Worm Barrel

Hello folks! 

I made my first outdoor worm bin this weekend. I used leaves, composted horse manure, peat and coco coir for bedding. Then tossed in some partially decomposed banana leaves and dwarf marigold trimmings on top. It's located in a shady spot under a Crepe Myrtle in a bed on the north end of my house. I'll throw in some landscape cloth to cover it and keep out birds. I got this idea from Rob Bob's You tube channel. If you are interested in worm composting you should check him out.

So...... Until next time......HAPPY GARDENING!

HELP! My Garden is Overgrowing Me!

Hello folks!

Last week I harvested the largest of my Yardlong Beans and had enough for a couple of meals. They were delicious cooked with onions and crumbled bacon. I decided to let them fill out a little more and pick some this weekend. I'm here to tell you.....this may have been a mistake! I've never seen anything grow so fast!

 This morning I harvested 10 pounds of beans! A lot have grown to the point that they will have to be shelled. I'm going to spend the afternoon freezing most of these, then I'll cook the rest for supper and fry some of the Hill Country Red Okra. I fried some of the Okra last week and it was sweet and tender. Even the large pods were tender! I think I over planted the beans this year. Maybe I shouldn't have planted the whole 20 foot long trellis with beans!   Live and learn!

Here is some more of my harvest from this morning.

The Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes are growing so wildly that the branches from separate plants are reaching out and sort of weaving together, helping to support each other.

This is a cluster of the Riesentrube Cherry Tomatoes.They are highly productive and have a delicious, sweet flavor. I will be growing both of these again next year.

This is a Tropic Tomato. They are really sweet and meaty with small seed pockets. Wonderful!

 I will grow these again, also.

 You can see the damage done by caterpillars. They are even getting into some of the tomatoes and ruining them.

 But, I have purchased some B.t. (Bacillus thuringiesis).

I learned about B.t. back in the '80s from Mother Earth News. It is derived from milk and is OMRI listed. It targets caterpillars only and is not harmful to birds, earthworms or beneficial insects. Totally organic! As I sprayed it on the plants, lots of the caterpillars just dropped off the plants. They don't like it!

 BWAHAHAHA! (That was my evil laugh).

The Black Beauty Eggplants are starting to produce fruit. 

I can't wait for some eggplant casserole!

The Nardello's Sweet Italian Peppers are producing well,also.

Here are some pollinators hard at work in the garden.

There are lots of wasp in the garden, too. I don't try to get close enough for a photo because I'm allergic.

So, this year I have probably planted too much of somethings and not enough of others, but as I stated earlier....Live and Learn!

Next year I will be wiser.

Anyone want to come and pick some beans!

So....Until next time....HAPPY GARDENING! 

Sunday Morning In The Garden

Good morning folks!

It's such a beautiful morning and I couldn't resist getting out in the veggie garden!

Look at what I found.

Those Suyo Long Cucumbers are strange looking, aren't they? But they sure are tastey.

Even though the plants seem to be diseased, they are producing like crazy!

And the Hill Country Red Okra are huge. 

The largest one is 4" long and over 1" wide! 

I'll have some fried Okra very soon! Mmmm!

Well, I've got visitors coming today for smoked ribs, so I've got to get busy.

So....until next time....HAPPY GARDENING!

Veg Update - 2014

Hello folks!

My spring / summer garden is coming right along!
These are Matt's Wild Cherry. They have grown to the top of their stakes and I am pinching them off at that height. Maybe that is why they are called "Wild". They have out grown all of the other varieties.

I harvested my first Tomatoes this past week. They are from the Matt's Wild Cherry. Small fruits loaded with flavor....perfect size for a salad.

The Tropic Tomatoes are loaded with fruit...

....as are the Abraham Lincoln Tomatoes.

The Yardlong Beans have grown to the top of the trellis. I have been looking for blooms for the last two weeks, but none had appeared and I have wondered if the soil had too much nitrogen. But finally today I noticed flower buds forming on the vines. Happiness is a blooming plant!

I also harvested my first Hill Country Heirloom Red Okra.... but it is only two pods for now.

 But there are more on the plants. I can't wait for some fried Okra! This months issue of Southern Living has a good looking recipe. Instead of cutting up the Okra, wack the pod with a mallet to split it down it's length. Dip it in buttermilk, roll it in cornmeal and fry it. Looks delicious... I'm going to have to try it!

The Cucumbers are having a problem. The leaves start turning yellow, then curl up and die.

This may be a fungus problem, but I'm not sure. Anyone know what this is? If so, please comment.

Here is my first Cucumber.

Its a Suyo Long. Sweet flavored, burpless Cucumber from China.

Here are a few more photos.

Purple Cosmos.

French Marigolds.

Cassava and Okra.

The Cassava has reached the bottom of the windows!

It is fun growing all these varieties that I've never grown before.
And there is nothing as satisfying as harvesting food that that I have grown!
God has blessed me with a productive garden!



So....until next time....HAPPY GARDENING!

Summer Breeze.....Makes me feel fine!

Hello folks!

Consider yourself fortunate that you can't hear me singing the title to this post. You might never be able to feel the same about that song. HEHE!

Even though we are technically still in the spring season, summer is in full swing here in northeast Florida. We had a high temperature of 91 degrees this week. We had an unusually long winter here this year, although it was fairly mild. Some of my plants that are usually killed to the ground, survived and are still blooming.

My garden is going full steam ahead. This is how it looks now.

Tomatoes are growing like gang busters!

 This is a Riesentrube Cherry tomato. The Southern Exposure Seed Exchange catalog states that it can have flower clusters that produce 30 - 40 fruits. I think this cluster has at least 40 flower buds, maybe more! It should have 1" fruits.

This is a Matt's Wild Cherry. It should have 1/2" fruits.

Dwarf Marigolds are growing well.

As are the Yard Long Beans...

...and the cucumbers.

The Hill Country Heirloom Red Okra is starting to show its color.

The Cassava has really filled out since it was planted.

 I look forward to trying to use the roots ( if I can learn how to use it ).

This is a variegated Confederate Jasmine that grows by my back porch. It is past full bloom, but still smells wonderful when I come out the back door.

Finally, here are some photos of some more blooming plants around my yard.

Blue Plumbago. So true blue! These were a gift from my mother some years back. 

Cigar plant ( I think).

This is some type of Iris ( not sure of the species ).

 They have bloomed 3 times this spring. I love the blast of white color in my yard!

It really pops!

Oh, I almost forgot.This is the Potatoes I harvested from my compost pile.

I stuck my dirty finger into the photo just to give it some scale. I consider this a perk of composting. I didn't have to plant these! I didn't have to water these! I didn't have to fertilize these! They are a gift from my compost pile!

  COOL!

Now that my plants are finally growing and blooming, I feel peace in my soul. Its a good feeling! But now the real work begins.... weeding, weeding,and more weeding. That's what gardening is all about.... keeping it all looking good!

So...... Until next time...... HAPPY GARDENING!

Spring Planting Update - 2014

Hello folks!


I've been busy this past week planting my garden. I usually get out at first light and work on it for a while before I start my work day.

One morning I found this in the garden.

It appears to be a type of fungi. It reminds me of sea sponges that grew in a reef aquarium I had at one time. Just to give it some scale, its about a foot long. When I returned that afternoon it had changed to an orange color. The next day it was yellow again with a black top. Man .... talk about a soil fungal web!

This is a trellis of sorts that I built for Asparagus beans and Cucumbers.

 I just used what I had available from trimming trees back during the fall. It may not suite everyone's taste, but I like the primitive looks of it .... and it was free. It has a tripod at each end and one in the middle. Hopefully, mother nature won't blow it down.

This is the Chestnut that I planted as a seed back during the holidays. It has really grown great! Its about a foot tall now. I will probably have to add it to my food forest area this fall. I wonder if it will produce nuts here in Florida.... Hummm.

Here is a shot of some Bromeliads that I have. I like growing them in pots because they don't require much water. I really like the red ones. According to the Southern Living Garden Book, they are a hybrid.

How are you doing in your garden? Leave a comment and let me know.





Soooo...... Until next time......HAPPY GARDENING!

Spring Planting - 2014

Hello folks!

I apologize for not making any post lately, I've been very busy trying to make a living and just didn't have the time or the will to do so. But we are into the growing season now and I will try to do better. I've been so busy that I'm a little late in getting my garden planted, but I have done some planting, so here we go!

                                          This is how my winter garden bed looks now.

Some of the Collards have started to bolt. The tall plants are Cilantro and Dill that are blooming. Both are good for drawing in beneficial insects and I've seen mason bees on the Cilantro. I'm letting them go to seed so I can harvest fresh seed.

 I've harvested all of the Turnips and Carrots and planted Eggplants. That's  Eggplant on the left and Dill on the right.

 One of my new beds now has 18 Tomato plants that are doing very well with our warmer weather

I really like these Spanish Brocade Marigolds... they have nice color and should dress up the garden a little.

In the bed on the south end of my home I have planted some Cassava plants. They will grow tall and shade the south wall to help keep the house cooler. I received these as cuttings back in the fall from David the Good of Florida Survival Gardening blog. He will have to teach me how to make use of the roots.

In front of the Cassava. I sewed seeds for Hill Country Heirloom Red Okra. They are just starting to sprout. I can't wait to see how they look with their red stalks and pods. Soon I will be adding Sweet Potatoes to this bed.

On the ornamental side, my Knockout Rose is blooming well. I love the old fashion type blooms.

My Redbud trees are blooming for the first time. They aren't fully loaded with blooms, but I bet they will look great next year.

Back during the holidays, while eating at my favorite seafood place, the waitress gave me a Lemon/Lime fruit. I brought it home and planted 10 seeds. I now have 7 Lemon/ Lime seedlings. At least 2 will be added to the food forest.

Finally, this has nothing to do with gardening, but on a recent fishing outing I got this shot of a Red Eared Slider. Its not easy to get close to one, they usually slide off their log into the water before you can get this close. Maybe it was because I silently move in with my kayak.

I still have more seeds to sew....there will be more to come!

Soooo......Until next time......HAPPY GARDENING!

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