Yummy Surprise!!

I have not posted an entry in a while as I have been busy moving from my apartment to my own home. Wow was that an adventure!! It took a lot out of me and I ended up sick for over a month.

In that time I have not had time to tend my plot at the Arlington Community Garden either. I received an email asking me if I was giving up my plot or if I still wanted it. Well, I let them know I wanted it and that I would be over this weekend.

I expected to find nothing but weeds and anything I had planted to be a complete loss. What I found was a yummy surprise!

Hiding in the ground I found 24 sweet potatoes!! Several of them as large as a small melon. I cannot wait to cook them.

This week I will be adding compost to my plot and planting: broccoli, cabbage, carrots, collards, kohlrabi, bulbing onions, radishes and spinach! This will be my first "winter" planting, so I am excited to see what I get over the next few months.

If you haven't started gardening and you live in Florida all I can say is WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???

Take Care,

Dianna

TomAto or TOmato?

No matter how you say it tomatoes are a popular fruit to grow and they are one of those easy plants that can be grown in a container. Tomatoes are so popular because they come in many sizes, colors and distinct tastes. Since they are so easy to grow heirloom tomatoes are becoming popular again, so they are one of those plants that are worth the space.

You will find two types of tomatoes: determinate and indeterminate. You can grow indeterminate and determinate tomatoes together. The difference in the plants is how they bloom and produce fruit.

Determinate tomato plants produce a heavy crop all at once. They have a more compact growth habit, produce clusters of flowers at the growing tips and set fruit along the stem within two to three weeks.

Indeterminate tomato plants produce a steady supply of tomatoes all season long. Leaves grow at the stem ends and new flowers appear continuously along the side shoots.

Tomato seeds can be sown directly into the soil or started indoors and then planted after the risk of frost is over. Plant seedlings after the last frost, removing all lower leaves and plant deep in the pot so that only about 2-3” of stem and top leaves are out of the soil.

Choose a sunny spot with highly fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Place stacks or cages at the time of planting to avoid root damage later. In hot climates, new transplants may need shade until they are established. All types of tomatoes should be protected from strong or cold winds.

Begin picking tomatoes when they reach full variety size and color. Pick any fruits that remain on the vine when the first autumn frost in predicted.

Tomatoes are not only an easy plant to grow in a container, but they are so versatile to cook with too. You can stew them, roast them, bake them, sun dry them, etc. Hope you found this helpful.

Let me know what you think.

Dianna :0) 

Mary Mary Quit Contrary...

Mary, Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

I think of this poem often when I am gardening and if my Mum knew she would grunt and roll her eyes. See my mother, Mary hates this little poem because her name is Mary and children would taunt her with it in school.

So what does this poem have to do with plants, since that is our next subject that I promised to write on? Well, let me give you my version of that little poem:

Mary, Mary quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With no clue and no help,

And confusion on what to sow.

When I started container gardening I had no clue what to plant. I went to my local garden center, you know those big warehouse chains that you could get lost in for days, and they had no clue either. The best suggestion I got from a young man who worked there was, "I guess just buy something and see if it grows." Thanks you are a genius, I never thought of that.

I went to my local, well closest Wal-Mart because in a big city like Jacksonville we probably have a good 30 Wal-Marts, anyway I was roaming around and this guy asked me if he could help me. I know shocking and in a Wal-Mart, after I snapped out of my shock of being asked this question in a Wal-Mart, I told him that I wanted to start a container garden, but I just wasn't sure what to start with.

He asked me if I liked to cook, to which I said, "Do I look like I'm starving? Of course, I like to cook." His suggestion to me was to start with herbs. They are easy to grow, you can grow them outside or inside and you can use them year round in your cooking. I could have kissed this guy. I was so happy to finally have some direction on what to grow!! 

From there I branched out to jalapeno plants, then to bell pepper plants and on and on and on. At this time I have on my patio or have grown on my patio: three different kinds of radishes, tomatoes (many varieties), potatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, beans (many varieties), peas (many varieties), bell peppers, lettuce (many varieties), and two kinds of basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, Italian flat leaf parsley, chives, thyme and rosemary.

So if you are dazed and confused as to what to start with I would ask myself this question, "What vegetables do I love?" After I wrote those down, I would ask myself, "What vegetables would I enjoy growing?" Now you have your list and you know what directions you are going with it.

Once you decide what you will plant, then you need to decide if you are going to grow from seed or purchase plants. There are some significant advantages and disadvantages to each.

Starting your own seeds is much less expensive than buying seedlings, after some startup cost. If you start your own seeds you can grow hard to find varieties and can also grow your seedlings organically. Plus there are a lot of seeds out there that have been bred to grow in containers now.

However, starting seeds isn’t for everyone. You absolutely cannot let them dry out or they’re toast. Conversely, if you give them too much water, they keel over dead. To avoid this, you can make a self-watering seed starter. To figure out if seed starting is for you, try asking yourself six questions before you start your seeds:

a.    How attentive am I?

b.    How ambitious am I?

c.    Do I have enough natural light or will I need artificial lights?

d.    When is the last frost?

e.    Can I protect my seedlings from frost?

f.     Can I count backwards?

For the answers you can go to: http://containergardening.about.com/od/containersyearround/tp/questionsbeforeseedstarting.htm

I try to work with seeds that are direct sow, which means to plant them in the container they will grow in and not transplant. I grow my own starters for easy seeds like tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers.

The advantages of purchasing starter plants is well, they are already started (haha, I couldn’t resist). Seriously, though it is nice to just plant-a-plant and you are done. You can get plants fairly cheap, but you need to shop around. At the large garden centers and superstores you can purchase starter plants from $2.98 – $4.98, depending on the size of the plant or you can find your local greenhouse or nursery and purchase there. 

I was so excited to find at the Plant Place on Fort Caroline road that he had all the same plants you can purchase at those other places and he was selling them for $1/plant. You still need to compare prices though because perfect example is sweet potatoes, I could purchase 1 plant for $1 at the nursery or I could purchase a flat of 9 plants for $2.98 at the garden center. Be smart if you are going to do plants. So you are probably thinking, so what are the disadvantages of purchasing starter plants?

Its variety, that’s really all it comes down too. You cannot purchase a large variety of starter plants. Most garden centers, super stores and local nurseries stock the same plants. You have your herbs, your peppers, your tomatoes, your cabbages, and your squashes. That’s about it. Some of you might be saying, “That’s it? That’s plenty.”

I thought so when I first started as well, but really it’s not. You will see. My personal suggestions on what to start with, I would do herbs. They are super easy (most) to grow, then I would move onto peppers (also very easy to grow). Don’t grow peppers that you don’t eat now. I am telling you people tell themselves they want to try a different pepper and “wouldn’t it be great to grow it myself,” then they have a ton of peppers that they have never eaten and do not know what to do with.

Here are some things that are easy to grow: herbs, peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, eggplants and summer squash.

Also, here are 44 things I know you can grow in a container, because I have either done it or have seen someone do it:

FRUITING TREES	1.      Apples can be grown in a container; you can also grow them on the balcony or other small space using a technique called espaliering. 2.      Kumquats 3.      Blackberries 4.      Blueberries 5.      Avocados (plenty of extra tips online if you search) 6.      Pomegranate 7.      Cherries 8.      Figs 9.      Pears
Citrus Fruits	1.      Dwarf Oranges 2.      Grapefruit 3.      Tangerines 4.      Meyer lemons 5.      Limes
Tropical Fruits	1.      Bananas (look for container gardening tops online) 2.      Pineapple 3.      Papaya 4.      Guavas (several varieties)
Vegetables	1.      Tomatoes (all varieties) 2.      Summer squash 3.      Other squashes like acorn and pumpkin 4.      Hot peppers (all varieties) 5.      Sweet Peppers (all varieties) 6.      Cucumbers (Burp less, liberty, early pick, crispy and salty) 7.      Green beans (top crop, green crop, contender, (pole) blue lake, Kentucky wonder and many others) 8.      Zucchini
Melons	1.      Cantaloupe 2.      Jenny Lind melon 3.      Golden midget watermelon
Herbs	1.      Basil (all varieties) 2.      Oregano (all varieties) 3.      Parsley (all varieties) 4.      Rosemary 5.      Chives 6.      Catnip 7.      Thyme 8.      Sage
Leafy Greens	1.      Kale (all varieties) 2.      Mesclun greens 3.      Spinach (Any cultivar) 4.      Swiss chard (all varieties) 5.      Lettuces (plenty of options there, from micro-greens to head to loose-leaf varieties) 6.      Mustard Greens 7.      Collard Greens 8.      Arugula
Root Vegetables	1.      Carrots (Scarlet Nantes, gold nugget, little fingers, baby spike and Thumbelina) 2.      Beets 3.      Potatoes 4.      Green Onions (Beltsville bunching, crysal wax, evergreen bunching) 5.      Bulbing Onions (These take a little more extra efforts, but they can be grown: burgundy, yellow, white, Vidalia) 6.      Radishes (all varieties)
Other healthy-sounding stuff J	1.      Sprouts 2.      Mung bean 3.      Lentil sprouts 4.      Wheatgrass 5.      Kohlrabi 6.      Turnips (any cultivar) 7.      Rutabagas 8.      Celeriac 9.      Parsnips 10.  Jerusalem artichoke 11.  Sugar snap peas 12.  Rhubarb (container growth is not ideal, but it can be done) 13.  Mushrooms 14.  Pole beans 15.  Asparagus 16.  Broccoli (packman, bonanza and others) 17.  Eggplant ( Florida market, black beauty and Long tom as well as many Asian varieties) 18.  Cauliflower

So to end my HUGE entry on plants I want to share with you something I found online. The oldest known version of our poem was first published in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744) with the following lyrics:

Mistress Mary, Quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells, And so my garden grows.

Hope you learned something or were inspired by this blog. Let me know what you think.

Dianna J

The Soil Situation

A good healthy soil is needed to product healthy, strong plants with large healthy veggies. Through trial and error I have found that potting soil is really the easiest and best.


Quality potting soil is really important for vegetables. Don’t use soil from your garden or yard because it will compact in your container and won’t drain water properly. Plus it can contain diseases and weeds that can harm your seeds and plants. 

Synthetic or soil less mixes are well suited for vegetable container gardening and may be composed of sawdust, wood chips, peat moss, perlite or vermiculite. They are generally more expensive than potting soil and will need watered more as well. 


You can make your own soil mix using equal parts of compost, vermiculite and peat moss. I would recommend this if you are going to do a lot of container gardening, but if you are just starting out potting soil is the best way to go.


 I personally use organic potting soil because studies have shown that there are many benefits to growing produce organically, including better taste and a higher percentage of antioxidants and phytochemicals. 


You will, as the season moves on need to add additional soil to the container as it is moved off by wind and washed out by watering and rain.


At the end of the growing season don't throw away that soil because its still good! I have heard people complain that they planted green peppers in the same pot that they planted them in the year before, but nothing would grow. Well, there are two things your must do at the end of the season. 


One you need to fertilize the soil and two you need to rotate your crops. Just like old McDonald who had a farm, you need to rotate.


Think about it for a minute, if you plant a veggie in a pot that uses a lot of potassium  to grow and you don't re-fertilize the soil and you don't rotate the crop, where is the new veggie plant getting the potassium it needs to grow?


Don't skimp on your soil either. When you plant in a container fill the container to the top. The soil will settle and compact as you water, it will blow away in the wind, it will wash out or splash out as well, so FILLER UP!!

As I mentioned in my earlier post you will need to add soil as the growing season moves on for the reasons I listed above.


Hope this has been helpful.


Dianna :D

Is It Wet Enough?

So here we are the week of rain following Beryl moving into NE Florida and I am going to talk about watering your patio or container gardens. Like we haven’t had enough water over the past four days!

Proper watering and when to water is essential for a successful container garden. However, poor drainage will slowly kill the plants.

Compost can help with drainage issues for strawberry plants.

A good rule of thumb (actually finger) is to push your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle, if it feels dry – water, if it feels cool and sticks to your finger – don’t water. That was easy enough, right? Well, I have to admit there is a little more to it than that.

Watching the weather is essential to watering as well, we not only need to watch for high heat days and rainy days, but cloudy windy days as well. You will need to water more on cloudy windy days than on normal sunny days.

We need to mind what time of the day we water as well for best results. The best time to water is in the early AM hours; trying to avoid wetting the leaves (this isn’t always possible). Watering early in the morning will allow the leaves to dry in the warmth of the sun before the high heat of the day comes. Watering in the high heat of the day can damage the leaves and watering late-day promotes fungus and disease, because leaves remain wet through the night.

Several friends have asked how often they should water and honestly I cannot tell you that because there are too many variables to consider. The amount and frequency a plant needs is determined by the plant itself, the type of container it is planted in, the weather, location and the construction of the container as well.

I have read many books and magazines that say to water containers daily, but I have found that this is not accurate. There are many plants who are high water plants that in the heat of the summer will need to be watered once sometimes twice a day, that is why you need to check on your plants in the morning and in the evening so determine the plant’s needs. Some containers will absorb heat and thus the soil will dry quicker and daily watering might be necessary. As I stated above, cloudy windy days take a lot out of a plant, so that’s another example where you might need to water more often.

There are containers now that are self-watering and so your plants will not need to be watered daily if you use these kinds of containers. I truly enjoy my self-watering containers and plan on purchase more as my budget permits.

In addition to self-watering containers there are other things that can aid you in not needing to water twice a day or daily. Water-holding gels are becoming popular for use in container gardening. These should be incorporated into the soil mix before planting.

Adding mulch on top of the soil mix will help to reduce water loss and prolong those daily watering sessions. Compost, straw, pine needles, grass clippings, shredded bark and moss are all acceptable for your containers.

The long and short of it is I find that using the finger test is the best and easiest for me. There are those who use the drip irrigation method, I personally have not tried it because I like on the third floor of my building and it’s not practical. However, I will read up on it and make that a blog entry for y’all.

                                     Example of drip irrigation.

I hope this has been helpful. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.

Dianna J

Sunshine Blessed Sunshine!

One of my favorite hymns at church is There is Sunshine in My Soul Today and every time I go out to my patio garden I find myself humming this song.

The first verse of that hymn reads:

There is sunshine in my soul today,

More glorious and bright 

than glows in any earthly sky,

For Jesus is my light.

Oh, there's sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

I often think that my plants, if they could sing would sing this hymn, because veggies love sunshine, blessed sunshine and that's what we need to talk about today.

Most vegetable plants need 6-8 hours of direct sun to grow their best. However, leafy crops such as lettuce, cabbage, greens, spinach and parsley can tolerate more shade than root crops such as beets, turnips and onions. Fruit bearing plants, such as cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and eggplant need the most sun of all. 

One major advantage to gardening in containers is that you can place the vegetables in areas where they can receive the best possible growing conditions. If you are not sure how many hours of full sunlight the area you are considering gets you have need to do one of two things; take the time to watch the area and time how long it gets direct sun or purchase a sun calculator to get the most accurate number of hours.

If you live on the East coast and can put your containers on the east side of your apartment or home where they are not shaded you should be getting 6-8 hours of direct sun.

You will also need to take into account the size of the plant as well. You do not want to plant a tall vegetable in a pot in front of a plant that is shorter as the taller plant will shade the other one and you will not get the best results.

We need to thing about heat as well. With sun comes heat and heat can have some serious negative impact on your vegetables.

Soil temperature is key, if the soil is too cold the seeds and plants will not grow and if it’s too hot the roots can cook causing the plants to fail. 

The ideal temperature of soil to successfully grown plants most plants in containers are no lower than 60 degrees and no higher than 80 degrees. Since there are exceptions to this make sure to check the package to see what temperature is best for the plants you want to grow.

Remember the soil will become the same temperature as your growing space. If we have record high temperatures the soil can become too hot and plants will need shaded for part of the day or moved to a cooler area. 

If we have record low temperatures the soil temperature will drop and you will need to cover or bring your plants inside. 

You can check the soil temperature in your containers with a meat thermometer so that you can do what is best for your plants. 

We are lucky to live in North Florida where we have degrees of heat all year round and because of that we can also grow year round; below is a list of common crops that can be planted each month in North Florida.

THINGS YOU CAN GROW YEAR ROUND IN NORTH FLORIDA

January – beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, mustard, bunching onions, English peas, potatoes, radishes and turnips.

February - beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collards, endive/escarole lettuce, mustard, bunching onions, parsley, English peas, potatoes, radishes and turnips.

March – snap beans, pole beans, Lima beans, beets, carrots, celery, collards, corn, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, okra, English peas, southern peas, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, summer squash and tomatoes.

April – cantaloupes, cucumbers, eggplants, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips and watermelons.

May – Lima beans, eggplant, okra, southern peas, and sweet potatoes.

June – Lima beans, eggplant, okra, southern peas, and sweet potatoes.

July - Lima beans, eggplant, okra, southern peas, peppers, and watermelon.

August – broccoli, cauliflower, collards, bunching onions, and turnips.

September – snap beans, pole beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, endive/escarole, lettuce, cucumber, bulbing onions, bunching onions, radishes, and summer squash.

October – beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, Chinese cabbage, collards, kohlrabi, bulbing onions, radishes and spinach.

November - beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, kohlrabi, bulbing and bunching onions, radishes and spinach.

December - beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, Chinese cabbage, bulbing and bunching onions and radishes.

This above information came from the Florida Times Union in 2011. I started this year testing to see if these plants really can grow in the different months. 

In January, I planted broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and radishes. We harvested and enjoyed all we grew already from January. In February, I planted collards, endive/escarole lettuce, and radishes, again we enjoyed all we grew already. In March, I planted almost everything on the list and we have harvested and enjoyed almost all of what we planted. Some were lost to bugs. :0(

Over all though I think the list is very accurate and we can have success by following this planting list. So there you have it, sun and heat two very important components to having a successful patio or container garden.

Hope this information is helpful. Leave me a comment or a question. 

Dianna :0)