North Florida Gardening

[PlainJane]

@SpookyShoe mine are coming back from the roots only, and I’m sad to have lost the branch structure.
So far it looks like I outright lost 3 of the dozen but I’m going to wait a while yet before yanking. I love them despite the lack of cold hardiness.

[PlainJane]

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Yellow snap peas finally setting.

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5 more tomatoes to get into grow bags tomorrow. The final 4 will go into the new raised beds hopefully next weekend.

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I see a lot of cauliflower in our menus next week. This is Song and Purple Crush.

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The 3 bags of onions are doing great. I have a few more planted in ground to see how they do in comparison.

One bag of leeks left, one of carrots, 2 of fennel, one of beets, some Green Mammoth snow peas and of course the fava beans - just in time for the weather to cool off a tiny bit starting mid-week.

Can’t wait for the raised beds to be ready and get the beans, melon, cukes, eggplant and peppers in there.

[PlainJane]

The yard is even more of a total mess than usual as DH is installing the irrigation lines in the new raised bed area.
The stone left over from the wall is going into various front yard projects, next fall lol.
Then (whopee) we can re-sod the backyard.

[GoDawgs]

That's a gorgeous purple cauliflower!

[PlainJane]

Irrigation installation is messy, dirty pita work. Poor DH.

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I potted up the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant that are destined to eventually live in the new raised beds. This buys me a few weeks so the irrigation can be completed and tested, and the beds put in place and filled.

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The remaining 30 tomatoes are in grow bags and first level of cages installed.

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First fruit is on Sailor’s Luck, seed from Secret Seed Cartel. https://secretseedcartel.com/product/sailors-luck/

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[PlainJane]

That's a gorgeous purple cauliflower!

Thanks @GoDawgs. Mostly I grow the oddball colors of cauliflower as they are typically $5 a head in the grocery store and I love how they look in the garden.

[PlainJane]

Raised bed irrigation is installed and tested for leaks so now starts the re-leveling fun. Oh, and I need to get at the rest of the weeds.

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[PlainJane]

I wish it had rained longer, but at least we got something. And it’s cooled off.
Plants look much happier.

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[PlainJane]

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Onionland.

[PlainJane]

Vroom and off to the races with the tomatoes.

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[GoDawgs]

Thanks a lot, PJ. Now I have a case of plant envy. LOL!

You've been a busy lady!

[Rockporter]

Irrigation installation is messy, dirty pita work. Poor DH.
207EEE8F-4FA0-466A-9389-F9A665FFD259.jpeg
I potted up the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant that are destined to eventually live in the new raised beds. This buys me a few weeks so the irrigation can be completed and tested, and the beds put in place and filled.
4891F272-AD95-4C6A-AF34-DF05768EFA18.jpeg
The remaining 30 tomatoes are in grow bags and first level of cages installed.
B96A6805-D879-44F1-B68A-33D86547D1F8.jpeg
First fruit is on Sailor’s Luck, seed from Secret Seed Cartel. https://secretseedcartel.com/product/sailors-luck/
11F59184-A0CE-4CA7-9387-89D675793DD1.jpeg

Looks like you have had the work cut out for you too. It looks great.

[PlainJane]

DH told me yesterday he hopes this is it for big garden projects that involve him for a while because he wants to tackle the garage re-siding. My first thought was that I’ve just planted pole beans along there.
Lol.

[PlainJane]

Dry-fitting everything to make sure the paper plan works in the site.
The bottom layer of stone will be hidden by wood chip mulch.
Doubled up landscape fabric will line the beds.
Each bed will eventually have drip tape irrigation plus a shutoff valve.

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[GoDawgs]

What are you thinking about putting in that bed? Something perennial or stuff you want to play or experiment with on a temporary basis?

[PlainJane]

What are you thinking about putting in that bed? Something perennial or stuff you want to play or experiment with on a temporary basis?

I have 2 Maglia Rosa tomatoes and 4 sweet peppers earmarked. There will be 2 beds at the top of the space each 3 x 6 ft x 22 inches high.
I’ll be filling in with bush beans, basil and various zinnias, marigolds, etc. The other deep bed will have 2 Brad’s Black Heart, 2 eggplant, zucchini, herbs and flowers.
This cleared area will have 2 additional beds 3 x 8 ft x 16 inches, and 2 more 3 x 6 ft x 16 inches - so a total of 6 raised beds.
I have 6 half wine barrels each about 24 x 24 inches for more zinnias and big stuff like artichokes, melon, fava beans …

One of the arbors between the beds will be for cukes, pole beans, peas, etc. and the other will have passion flowers (for butterfly larva) and hummingbird vines.
I want to get to the planting stage so badly it’s driving me nuts, but I realize we have to slow down and do it right. Don’t want to be re-doing it in 3 years.

[GoDawgs]

That mix of veg and flowering things will be so pretty. You're going to be a busy lady if Hubs sticks to his plan to focus on siding.

[PlainJane]

Some of the last cooler weather stuff like carrots and Brussels sprouts are tucked back where they get late day shade. The fennel will be left for the swallowtails.

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Two of the new raised beds are almost ready to fill - just need to line the bottoms with a couple of layers of thick landscape fabric. There will be wood bark mulch in this whole area once all the beds are done so you won’t see that lower level of cement block stone.

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Always love when the second tier of the tomato cages start going up.

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[GoDawgs]

Progress! It's going to look so pretty when you get done.

And a big thumbs up for the second tier tomato cages. It's kind of a milestone of sorts!

[PlainJane]

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First 2 beds have the landscape fabric lining in and I started dragging over the soil supplements to begin filling them.

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