Danielles Garden Blog

Took One Year to Grow a Pineapple

2010-08-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

It took one year for a planted pineapple top to produce another pineapple. I planted a top in Aug 2009 and just harvested the new fruit last week. Infact, it took almost exactly a year. I could have harvested it a few weeks sooner, but I've been buys.

Lethal Frog in the Garden Today?

2010-08-16T22:24:00.000-04:00

We found Tinsel playing with this frog earlier today. The IFAS website shows a frog similar to this frog. I don't know if this is Bufo marinus (the poisonous one) or the Bufo terresteris (non poisonous). Either way, he didn't last long in our yard this evening.

Visit IFASs website for more info on the difference between the poisonous and non poisonous frogs.

Home Farming Movement: Seeds from Triscuit

2010-08-03T17:31:00.000-04:00

How cool are these little Triscuit appetizers? I made them with green onion from the garden, water chestnuts, bacon, and Triscuits. They are delicious and although a bit time-consuming, they can be made a few days ahead...which I love! The box of Triscuits even came with built-in herb seeds. I posted the recipe here.

Triscuit is apparently creating community-based home farms throughout the US. As part of the Home Farming Movement, they included plantable herb seed cards in their packaging to help encourage people to grow their own vegetables and herbs!

They sent me samples of their product and I was excited to see the seed cards right on the back of the box. The Original Triscuits came with basil seeds and the Reduced Fat Triscuits came with dill seeds. They even sent me a $20 gift card to buy potting soil and containers to get my seeds started!

Oranges in My Cocktails

2010-07-22T16:53:00.001-04:00

I tried another cocktail recipe with that orange vodka that's distilled from Florida oranges...The vodka is called 4 Orange and it's distilled just up the road in Lake Alfred. The recipe for an "Orange Crush" is printed on a label that hangs from the bottle. This recipe is delicious and uses both mint and orange slices...two things I picked fresh from the garden 10n minutes before I made the cocktail. I think I'm going to search the Internet for a vodka dessert glaze/topping...what else can I make with vodka? I've cooked with cognac, wine, and Liquor before...next I will conquer a vodka recipe.

The cocktail was fun to make...and to tweak. You get to muddle...what's not fun about that?! Plus, since the recipe calls for mint, it gives me a chance to use my "Orange Mint" that I found in the Home Depot garden center a few years ago.

I highly recommend this cocktail...we tried a version with OJ instead of the fresh oranges, but it wasn't as good. We also tried adding some pomegranate juice.

Here's the best part about this cocktail...there's 20 oranges in every bottle...so this cocktail may actually improve your health :)

Next on the list is their cucumber-champagne cocktail. It is beautiful and sounds sooo refreshing. I just need to grow cucumbers now.

Danielles Mediterranean Bean Salad From the Garden

2010-07-21T18:04:00.000-04:00

I made a delicious garbanzo bean salad today with herbs from the garden. Recipe below. The eureka lemons in the garden still have a month before they will be ripe...I wish they would have been ripe enough to use tonight.

Danielles Mediterranean Garbanzo Bean Salad Recipe

Ingredients
1 can garbanzo beans (drained, rinsed, drained)
.5 can diced tomatoes, drained (or use fresh tomatoes)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
rosemary, finely chopped
thyme, finely chopped
oregano, finely chopped
salt and pepper
juice from half lemon
zest from half lemon
grated or shaved parm

Directions
mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

How to Propagate Rosemary

2010-07-21T16:52:00.001-04:00

Here's a short article about how I propagate rosemary from a grocery store produce pack.

I stuck 6 springs of rosemary in a drinking glass for 3 weeks. The glass was placed on the kitchen counter and received lots of indirect sunlight. All but one of the sprigs died. The 6th sprig began growing roots from the bottom one inch of the stem. I have used this method of propagating rosemary before and had the same results. I don't know why, but only a few of the cuttings sprout roots.

To be honest, this sprig came from my veggie/herb garden, but you could also use grocery store springs to start your own plants. I'm also trying this same method with the bottom of green onions that I harvested from the garden. But again, you could easily use the bottom of grocery store scallions.

Other grocery store veggies/fruit that can be propagated:

potato (cut into 3-6 chunks and throw in a hole)
sweet potato (same)
onion (plant the bottom root section)
tomato (harvest the seeds)
pepper (harvest the seeds)
kiwi (harvest the seeds)
watermelon (harvest the seeds)
squash (harvest the seeds)
lemongrass (plant the bottom root section)
avocado (germinate and plant the seed/pit)
pineapple (plant the top section)

Impatiens not good for South Florida Summer

2010-07-17T09:59:00.000-04:00

Last week the "feels like" temps were in the hundreds. Usually about this time of summer, we need to replace our impatiens with more heat tolerant plants. My plan for this week is to replace the impatiens with portulaca.

Not much gardening going on these days. It's just so hot and the boat is calling me every weekend. Why dig in the dirt when you can be on the boat?!!!

Vodka Distilled From Florida Oranges

2010-07-14T21:27:00.002-04:00

I bought a new homegrown vodka tonight made right here in FLORIDA. It's called 4 Oranges and I found their website. It's pretty cool. I added mint and a lime from the garden and came up with a quazi Mojito.

What's cool about this vodka is that it's distilled from oranges...not potatoes. It's not flavored with oranges...it's distilled from oranges. The company advertises that each regular size bottle is made from 20 oranges of 4 different varieties: parson brown, temple, hamlin, valencia. I grow valencia oranges in my backyard.

Here's a video about the brand of vodka called "4 Oranges" that recently ran on our local news station:

4 Orange Premium Vodka on WPTV from 4 Orange Premium Vodka on Vimeo.

Passion Flower Vine at Danielle's Garden

2010-07-09T09:10:00.000-04:00

I planted this passion flower vine two months ago. It's grown up the house and is now spreading across the roof line.

I didn't think this plant would thrive, but it is. It faces due East, so it gets morning sun and is shaded by noon. Now that it's established, I'm giving it fertilizer so I can begin to see some amazing flowers.

Boating in Stuart, FL

2010-07-01T18:02:00.001-04:00

We went to a local park last weekend called St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park. It’s accessible only by boat. The boardwalk is 3,000 ft long, and it took a good 15 minutes to walk past two structures, through thousands of mangroves, and over a bridge. I wouldn't do it again, but it was nice one time. :)

We tied up the boat and after leaving a donation in the box, we headed to the shore.

Below: much of the walk from the intercoastal to the ocean looks like this.

This sign got me excited...what was around the bend...is it something I would be tempted to take???

Good plants?…drift wood?…

See the ground cover below that looks like straight lines of rope? They are railroad vines and are native to this area. They have pretty purple flowers and help prevent beach erosion. They are all over the dunes here in South Florida.

Below: we finally reached the beach…looks just like all the other beaches in town, except there were no people.

After the park, we hit the local sandbar near Sailfish Point. John used his new boat grill and made a delicious chicken sandwich.

How to Use Coffee Grounds in the Garden

2010-06-29T14:40:00.001-04:00

Starbucks gives away bags of used coffee grounds each day. It's part of a recycling program called Grounds for your Garden. This bag had a gallon and a half of fragrant grounds and today, my garden is buzzing with caffine. During the bewing process, most of the acidity is removed, leaving used grounds with an average pH of 6.9 and a carbon-nitrogen ratio of 20-to-1. This important to know because it determines how to use it in the garden.

I could have added it to my new compost tumbler, but I already had a lot of "green" in the tumbler, so I didn't need any more. I decided to use it as a side dressing to the brambles, specifically to the blueberries and blackberries.

The blackberries need a soil pH level of between 6.0 and 6.8, so this isn't the perfect side dressing, but it's better than the nothing that I've been using for the past few months.

Want to to know more about soil pH in the South Florida Garden? Here's one of my archived articles:

How to Control Soil pH Levels by Danielle Copeland

Lemon-Pepper-Rosemary Salt Recipe

2010-06-24T13:07:00.000-04:00

A friend's birthday is coming up. I want to give her a culinary gift, so I walked through the garden for inspiration. I think a Lemon-Pepper-Rosemary Salt is in order! I grabbed two sprigs of rosemary, a lemon, pepper corns, and salt.....and Voila!

First, I googled rosemary salt. I found a recipe that I liked and slightly modified it. The original recipe is shown below.

All the ingredients get processed in the food processor. It couldn't be easier.

This recipe yields 1 cup of salt

Lemon-Pepper-Rosemary Salt Recipe

Grated zest of 2 lemons
Fresh rosemary leaves from 2 (5-inch) branches
1 Tbsp. freshly pepper corns
3/4 cup coarse sea salt

Directions: In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process lemon zest, rosemary leaves, and pepper until finely chopped, about 1 minute. Add salt and pulse until salt forms smaller crystals and mixture is blended, about 30 seconds. Pack into glass jars with tight-fitting lids and store in a cool, dark place for up to 2 months. Attach a ribbon and gift tag with serving ideas, such as "Terrific sprinkled on roast chicken, grilled meats, fish, or steamed vegetables."

Drought Tolerant Summer Plants

2010-06-23T20:05:00.000-04:00

I replanted the front planers a month ago...they have grown soooo much since then. Planters need more water than in-ground beds because they dry out faster. During the summer, the top 8 inches of my planters dry out daily by early afternoon. Here's a few tips for keeping those container plantings hydrated.

Tips for Summer Container Plantings
- Use succulents (shown here is sedum) because they tolerate the dryness
- Use a soil amendment such as Agri-Gel or Soil2O
- Mulch with no less than 3 inches of bark or chips

I love to use Sedum Rupestre (Florida Friendly Gold variety) during the summer months because it's a succulent. This variety is just what happens to be available at my local store. Succulents retain water in their leaves...that's why the leaves aren't flat like a maple leaf, rather they are bulbous...think aloe, cactus, jade.

Pruning the Desert Rose, an Ugly Duckling

2010-06-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

My mother in law gave me a neglected desert rose a few months ago. I lobbed off the shrivled, rotten tips in hopes that new growth would sprout up in a few months. It worked!

Many times when you snip the top of a plant, two new growth limbs will spring up just below your cut. Here's my dracaena back in 2008 a few months after I pruned it.

Here's the avocado tree a few weeks after pruning. The new growth is red and later greened up.

Compost Tumbler Part 2: Assembly

2010-06-22T12:02:00.000-04:00

I built the compost tumbler this morning before the heat set in. It took about a half hour and I'm really surprised the assembly was so easy. I used vegetable oil as lube (as recommended in the instructions) and all the parts fit into place perfectly. I'm kinda wimpy, so I used a rubber mallot to snap the pieces together when my brute strenghth failed me. :) I'm happy to say, this was a one-woman job and I did it!

I'm reviewing this tumbler for Organic Compost Tumbler and so far, I give this item a thumbs up!!!

I've never composted before, so I was reading through the instructions. It looks like I need to make a decision...will I use the hot or cold composting method??? More on this later.

Many gardeners say that compost is THE most important part of a garden.

Here's a 25 second clip of all the parts that make up the tumbler.

Here's my pre-assembly photo.

The New Compost Tumbler: Part 1

2010-06-21T18:50:00.001-04:00

The slow ride from Duck Key to Martin County this afternoon was not so bad...especially because I was thinking about putting together the new compost tumbler!!!

I am off to watch the assembly video now. I got it from the retailer Organic-Compost-Tumbler.com, and I think I might do a time lapse video of my assembly efforts. I can't wait! :)

Bougainvillea Topiary Tree

2010-06-21T17:52:00.001-04:00

Just got back from 2 weeks in the Florida Keys. On the journey north, we travelled through Key Largo, stopped at a light, and saw this beautiful bougainvillea topiary tree.

I can't begin to imagine how mature it is...decades I'm sure. I have no idea how many different plants were used and I don't know what type of internal support was used. I was able to see several variegated plants and a few orange blooms, which are more rare than the fuschia variety that is so common down here in South Florida.

This specimen is unusual for a couple reasons. First, it's huge and mature. Second, it's not just 1 plant that has a triple braided "trunk" It is many different plants as evidenced by the many colors. Third, I would consider it a topiary because of it's shape.

By the way, these past two weeks have been record breaking in terms of heat. It's been feeling like 105 each day after you factor in humidity...at least that's what the local news says. Good news: there are no mosquitoes or noseeums in Duck Key!!!! How'd they do that?

Florida Keys Flowers

2010-06-16T16:31:00.000-04:00

We are vacationing in the FL Keys for the next few days. Here's a shot of the coconut palms and bougainvillea that cover this area. I have a cool story about how one of the larger islands got its name based on these plants...

We are staying a few minutes south of Islamorada, on a small key called Duck Key. When the first modern Spanish explorers came to the shore, they saw all the bougainvillea and named the key "Islamorada" or purple isle."

By the way, the water here in Marathon, Duck Key, and Islamorada is oil free! There is a BP Claims Office in Marathon, but it looks to be closed. The last update I heard was that $3 mil has been spent on compensating Florida's claims and $30 mil has been allocated to Florida tourism television ads. Nice.

The above photo was taken on the south side of Duck Key, in Tom's Harbour. The 3 story house in the foreground of this photo is next door to the house where we are staying. The bougainvillea are planted in huge retaining walls which are on the ground floor and rise up to the second floor. The walls are finished with coral or coquina. It's beautiful.

Some Sunflowers Are Too Big

2010-06-03T13:19:00.000-04:00

There's a debate about genetic engineering in todays plants. Should it be promoted or banned? Read below for more. In the meantime, take a look at my sunflower photos...there's a connection between these photos and the genetic engineering debate.

Plants such as sunflowers can be genetically engineered to yield better oil, larger flowers, bigger seeds, etc. As usual, money is the impetus for innovation. Modern growers can maximize profits by growing crops hybridized for their customers' needs.

One common reason for genetically engineering plants is for disease resistance. Another reason is for aesthetics. The tomato for example has been engineered to have thicker skin (for shipping purposes), to be more resistant to diseases, and to be perfectly round and red. Many modern varieties have a lower acid content. Our grandmothers used to have to simmer sauce all day to sweeten up the tomatoes...it's not so necessary these days.

The common varieties of sunflower seeds available to home growers these days are genetically engineered to grow very tall. This is what consumers want. Some have said that sunflowers have been engineered to have such large flowers that the plant cannot support the weight of the flower.

A recent History Channel show commented that the corn we Americans grow today is nothing like the corn that the Pilgrims grew in early America. It used to be hard, small, and pale.

Good or bad, genetically engineered produce and plants is here to stay. Fortunately, there are seed preservationists out there.

How I Know This is a Florida Photo

2010-05-25T19:21:00.003-04:00

Here's a photo of my sunflower from a few weeks ago. I was just reviewing the photo to see if it was post-worthy, and noticed there are so many tell-tale signs of a South Florida Landscape.

The Christmas Palms fronds are still frost-bitten from our recent cold spells in January. It's now late May and all the new growth in the center of the palms is fresh and green, but the outer, older fronds are about to fall off.

See the wood privacy fence in the background? See those rusty marks from the irrigation? That's our well water. So many of us women complain about the iron in the water because it gives our hair a rust tint.

The sunflower is facing due East. Sunflowers usually follow the sun from east to west over the course of a day. At least mine always have. This one has morning sun blocked by the house, and I assume that's why it doesn't turn with the sun each day.

There's drift wood hanging on the wall of the font porch. Everyone down here collects drift wood. You can't see it, but there are air plants growing on it...another South Florida staple.

Here's another shot of the same sunflower, but from 20 feet up.

The large queen palms...another South Florida staple. The peach tropical double hibiscus and the stucco/brick house are also Florida natives.

Lastly, I want to share a sentiment that a fellow gardening blogger wrote about recently. The Rainforest Gardener wrote, "Gardeners do not have a natural skill or knack for helping plants live, we just have the patience and faith to visualize the fruits of our labor."

I couldn't agree more!!!

How to Harvest Miracle Fruit

2010-05-21T10:36:00.001-04:00

Harvesting Miracle Fruit is no different than harvesting tomatoes. Wait till the fruit turns bright red, then pick.

Freeze the berries unless you are going to eat them immediately. They spoil quickly. Something with little nails (squirrels or birds) gets to my miracle fruit as soon as they turn red, unless I get to them first. I lost the first two berries last week to the critters. I really, really, really want that garden cam.

I sound like a broken record...but here it goes again....miracle fruit is truly the coolest edible that one can grow. Here's why:

When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, the fruit reacts with the taste buds in the tongue, causing sour foods to taste sweet. You eat the fruit as you would eat a fresh cherry, except keep it in your mouth for about 30 seconds before discarding the pit. It tastes good. The fruit works by distorting the shape of sweetness receptors so that they become responsive to acids, instead of sugar and other sweet things. This effect lasts 15-30 minutes.

To read more posts about miracle fruit, click on the label at the bottom of tihs post....or type it in the top left search box.

Most Useless Plant Tag Ever!

2010-05-16T21:01:00.000-04:00

I bought a beautiful passion flower vine the other day, but I have to comment about the plant tag. This tag takes the cake for being generic, ambiguous, grammatically incorrect, and utterly useless.

Should we examine it closely? First, what plant is this? Oh, of course, it's a house plant; it says so at the top of the tag. But it also says it's a landscape plant. Hmmm.

Let's continue. This house-landscape plant should be placed in "Full sun, outside keep soil moist..." Run on sentence...check. Redundancy....check. Glad I didn't place this house plant in full sun inside with the soil moist.

I could on and on about things like the inconsistent punctuation, capitalization, and spacing, but why? The tag is useless, and actually a bit frustrating, but the plant is really healthy.

My Wormy Peach

2010-05-16T09:43:00.000-04:00

I harvested the first two peaches of the season this morning. One was delicious; the other had bugs slithering through the inside of the peach. Gross! What if I had taken a big bite of bugs!!!

Bugs inside peach! I don't know what kind of bug it was...I didn't really care. I threw the peach away and went on to the next one...which was flawless!

This peach was perfect. It was a bit crispy, but it was soooooo sweet!

oh so happy with my peach harvest!

When to Harvest Peaches

2010-05-13T18:16:00.000-04:00

Peaches are minty green leading up to harvest time. But, just because the color changes from green to peach, doesn't mean that the peach is ready to be harvested.

Look for these other indicators before picking the peach:

Smell it. The scent should be very peachy. Before it's ripe, the scent is unnoticeable.
Feel it. It will give a bit. Unripe peaches are very firm.
Twist it. If you lift and twist, and it comes off the branch easily, it's ripe.

You can pick a peach prior to it ripening. Pick it a few days before you think these indicators will be present and bring them inside. Place them in a brown paper bag for a few days to ripen. This is how growers do it, except they put fruit into gas chambers instead of paper bags.

Down here in zone 10, the peaches are supposed to ripen in mid-May. Even with a record-breaking cold spring, the peaches are ripening just on time.

As always, the yorkie walked around the garden with me today.

After some belly pets, she was on her way to dig a hole next to the rose bush.

I noticed the queen palm, the porch, me, and and the peach tree in this photo of her beautiful brown eyes.

Confederate Jasmine Blooms for 2 Months

2010-05-10T08:29:00.000-04:00

The confederate jasmine in Danielle's Garden usually blooms for 2 months. It's in full blooms right now and we live in zone 10.

Do all confederate jasmine bloom right now? Are Zone 10 Miami jasmines a few weeks behind us? Are Ocala jasmines a few weeks before me? I'm located East of Lake Okeechobbee about 10 miles inland from the beach.

Let me know if your confederate jasmine is blooming now...just finished blooming...or is just about to bloom.