Saturday, August 18, 2007

Veg Garden Cleanup

I spent the morning ripping out virtually everything from my veg garden, excepting some peppers, crowder peas, one cherry tomato, an eggplant ('Little Fingers'), a patch of okra, and my sweet potatoes...

Well, I know that sounds like a lot is left, but the garden looks empty. (I'll try to remember to post a picture of it tomorrow.) I laid down about one-hundred pounds of well-aged compost from my bins, a thick layer of newspaper of that compost, and then a thick layer of pine needles (the needles are more aesthetic than functional). In a patch of crowders that I started a few weeks ago, I transplanted the corn I started in jiffy-cups a couple of weeks ago. (Kind of an abbreviated version of the 'three sisters' approach to growing corn.) Next week, I'll plant out the cukes and tomatoes.

It's very dry here, but I've been irrigating and the growing conditions are otherwise perfect. My new 'Lady of Guadalupe' roses are just amazing -- the form of hybrid-teas on a floribunda bush. The cuttings I started last month are coming along well, too. Everything but the agastache rooted.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm in Deland also..where did you get your roses?

Michael said...

DEB,
my roses come from all over, but to start with: Nelson's (in Apopka), and Merrygro Farms. My OGRs are from Seminole Springs (outside Mt Dora). You can google all those & get their online info.

Danielles Garden said...

My tomatoes, peppers, and many of my strawberries have just shrivled up. I'm 2 hours south of you in Stuart and I am ust waiting to plant something edible that won't die. Any thoughts?

Michael said...

Southern peas, okra, cherry tomatoes. Or, just wait a month, and you can do just about anything.

If you can get cuttings, try Taioba (delicious Brazilian substitute for spinach -- but BETTER than spinach. Grows in shade, too!) or Okinawan Spinach. Both these make a fine, quick crop for this time of the year.