli
Golden Self-Blanching Celery
Gamba Peppers
Red Acre Cabbage

I may throw in some onions, leeks or herbs too if there is enough room.

Happy planting!

Compost Workers

2013-08-16T22:50:00.000-04:00

Black Soldier Fly Larvae

The rain has brought me some serious compost workers. My compost is teaming with black soldier fly larvae. They have brought their appetite and I'm feeding them as fast as I can. I think they are starting to outpace me in consumption of food. They will not win any beauty contests, but they make some quick work of the garden, fruit and veggie scraps.

First True Leaves

2013-08-16T22:39:00.000-04:00

Pumpkin Seedling with First True Leaf

My seeds I planted on Wednesday, August 7th have their first true leaves already! The rain has really boosted their growth. I haven't seen any pests yet, but I'm keeping a vigilant eye peeled since we are in high pest season.

What I have planted in the garden:
Suyo Long Cucumbers
Marketmore 76 Cucumbers
Sugar Baby Watermelon
Buttercrunch Lettuce
American Flag Leek
Granex Onion
Small Sugar Pumpkin (New England Pie)
Ping Tung Eggplant (planted on Tuesday, August 13th)

My Wautoma Cucumbers seeds just arrived today I will get them planted this weekend.

Happy Gardening.

Solarization

2013-08-05T11:39:00.002-04:00

Solarizing Garden Bed

I uncovered my first bed from six weeks of solarizing the soil. I can't wait to start planting on Wednesday!

Catching up - Salad Tables

2013-01-03T20:47:00.002-05:00

I have some catching up to do. I started planting the fall/winter vegetables on October 16th. I made some changes to the garden beds. I had baby bunnies making a nest in my garden. I have tried fences in the past, but they always seemed to find a way in, so I'm trying salad tables. I planted garden #2 first. I really fought my OCD on that one. :) I planted the following on Oct.16th:

Vates Kale - This is much better than the Red Russian, less bitter.
Early Flat Dutch Cabbage
Basil - Sweet Genovese and Holy
DeCicco Broccoli
Golden Self-Blanching Celery

I intermingled the following to have some companion plants some with pest help
Fernleaf Dill - with Broccoli/Cabbage supposed to improve growth and repels pests
German Chamomile - with Cabbage supposed to improve growth
Nasturiums - With Kale/Broccoli/Cabbage deters pests
American Flag Leeks/Granex Onions - I planted these in the middle of larger plants since they seem to grow fine even when they are an understory plant.

Summer Days

2012-07-22T19:07:00.000-04:00

I have been a busy bee with the gardens pulling out the old and putting in new.

Garden #1
Everything has been harvested. I only have a few onions I used, froze the leeks and my strawberries has been transplanted to pots. I have it covered with plastic to solarize the soil. I covered this one on Wednesday 7-18

Garden #2
This is about in the same condition as garden #1, everything has been harvested and is pulled out. I harvested the Coriander and my Stevia. I have the Stevia drying to use the leaves for sweetener. This bed was covered on Wednesday 7-4.

Garden #3
My tomato plants are growing wild and bearing fruit. I'm still waiting for some peppers and I just planted some cherry tomatoes where the green beans used to be. I pulled out the beans, because they stopped producing green beans, I was getting white beans, really strange, so I pulled them out thought they maybe diseased. I planted Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes, which just sprouted through the ground.

Garden #4
I have Yukan Gold Potatoes, Carwile Virginia Peanuts, Suyo Long Cucumber and Rosa Bianca Eggplant.

My insect barriers are really getting tattered now. I want to use something stronger since I only keep the gardens covered at night, so it doesn't matter if it doesn't let the sunlight though. I'm having to pull out my organic arsenal even with the insect barriers at night. I used 1 Tbsp Neem oil with a 1 tsp Dr Bonner's peppermint soap mixed together in half gallon of water to stop the white leaf hoppers which were getting out of hand and hopeful repel the squash bugs, which I have been squashing when seen. I crushed their eggs on the trellis and the birds are still visiting the garden, so I hope they keep the rest under control. I have my Spinosad too which I have used once and seem to take care of the couple worms I saw. The summer time is an endless bug battle! I don't like using neem too much, because it stinks and not only repeals the squash bug, but the lady bug disappear too. Happy Gardening!

Tomato Competition

2012-06-20T12:12:00.001-04:00

I wanted to test which variety of tomato is the quickest to germinate and grow. Here are the varieties and results:

Anahu: This one germinated first, but is now being outpaced in growth by the Tropic variety.

Arkansas Traveler: This came in last in germination.

Homestead: This variety was second to last to germinate.

Tropic: This was second in germination, but is outpacing everyone else in growth.

I'm sure they will all taste good. :)

Trellis

2012-05-20T19:03:00.001-04:00


Watermelon Flower 2012

I first got this trellis from Garden Supply, but I'm already disappointed. It is steady and holds my cucumbers wonderfully, but it's already starting to rust and is made in China. Therefore, I got this wood trellis from Lowe's. I wish the squares were a little smaller, but it's holding my watermelon perfectly. I also have to do something with the rough ends, because it's making holes in my in my insect barrier cloth. It's made out of cedar and made in the USA. A big plus to me to be able to buy American made items.

Fire Ants

2012-05-20T18:53:00.000-04:00

I been having trouble getting my corn started in garden #4. I can only get my peanut plants started in that garden box so far. I noticed I have quite an army of ants taking up residence in that plot. Therefore, I started googling organic ant controls. This is what I have tried so far and how well or not so well it worked:

Orange Oil: I mixed 2oz per gallon of water. This kills ants on contact. I noticed it takes multiple treatments and it works better with 1Tbsp. molasses mixed in. However, they keep packing up and moving so I know it's not penetrating deep enough in the soil. Also, do not get this on your veggies, because it will burn the plant. I couldn't get them under control and this will kill other bugs it contacts good and bad.

Boiling Water: This again kills ants on contact. However, just like the orange oil it never seems to penetrate deep enough and seems to just make them nomadic.

Cinnamon: No effect I could see.

Spinosad: Mixed four Tbsp per gallon of water and poured on mound. This took about four days to work, but got rid of all fire ants in garden #4.

Green Light Fire Ant Control w/Conserve (AKA Spinosad): This is a granular bait with Spinosad which they brand name Conserve. This got rid of all the ants in garden #2 which were scattered and I could find the mound. This also took about four days to complete it's deadly elimination.

My recommendations for knocking off fire ants are to use Spinosad mixed with water and pour the whole gallon on the mound. If you just have some scattered fire ants use the Green Light Fire Ant Control with Conserve granules. Note: this only kills fire and harvester ants. This doesn't effect any other ants.

Watermelon Hammocks

2012-04-19T15:23:00.001-04:00


Sugar Baby Watermelon 2012

I know from the last seasons garden, when watermelon is grown on the ground it will get fungi in Central Florida. I have been making watermelon hammocks to support the watermelons on the trellis. Therefore, I got the small variety, sugar baby. I had some extra gauze, so I will see how it holds up to the weight of the watermelon. One of my favorite fruit, I can't wait till these babies are ripe and I have watermelon juice running down my elbows.

North Side Lettuce, South Side Cucumber

2012-04-18T21:45:00.000-04:00

Jericho Lettuce

Marketmore76 Cucumbers

2012

I found I should have grew my cucumbers on the south side of my garden and the lettuce on the north side. My Jericho lettuce is starting to look wilted by days end. Lucky it recovers in the coolness of the night. I been cutting it in the morning, so not to stress the plant overly much. A note for next year to flip flop the garden, so the cucumbers shaded the lettuce more from the heat.

Yummy! Harvesting

2012-04-18T20:53:00.002-04:00

Red Russian
Kale 2012

Everything is growing like weeds now, including the weeds. :) Getting an abundance of lettuce, cucumbers, kale, cabbage and even baby watermelons started. I made some zuppa toscana soup which was so delicious. I found the recipe on Allrecipes and I replaced spinach for my kale straight out of the garden. Life doesn't get any better!