left to right, top to bottom.
okra: My gardening buddy Nicki gave me a plant. I usually wait until at least July, when nothing else grows, to add okra.
blueberries: 'Sharpblue' blueberries are ripening. I've eaten a bunch of Emeralds this season (they ripened at the end of April). So far, emerald has been the best blueberry. This is the second year they've been in the ground -- I'm expecting lots more berries for next year. I won't bother with rabbit eyes any longer -- Southern Highbush are the best for Central Florida.
herbs: Basil, thyme, mint, thyme, parsley, savory. This time of year, mostly shade, in pots, and lots of water.
'Sea Foam' chard. The only chard i consider growing. Way more heat tolerant than any other; and slugs really can't deal with the savoy-leaf.
pomegranate! -- Bill, another gardening friend, gave me a seedling sometime last year. I don't think this one's edible, but i have a Grenada cultivar that should bear sometime next year.
eggplant 'Little Fingers" from Tomato Growers Supply. Second year in the ground (buried pot, actually), still producing heavily.
'Jet Setter' tomato. Blasted thing's only set one fruit. Not much of a setter...
Michael's crazy squash. I found this volunteer last year in my garden, in August. Just popped up. No idea where it's from. produced ridiculous (20+ from one plant) winter squashes. Sneers at diseases. apparently invincible. Ill behaved. I love it.
Malabar Spinach I have a bunch of these seedlings that I plan to grow them up ropes.
Sorrel. It's been going nonstop all winter, and the hot weather doesn't bother it in the least.
Goose Creek Tomato. Really vigorous tomato. Tasty, too. I'm also growing 'Tiffany' (tgs), Sungold (an excellent cherry), 'Matt's Wild Cherry,' 'Pomegranate.' I have several plants of some of those varietals.
Tabasco Pepper. I've grown this one plant for years in a pot. I dry most of the peppers, but there are always a few handfulls for fresh use, too. Incredibly hot. It's starting to fail this year -- I'll probably get a new one.
Mississippi Silver Cowpea. From Southern Exposure. Just starting to yield. Grows in sand, no water needed. A handful of plants will provide you with all the delish cowpeas you care to eat... and I eat them with wild abandon in August and September, when nothing else really seems to grow in the garden.
Collards. I've been pickin' at these all winter. Still going strong. Not at all bitter. My wife makes delish green "pies" from these -- a calzone dough, wrapped around a mix of these greens, feta, and olive oil.
Goose Creek Tomato: What a vigorous, wonderful, pest-free tomato bush!
Lettuce crop: 'Appollo' arugula and 'Summer Glory' lettuces (Parks). The shade cloth helps a lot. The arugula deals just fine with the heat. This is the first time i've tried salad crops this late into the summer. Growing in straight-up mushroom compost. Full sun plus shade cloth and lots of water. So far, so good.
Basils: I grow six or seven kinds of basil -- genoa, greek columnar (thanks, tony_k!), african, thai, purple...
Another crazy squash plant
Lagos Spinach: An edible amaranth from echo. does very well in the heat and humidity. Nutty.
Sweet Potatoes. These are volunteers from last year. A mix of Japanese white and traditional orange. My plan is to let the crazy squash and sweet potatoes fight it out for street cred in the sunniest, driest part of the garden.
Tromboncino squash. Just getting started in my garden, but Bill had a bounty of them in his garden already this year. He complains about the taste, but the ones i stole were incredibly tasty -- only squash i've ever eaten that tastes good raw. Dense, sweet, crisp. a single squash has to weight in the 2-3 pound range. Great cooked, too.
Italian Peppers. Another plant from Bill. May and June are the best months for peppers in my experience. Come June, i'll have so many I can't eat them all. I have eight or nine peppers in my garden.
Cassava. Looks just like pot, no? My gardening buddy Felix gave me cuttings. I got six plants from the one branch he gave me, and I've added some variegated ones i found on sale as a foliage plant. First time I've grown them in my garden. I love cassava.
In addition to these vegetables, I have Malanga, Okinawan Spinach, Cachucha peppers; and of course figs, citrus, bananas, and grapes coming along towards harvest at the end of summer.
The photographs were taken after I got back from work, when the plants were pretty droopy. Taking pictures of beds is problematic, the moreso since I lack right now any background foliage from this perspective.
Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne write Homegrown Evolution, a blog that explores a fast-growing new movement: urbanites are becoming gardeners and farmers. Kelly and Erik are the authors of The Urban Homestead coming out in June of 2008 from Process Media. They have researched and experimented with small scale urban agriculture since moving to their tiny bungalow in Los Angeles ten years ago. Since 2006, in this practical, hands-on blog, we have shared our successes and failures and include step-by-step directions and links to resources that will get you started urban homesteading immediately, whether you live in an apartment or a house. Contact us at survivela [insert “at” symbol] sbcglobal.net.
Weather Discussion : Weather Underground: "The last major rain event occurred on Apr 6th when much of east central Florida received between 1.50-2.00' of rain. Since then... all of the major reporting stations (kdab/kmco/kmlb/kvrb) have received less than a quarter inch of rain total."
The Greywater Guerrillas: "Recycling Water the Greywater Guerrillas' WayThese guys are the real thing...
Greywater is water that flows down sink, shower, and washing machine drains--but not the toilet. Greywater may contain traces of dirt, food, grease, hair, and household cleaning products. While greywater may look “dirty,” it is a safe and even beneficial source of irrigation water. If released into rivers, lakes, or estuaries, the nutrients in greywater (mainly phosphate from detergent) become pollutants, but to garden plants, they are valuable fertilizer. Aside from the obvious benefits of saving water (and money on your water bill), reusing your greywater keeps it out of the sewer or septic system, thereby reducing the chance that it will pollute local water bodies Reusing greywater for irrigation reconnects urban residents and our backyard gardens to the natural water cycle."
I have a very high threshold for such things, and even I quaked, when it came to be MY TURN to take the accumulated scraps to... the swarm. Caught some nice bluegill, though, using the soldier fly maggots as bait.
So for Mothers Day (in addition to buying a new super-efficient fridge to replace our 1995 model), I built my wife (and myself, of course)... a drum composter!
Fifteen bucks for the barrel. Twelve for the hardware and 4x4x8's. I used a salvaged steel rod from our old awning (very very strong), and the top from an old trashcan. Four conduit brackets hold the barrel onto the posts.
I still need to add a doorknob to make turning easier, and rig up some way of keeping the door closed when turning. Oh, and i need to finish painting it and clean it up some. But otherwise, I'm pretty satisfied.
It's at exactly the right height to empty into my wheelbarrow, and I have the option to add a second barrel, above the existing one, if we decide we need it. We could start compost in the top, transfer to the bottom when that load is finished.
The hardest things were cutting the plastic neatly (it's seriously stiff plastic -- I broke a jigsaw blade and wore out two power drill batteries cutting the holes) and digging the four foot holes for the posts (dry dry dry sand and no posthole digger). Otherwise, an afternoon project. It turns the compost beautifully, and drains well, which should help the soldier fly maggot problem. Too hot and dry for them to flourish.
