North Florida Gardening

[GoDawgs]

Ah, the first new starts for the new year! And so it begins.

BTW, how did your citrus do in the cold?

[PlainJane]

@GoDawgs I’m seeing some leaf drop on the lime and some brown extremities on the lemon and avocado. And of course the blossoms all dropped on the lemon. The lemons already formed we’re near ripe and are fine. The pluots are loving it.
So not too bad on the tree front.
It looks hideous out there as the African Blue Basil is kaput and all the half-hardy salvias are brown sticks. The Tecoma ‘Bells of Fire’ looks particularly sad. Last 2 years we didn’t have a single hard frost and the orchard garden looked fantastic all winter.

[bower]

Basil is such a cold sensitive plant. It's strictly a greenhouse grow for us, and even then, it can fail in a cool summer. But luckily for you they are easily replaced and certain to thrive in normal conditions. I'm really happy your trees had limited damage. It would be too sad if you had to replace them and start over.

[pepperhead212]

Glad to hear about the trees. Basil is hopeless in temps like that - it is my first thing to go every year, in low 40s/high 30s.

[GoDawgs]

Good news about the trees! I was out trimming all the dead foliage from the carrots as new ones are poking up. I only got one side of the bed done as that half crouch really gets to my knees. But I did get get the scallions trimmed and half of the leeks too.

[PlainJane]

Tomatoes, eggplant and pepper seeds are starting to pop up and paperwhites are opening.
Heavenly fragrance.

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[PlainJane]

Things look much better now that we’re a couple of weeks past the big freeze.
Harvesting fennel and looks like carrots are about ready.

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Peas got a bit nipped but the new ones are up.
Fava beans are setting a few pods.

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Frisée set to go and the crazy cool radicchio is coming along.
Red Bull Brussels sprouts taking off too finally.
Had to restart cauliflower and broccoli so will have a big gap harvest-wise.

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[GoDawgs]

It's always nice to see things about ready to harvest this time of year. It sounds like your plants survived the cold for the most part. I'm lucky my broccoli was done except for some side shoots.

[PlainJane]

Pulled some carrots for a stew in the works and found a few favas ready too.

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[GoDawgs]

I thought about you yesterday when I heard it was 83 in J-ville!

[PlainJane]

It’s been absolutely gorgeous here last couple of days @GoDawgs.

[PlainJane]

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Getting some really nice frisée now …

[PlainJane]

Getting ready to do some work in the mini-orchard area but had to put the kids out first on this beautiful day.
My little helper in the background.

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[karstopography]

@PlainJane your sets look great and about as far along as mine are. We are getting closer to getting them into their permanent spots.

[PlainJane]

This year’s tomato list

Daniel Burson
Hoosier Outlaw Black Cherry
Grandma Oliver's Chocolate
BKX
Amalfi Orange
KBX
Eva Purple Ball
Reya Rey
Green Doctor's Frosted
Cherokee Carbon
Maglia Rosa
Spudakee
Soldacki
Brad's Black Heart
Pilot Knob Green
Sailor's Luck
Mary Reynolds
Solar Flare
Green Bee
Pamplemousse du Grand Père

Peppers and eggplant are also started and coming along.

[Seven Bends]

This year’s tomato list

Daniel Burson
Hoosier Outlaw Black Cherry
Grandma Oliver's Chocolate
BKX
Amalfi Orange
KBX
Eva Purple Ball
Reya Rey
Green Doctor's Frosted
Cherokee Carbon
Maglia Rosa
Spudakee
Soldacki
Brad's Black Heart
Pilot Knob Green
Sailor's Luck
Mary Reynolds
Solar Flare
Green Bee
Pamplemousse du Grand Père

Peppers and eggplant are also started and coming along.

Nice list, and beautiful plants! Are any of these new to you this year? Still 6 or 7 weeks before I'll plant my tomato seeds, and I'll probably use every bit of that time trying to decide what to plant.

[PlainJane]

@Seven Bends yes, I typically do my faithfuls then experiment.
Daniel Burson, KBX, Green Bee, Maglia Rosa, Solar Flare and Grandma Oliver’s Chocolate are repeats. I grew Eva Purple Ball maybe 5 years ago and wanted to work it back in this year. Everything else is new.
I’ve cut back this year as I’m transitioning from all grow bags to mostly raised garden beds and I just can’t juggle 40 tomato plants on top of other veggies.
Next year watch out lol.

[Seven Bends]

@Seven Bends yes, I typically do my faithfuls then experiment.
Daniel Burson, KBX, Green Bee, Maglia Rosa, Solar Flare and Grandma Oliver’s Chocolate are repeats. I grew Eva Purple Ball maybe 5 years ago and wanted to work it back in this year. Everything else is new.
I’ve cut back this year as I’m transitioning from all grow bags to mostly raised garden beds and I just can’t juggle 40 tomato plants on top of other veggies.
Next year watch out lol.

I hope Cherokee Carbon does well for you; it's one of my favorites. Good luck with your new system!

[PlainJane]

Lol, it’s always something.
Our side yard is becoming the main veggie growing area with raised beds. We’ve been working on prep most weekends digging weeds, leveling, etc.
About a week ago we hit this, or what’s left of it after the chainsaw died.

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Damn stump is 6 x 4 feet at least. DH went to rent a bigger chainsaw until he can repair ours.

[PlainJane]

I managed to get the 2 figs and weeping plum planted while all that excitement was going on.

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