Quarantine Vegetable Gardens

[neesaki]

I had a great time gardening this past winter. I struggled getting the insects under control in the spring. So many of my plants grew really well but didn't produce as much, or the plant died too quickly. I'm emptying one kiddie pool that gets too much shade. I'll move it to a sunnier location.

I believe one issue was not enough pollinators. So this year, I'm growing sunflowers, adding a butterfly garden and had 2 trees (crape myrtle & silver buttonwood) planted. I've covered most of the grass with cardboard, pinned down commercial grade landscape fabric and then added Cypress Blend No Float mulch. I need to go get a little more mulch tonight.

Today I bought 10 milkweed plants. 4 large 3 gallon sized with solid green leaves and 6 small 1 gallon sized variegated leaves. They are the native to Florida type. I kept the sprinkler on them for 90 minutes after I sat them in the beds to prevent shock. I'll plant them at sunset.

You are right, the heat has been unbearable and even the things that do grow in the summer in SWFL, died. I am working in the yard at sunrise and sunset.

As soon as I finish the front yard, then I can work in getting my garden ready for our season (Oct-Apr). We haven't the normal summer rains. I guess all the hurricanes are waiting to bombard us at once?

What a lot of work you’ve been doing! So you’re going to plant the butterfly garden in the new mulched area of your yard? I don’t think I’m familiar with milk weed plants. I’m assuming they attract butterflies. They’re very pretty too.

 

[PayrollNerd]

What a lot of work you’ve been doing! So you’re going to plant the butterfly garden in the new mulched area of your yard? I don’t think I’m familiar with milk weed plants. I’m assuming they attract butterflies. They’re very pretty too.

The monarch butterflies are headed south. Florida is a stopover before they go further south for the winter.

I saw one in the garden center this morning. I’m putting them in the 2 raised beds in front of the house. I’ll be able to watch from my sewing room window.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Ok all the milkweed & stupid red ants, are planted. Good thing I was wearing gloves. I must have picked a plant that had a nest of red ants. They’re very tiny ants. I’ll put some red fire ant granules in there. Hopefully that will stop them from settling in.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Finally have all the mulch down that’s going in at the moment. Haven’t decided on edging altho, I do have the plastic 4” roll type. I’d prefer a stone or brick but that’s pricey

Bought 4 Pentas, 2 red and 2 violet. I have some Dill seeds but, it’s not the recommended strain for SWFL. I have other herb seeds too that butterflies like.

I have 5 little sunflower seeds sprouting in the front bed.

 

[IceIce9]

I have several volunteer sunflower seeds that appeared, growing in with my eggplant. I had no idea they were there until they bloomed.

I feed my birds sunflower seeds so that is probably where they came from.

 

[PayrollNerd]

At sunrise I mulched the butterfly garden beds. They kinda blend in but the pollinators will no doubt find the plants.

Yesterday I added 2 purple Astor and 2 yellow coreopsis. I chose the plants based on what I could find locally. I had researched other types but couldn’t find them here.

The solar peacock was a gift from years ago. I never had a place for it before now.

Next week a storm is moving thru, so I haven’t planted any herb seeds. Figured they’d drown before they ever germinated.

One row of sunflower sprouts are doing fine. The other types of sunflower seeds take longer to germinate.

 

[PayrollNerd]

More yard fun this morning. In the veggie garden, I had 2 kiddie pools that didn’t get enough sun. I emptied them one bucket & pull cart at a time.

On the other end of the garden, I put down cardboard & landscape fabric. The pools cracked some on the edge. They get brittle in the FL sun. I should get another year out of them. In each pool I mixed in 2 bags of compost to the old soil. Now they’re ready for plants.

The impeding hurricane is likely to drop a ton of rain at once. To prevent the mulch from sliding away, I robbed the veggie garden of its old concrete edging. It’s not what I want there but it will get me thru storm season.

The butterfly garden has a wasp and a bee today!

 

[IceIce9]

My mom had a wonderful idea after she retired, to collect old wheelbarrows that were no longer usable as wheelbarrows. Clean them, paint them in pretty colors, then fill with dirt and plant a tomato plant in each.

She could roll them across her back yard every day to follow the sun.

 

[PayrollNerd]

My yard survived Hurricane Idalia pretty well. The new buttonwood tree lost a little branch. A few butterfly garden plants are tilted. When the last of the Idalia tail lashing finishes moving thru, I'll get them straightened up.

The sunflowers that sprouted are doing ok. I noticed one had been chomped. It had black dust which I'm sure was some sort of bug. I rubbed all the black dots off and hope all the rain helped too.

There are some oak branches and twigs to get up before the lawn guy comes tomorrow.

Before the storm I was able to get more cardboard down, landscape fabric and got some of it pinned. I used pieces of concrete to hold it down until the new box of pins arrived. In between showers today I got it pinned but ran out of fabric. I don't feel like going to Home Depot in the pouring rain. Maybe tomorrow.

I'm going to rake up the area I took the one kiddie pool out of. It's too close to the A/C and gate. I will probably let it go back to being grass.

The avocado tree and blueberry bush are doing well. The birdbaths need to be cleaned out.

Hopefully we won't have another hurricane this season that is as bad as Adalia has been.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Been working in the garden putting down new "flooring" to walk on. The old landscape fabric was deteriorating from the sun. I finished the cardboard and another layer of fabric. If mulch goes on sale, I may put a thin layer over it to protect the fabric from the sun.

I had a harmless black 3' slithery visitor today. He slithered away under the roll of garden mesh. I was digging up the area where the kiddie pool was and noticed what looked like a 4" baby. Definitely not a worm, they tend to be brown/red. The wetlands behind me probably has a lot of food sources for them.

I am at the point where I can work on prepping the beds. The kiddie pool area is all raked out. I have 16 bags of compost and 4 bags of perlite to add into the beds, kiddie pools and individual pots.

My butterfly garden was covered in aphids. I sat out there on my garden stool and sprayed water on every single plant, nearly every leaf, which blasted them off. Once they're off, they can't climb back on the plants. I had a Monarch butterfly today and the other day there was a different, lighter colored butterfly. I've seen wasps and today there was a bee. (I'm allergic to bees so I gave it some space.)

I truly hope all these pollinators will help my veggie garden be more successful this year. I'm not going to grow as big of a variety this time. Now that I know what does well, I'm going to focus on what I like and what will do well here.

 

[Jewels53]

Been working in the garden putting down new "flooring" to walk on. The old landscape fabric was deteriorating from the sun. I finished the cardboard and another layer of fabric. If mulch goes on sale, I may put a thin layer over it to protect the fabric from the sun.

I had a harmless black 3' slithery visitor today. He slithered away under the roll of garden mesh. I was digging up the area where the kiddie pool was and noticed what looked like a 4" baby. Definitely not a worm, they tend to be brown/red. The wetlands behind me probably has a lot of food sources for them.

I am at the point where I can work on prepping the beds. The kiddie pool area is all raked out. I have 16 bags of compost and 4 bags of perlite to add into the beds, kiddie pools and individual pots.

My butterfly garden was covered in aphids. I sat out there on my garden stool and sprayed water on every single plant, nearly every leaf, which blasted them off. Once they're off, they can't climb back on the plants. I had a Monarch butterfly today and the other day there was a different, lighter colored butterfly. I've seen wasps and today there was a bee. (I'm allergic to bees so I gave it some space.)

I truly hope all these pollinators will help my veggie garden be more successful this year. I'm not going to grow as big of a variety this time. Now that I know what does well, I'm going to focus on what I like and what will do well here.

Yuck on the Black snake! Looking good @PayrollNerd!

 

[PayrollNerd]

More playing in the dirt with a break for my treatment yesterday. 20 mg of Dex (steroid) pumping thru me so I am taking advantage of it. Can't sleep, my legs are restless so I might as well garden, right?

I've mainly worked on soil improvement and sorting gardening supplies. All the poles I use for trellises are sorted. Old cardboard from the kiddie pool area I tore up went in the compost pile.

The soil in the raised bed became compacted as expected. I had used the hugelkultur method initially. When I turned the soil about 99% of the twigs, thick sticks, oak leaves, cardboard, and whatever else I tossed in there, had composted down. I added compost/cow manure, perlite and garden soil to fill the beds back up. They lose some soil as the bulky things compost and some soil when large plants are removed.

Some roots from the oak tree grew up thru the bottom but I expected that. I pulled them out as best I could and I'll compost them. I found some clumps of invasive orchids and a number of big fat white grubs, a few roaches, and assorted bugs. Stepped on the grubs and the ants are having dinner.

I finished one 4' x 8' x 12" bed and one 3'x 6' x 12" bed. I will start the remaining 4' x 8' x 12" bed tomorrow. I'll need to pick up a few more bags of soil and perlite. I have seed starting soil to sprinkle on top. I mainly start from seeds as it is budget friendly.

 

[PayrollNerd]

The front yard is coming along. I'm seeing bees, wasps, moths and butterflies. I need to spray off the aphids again.

My sunflowers are doing good. I added another set of seeds to see if I can get some others to germinate. A few came up!

Today I planted the 2 plumerias I was given. One is yellow, one is pink. My neighbor is giving me clippings off his white plumeria too.

I have a Ti plant that is barely alive. It was getting too much sun. I will get it planted this week.

Once I have the last plumeria and the Ti plant in the ground, I'll focus on the back yard. I have one more 4' x 8' x 12" to prep. Once I finish that, the entire veggie area is ready for seeds and plants.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Well, other than my little individual pots that need their soil refreshed, I am ready to plant. I have 4 kiddie pools that are 42" round. Two raised beds that are 4' x 8' x 12" and one raised bed that is 3' x 6' x 12". Some days, I still don't think it's enough. The garden center's truck comes on Thursday. I'm going to see what starts they have tomorrow.

We had a gully washer, rain blowing sideways, storm come thru. Then it paused and now it's coming straight down. Finally! We're so dry here in SWFL. My little sunflowers are leaning to the right. I'm sure they'll straighten themselves up. I almost went out there to stake them up this morning.

My aunt & uncle in Sebastian FL have decided to follow my lead with gardening. This is their first full year in FL. They've been snowbirds since 2019. They got a plot in their community garden area and have their first raised bed installed. They combined two 3' x 6' x 12" beds to make one long bed for each side. Then the back will have a 4' x 8' x 12" bed to make the U shape.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Today I was able to get the Ti Plant installed. It needs part shade so this corner of the house should be the right spot.

I prepped the little round bed for the white plumeria cuttings that my neighbor is going to give me. I have the powdered growth hormone to dip them in.

The sunflowers are doing ok and had an orange ladybug today. The butterfly garden is doing well. I need to deadhead the little blue flowers and the yellow flowers.

All my veggie garden beds are ready for planting. I bought some starter plants and a seed starter kit. I’m trying to do succession planting this year.

I have all my plants on the table in bins to catch the water. I’m not putting anything in the ground until mid Oct. I don’t trust Mother Nature to not send us another hurricane.

8 Romaine
6 broccoli
6 Brussels sprouts
2 Roma tomatoes
2 Celebrity tomatoes
1 Big Best tomato
4 Zucchini
1 seed starter kit

 

[anneg]

Today I was able to get the Ti Plant installed. It needs part shade so this corner of the house should be the right spot.

I prepped the little round bed for the white plumeria cuttings that my neighbor is going to give me. I have the powdered growth hormone to dip them in.

The sunflowers are doing ok and had an orange ladybug today. The butterfly garden is doing well. I need to deadhead the little blue flowers and the yellow flowers.

All my veggie garden beds are ready for planting. I bought some starter plants and a seed starter kit. I’m trying to do succession planting this year.

I have all my plants on the table in bins to catch the water. I’m not putting anything in the ground until mid Oct. I don’t trust Mother Nature to not send us another hurricane.

8 Romaine
6 broccoli
6 Brussels sprouts
2 Roma tomatoes
2 Celebrity tomatoes
1 Big Best tomato
4 Zucchini
1 seed starter kit

Looking good! And I like the captions on the photos!

 

[PayrollNerd]

Today was seed day. I realized I didn't have any zucchini seeds but I have starter plants.

The Clancy Potatoes are new to me. I love those tiny red potatoes. I put all 12 seeds in an egg carton. The container can't be too big because you don't want the plant to create tubers before they are planted.

I have 2 strawberry towers so 12 spots on each for 24 plants. I put 4-5 seeds in each little spot. I really hope they germinate.

I had a couple empty pots and added mini bell peppers to one. They were so cute last year.

I started 3 types of squash (yellow, spaghetti & acorn) plus a row of Brussels sprouts. We love sugar snap peas so I did 18 plants and have to go out and create a trellis for them.

There are 3 types of lettuce, Little Gem, Buttercrunch and Romaine.

I started 3 types of tomatoes by seed and that's in addition to the starter plants I bought.

The spinach, carrots, rutabagas and beets are all direct sow. I'll plant them this week. It takes a week or two for them to germinate so hopefully no torrential rains in Oct.

Neeko the Pro Garden Dog (my best friends husky) has helped me every day by sniffing and chasing squirrels. He was here when I did my spring garden too. He is so well behaved, doesn't dig, follows me like a shadow. He's such a good boy! He goes back home tonight and I will miss him!

 

[anneg]

Today was seed day. I realized I didn't have any zucchini seeds but I have starter plants.

The Clancy Potatoes are new to me. I love those tiny red potatoes. I put all 12 seeds in an egg carton. The container can't be too big because you don't want the plant to create tubers before they are planted.

I have 2 strawberry towers so 12 spots on each for 24 plants. I put 4-5 seeds in each little spot. I really hope they germinate.

I had a couple empty pots and added mini bell peppers to one. They were so cute last year.

I started 3 types of squash (yellow, spaghetti & acorn) plus a row of Brussels sprouts. We love sugar snap peas so I did 18 plants and have to go out and create a trellis for them.

There are 3 types of lettuce, Little Gem, Buttercrunch and Romaine.

I started 3 types of tomatoes by seed and that's in addition to the starter plants I bought.

The spinach, carrots, rutabagas and beets are all direct sow. I'll plant them this week. It takes a week or two for them to germinate so hopefully no torrential rains in Oct.

Neeko the Pro Garden Dog (my best friends husky) has helped me every day by sniffing and chasing squirrels. He was here when I did my spring garden too. He is so well behaved, doesn't dig, follows me like a shadow. He's such a good boy! He goes back home tonight and I will miss him!

Neeko is a delightful dog! You're going to have a great garden.

 

[acutename]

Today was seed day. I realized I didn't have any zucchini seeds but I have starter plants.

The Clancy Potatoes are new to me. I love those tiny red potatoes. I put all 12 seeds in an egg carton. The container can't be too big because you don't want the plant to create tubers before they are planted.

I have 2 strawberry towers so 12 spots on each for 24 plants. I put 4-5 seeds in each little spot. I really hope they germinate.

I had a couple empty pots and added mini bell peppers to one. They were so cute last year.

I started 3 types of squash (yellow, spaghetti & acorn) plus a row of Brussels sprouts. We love sugar snap peas so I did 18 plants and have to go out and create a trellis for them.

There are 3 types of lettuce, Little Gem, Buttercrunch and Romaine.

I started 3 types of tomatoes by seed and that's in addition to the starter plants I bought.

The spinach, carrots, rutabagas and beets are all direct sow. I'll plant them this week. It takes a week or two for them to germinate so hopefully no torrential rains in Oct.

Neeko the Pro Garden Dog (my best friends husky) has helped me every day by sniffing and chasing squirrels. He was here when I did my spring garden too. He is so well behaved, doesn't dig, follows me like a shadow. He's such a good boy! He goes back home tonight and I will miss him!

reading about all this gardening is making me tired! I have had some luck with tomatoes some years but they need lots of sun. This year I had a fair amount of raspberries. Potatoes always seem to be sprouting, but if I put them in the ground, nothing edible comes of it...or maybe the animals get to them. I had a big pot full of micro greens one year that were fun to eat as salads. Every plant, though, seems to call out to its pest- tomatoes one day; horn worms shortly after. Good luck.

 

[IceIce9]

We have decided that our favorite tomato varieties this summer are Cherokee Purple and Black Prince. These plants produced an amazing amount of tomatoes that had excellent flavor.

The best cherry tomatoes we grew these year are Chocolate Sprinkles and a variety called Juliette that I found at an Amish greenhouse. I’ve grown Chocolate Sprinkles before but it was the first time I’ve grown Juliette.