Scattered...

A landmark of sorts. This is the 501st post at Gardening in Central Florida.

I sowed yesterday and today...

• Belgian White carrots
  
• Sugar Snax carrots
• di Cicco broccoli
• Dukat dill
• Jericho lettuce

I also pricked out the candytuft, gaura, geranium, and calendula seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago.

Later... Oh, I forgot... I sowed some Florence fennel, too.

Quickly...

Ah... The carnage. My yard is brown. So much is dead.

So, today I started spring seeds...

ABC--Cucuzzi Squash
DEF--Tatume Squash
GHI--Jetsetter Tomato
JKL--Cucino Cuke
MND--Sweet Spot Pepper X3R

And, in a smaller flat
A--Little Fingers Eggplants
B--Sungold Tomato
C--I have no idea. Forgot to write it down. Darn.

Cool season seeds for flowers...

I started yesterday, in my Parks seed starter...
1 Calendula
2 (ABC) Ivy geranium (wonderful!)
2 (DEF) Ringo Scarlet Geranium (both geraniums from Swallowtail)
3,4 Gaura 'The Bride'
5, 6, 7 Candytuft 'Dwarf Fairyland'

And a big flat of snapdragons...

These are all plants that have proven reliable for the spring/early summer. I direct sowed nasturtiums.

Latest seed order...

From Pinetree. Cheap seeds, good selection. These have all worked well for me.

Pinetree Garden Seeds
PO Box 300
New Gloucester, ME 04260

Product #: SP17-MUNCHING MIX 4 OZ
Product #: 431-TOKYO CROSS TURNIP (F1 hybrid 30 days)
Product #: 303-FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISH (25 days)
Product #: 7201-SUGAR SNAX CARROT (F1 hybrid 63 days)
Product #: 189-CRESS-UPLAND (25 days)
Product #: 19102-DINOSAUR KALE (53 days)

Seeds are up...

So, I wouldn't go quite so far as to say that the dry season is upon us... but, for the first time in months, this evening was quite pleasant. Hot and not exactly dry... but not muggy. We had a nice shower around four that cooled things off, and the sun was so low that it could no longer warm things back up. When I did my after-work walk through the garden, it was wholly pleasant.

I noticed that most of my seeds were up--broccoli, collards, arugula, and chard.

Gearing up for fall...

It's still blasted hot out, but already the quality of the sun's light has changed and the days are growing noticeably shorter. My fall tomatoes and peppers are doing well--I'll try to transplant them into the garden by September 1, reserving some seedlings to replace the inevitable attrition.

For the first time, I've left the strawberries to do their whole runner business, so I won't have to reorder. The plants appear quite healthy and they've put out lots of "daughters." (Typically here in FLA, we grow strawberries as annuals; however, I ordered some new hybrids last year that touted disease resistance.)

Anyway, busy time of life for me, but I need to get my ducks in a row if I'm to have a good garden in November... My order from Pinetree seeds.

98 SEA FOAM SWISS CHARD (53 days)
519 CHERVIL
7201 SUGAR SNAX CARROT (F1 hybrid 63 days)
3601 RED CLOUD BEET (F1 hybrid 50 days)

The Sea Foam chard is the only one I'd consider growing here in FLA. I've grown it side-by-side with other cultivars, and there is simply no comparison. I had pretty good luck last fall, for the first time, growing beets. They are really finicky about germinating during the winter, but the ones I got to grow produced nice beets. Chervil is a total mainstay for me--grows in the shade all winter until late spring. A great addition to salads. The carrots are just a lark. I have had the
best luck with Sweet Treat (another hybrid), but why not try another, too?

I'll sow most of the dry/cool season crops throughout October, as soon as the weather cools down a bit.

Tomatoes and Peppers

Today, for fall/winter garden,I planted some Solanaceae:

• Nepal tomato
• Black Plum tomato
• Jetsetter tomato (these three tomatoes were recommended highly for fall planting on the Florida GardenWeb forum)
• Sweet Spot X3R Hybrid pepper
• Little Fingers eggplant

And, because I had some seeds, papalo and epazote to replace my exhausted herbs.

Most of those seeds were purchased from Tomato Growers Supply. Or search this site for other sources.

I've only ever had modest luck with fall-planted tomatoes. This time, I'm going to grow only the three above (and probably the couple of Sun Gold tomatoes that have been growing since early spring -- they will continue to produce until frost, if I let them). Give them a ton of room and a strong pole.

Latest Southern Exposure order...

For fall planting...

· Willow-Leaf White BEAN, LIMA (POLE) 14g seed, USDA Certified Organic

· Jericho PVP LETTUCE .5g seed, USDA Certified Organic

· Burgundy OKRA 5g seed, USDA Certified Organic

· Belgian White (Lunar White) CARROT, WHITE 3g seed, USDA Certified Organic

· Premium Crop - hybrid BROCCOLI .3g seed

· De Cicco BROCCOLI 2g seed, USDA Certified Organic

· Champion COLLARDS 1g seed, USDA Certified Organic

· McCaslan BEAN, SNAP (POLE) 28g seed

Some seeds I'm considering from Evergreen

• Coriander, Slow Bolt Winner
• Korean Radish, Hybrid Sweet
• Chinese Radish, Red Skin
• Daikon Radish, Miyashige Green Neck
• Korean Squash, Hybrid Green BT
• Edible Amaranth, Tender Leaf
• Komatsuna, Hybrid Kojisan
• Japanese Squash, Hybrid Tetsukabuto

Fennel seeds from Florence fennel

I planted this fennel last November or so, in what was then my butterfly garden. It made it through the frosts and inundations and droughts and now has been blooming for a couple of months. I pick the seed caps as they dry, separate out the seeds, let them dry, and add them to my spice jar. My three or four little plants have produced easily two cups of seeds this season.

Seed update

From Isaac's observation journal...

Column 2, 3 (Summer Glory) -- lots of sprouts, some large, some small.
Column 4 (Epazote)-- no germination yet
Column 5 (Amaranth) -- two cells sprouted
Column 6 (Lagos Spinach) -- spotty germination
Column 7 (Basil) -- great germination
Column 8, 9 (Queensland Lettuce) -- fair germination
Column 10 (Cachucha) -- no germination yet

Seeds for summer harvest...

Parks dome, rows:
10 Cachucha pepper (thanks, Felix!)
8, 9 Queensland lettuce
7 Basil
6 Lagos spinach
5 Amaranth
4 epazote
3,2 sumer glory lettuce blend
(IAD)

More Willis, seeds

Notes to self...

Got my Kadota Fig and Sunred Nectarine from Willis last night. Very impressed -- both much larger than advertised and they appeared in good shape. I put the Mission grape, the Hood Pear, the Pomegranate and Nectarine in the ground, and the Kadota in a big pot.

I also planted all the seeds from Swallowtail, except the Blackberry Lily, which needs to spend some time in the fridge. A lot of seeds!

Need to remember to prick the poppies. Candytuft is up, but Strawflowers are still not germinating. Need to plant more Nasturtiums -- between the Brazilians and the cold, only a couple survived.

Summer flower seed order

From Swallowtail Garden, which has a terrific selection of flowers at prices significantly lower than Thompson-Morgan. I ordered my Torenia seeds from them and was impressed with the quality of the seeds, packaging, and speed of delivery.

Mostly my strategy this year was to order cultivars of natives (like Monarda, Tradescantia and Asclepias) or plants like Penstemon and Agastache that I've seen growing in others' gardens.

BEE BALM, PANORAMA MIX

AGASTACHE, APRICOT SPRITE

AGASTACHE, PINK POP

BEE BALM, PANORAMA RED SHADES

GAURA, THE BRIDE

BUTTERFLY WEED, SOULMATE

OBEDIENCE PLANT, CROWN OF SNOW

PENSTEMON, SCARLET QUEEN

PENSTEMON, TUBULAR BELLS ROSE

BLACKBERRY LILY, FRECKLE FACE

SPIDERWORT, SHIMMER MIXED

MELONS, FASTBREAK CANTALOUPE

ANGEL'S TRUMPET, BALLERINA WHITE

Noel....

TS Noel is sitting off the coast, sending bands of squally rain and sometimes stiff winds across the eastern half of the peninsula. It's been raining here since Friday -- not huge accumulations (around one and a half inches so far). Intermittent, light and brief. The dewpoint and humidity are in the upper 60s, which is very high for this time of the year. Really awful weather, not just for us bipeds but for the garden, too. I need to get out and trim back some roses, before the fertilizer I applied last week kicks in. Plus, the weeds are popping up everywhere. I just cannot bring myself to work in a very wet and windy garden.

Anyway, this weekend, I did manage to transplant the geraniums and herbs that I started as seeds a few weeks ago. I also planted more radish, more chard, some chervil and 'Red Sails' leaf lettuce. The kids' chard ('Bright Lights') is getting chewed up by (I think) flea beetles, though the 'Sea Foam' chard and lettuces that are nearby are untouched.

Cukes continue to produce, though the fruit is often infested with the damn pickleworm. Tomatoes are maybe just now setting fruit. The fig tree has lost its leaves. The citrus is ripening.

Weekend bustling 'bout the garden...

I came home on Friday night to find (somewhat mysteriously) a box of strawberry plants on my doorstep -- three-hundred of them to be exact. I had contacted Ruby Mountain Nursery last week with an inquiry about their berries. It sounds like a great idea -- grow the berries at high altitude, far away from other strawberry plants (thus reducing the chances for viruses). Use minimal fungicides and almost no herbicides. Since it's so cold in La Jara, the plants have already had a good amount of winter chilling and flower bud development; they should produce earlier and grow more vigorously than plants grown in milder areas. Plus, he had commercial varieties that are hard for a home gardener to get. (I got Chandler (an old favorite), Strawberry Festival, and Winter Dawn.)

Anyway, I had contacted the grower last week, expressing interest and asking for ordering instructions. Next thing I know, the box is on by doorstep... (Two-hundred fifty of the plants went to Nize, my local sustainable grower. Fifty should be enough for my family.)

(For the Yankees reading this blog, in FLA we grow strawberries as annuals.)

I still don't know how I'm supposed to pay for the plants, but I guess the guy will send me an invoice. No complaints here, the plants were very nice, and I'm delighted to have plants this early in the season.

Anyway, lucky thing the weather on the coast was too bad for me to fish for reds. Instead, I spent a VERY HOT and humid day yesterday quickly preparing my beds (lots of mushroom compost, a two-inch layer of live-oak leaves, lots of cottonseed meal). I'll need to run the microsprinklers in the bed a bunch this week, with the hot weather we're predicted to have. I'm a bit worried about the plants, but they looked fine this morning. (Though by late afternoon they were again very wilty...)

I took the time, while I was hot and very sweaty, to go ahead and clean out my perennial bed. I pulled a diseased rosebush, ripped out a bunch of overgrown Alternanthera and weeded the backs of the beds. We had another inch of rain on Friday and Saturday. It's crazy how quickly weeds and mushrooms can grow here when the sun's a bit less intense and the ground's sodden.

Some relief is around the corner: This coming weekend the National Weather Service is predicting our first big "back-door front" pushing down from the Great Lakes. That should drop the temperature down to the low-eighties during the day and upper fifties at night... There will be much rejoicing in this household.

Tonight, while cooking my wife her birthday supper, I managed to plant geraniums ('Summer Showers' ivy mix and 'Ringo Deep Scarlet', both from Swallowtail), cilantro ('Delphino'), dill ('Dukat'), parsley ('Rezzemolo Gigante d'Italia'), cutting celery, and some Broccoli di Rapa.

Burpee Seeds

Burpee was very prompt in delivering their seeds. I needed some cool-season veg seeds:

• Carrot Sweet Treat Hybrid (recommended on GW Florida Forum)
• Snap Pea Super Sugar Snap V.P.
• Radish Cherry Bomb II
• Detroit Dark Red, Medium Top

I'll plant the carrots and beets out tomorrow -- some in the kids' garden, some in a sunny spot in my main bed. I need to wait a few weeks for the peas and the radish: Our forecast is for the mid- to high-80s for the next couple of weeks.

Crowder Succotash

Kind of a bummer day. I was stuck at home with my sick daughter. We both had head colds, mine came with an ear-ache. (God, when was the last time I had an ear-ache? When I was six?). It was hot and humid this morning, then it poured rain all afternoon (more than an inch and counting). We managed to plant some beets, peas and lettuce before the deluge commenced. Oh, I also mowed under some crowder peas, but not before I harvested a few gallons, along with okra and peppers ('Pimientos de Padron'). So, tonight I made a sort of succotash, and served it over mashed sweet potatoes. Very tasty -- more than made up for the wasted day.

Crowder Pea Succotash
- a few rashers (4-6 oz.) of smoked bacon, diced medium
- 2 pounds of sweet potatoes (preferably the white "Japanese" ones), peeled and diced in 1" chunks
- 2 medium onions, diced
- a couple of spicy red peppers, sliced into 1/4" rounds
- a few handfuls of okra, sliced medium
- 3 cups of shelled crowders, with some young beans broken into 1-inch pieces*
- 2 cups of corn (fresh or frozen)
- a can (28 oz.) of tomatoes (I really like Muir Glenn's fire-roasted diced tomatoes)
-"sweet" fresh herbs (like parsley, basil, chives), chopped fine
- salt (I like really flaky sea salt) and freshly ground place pepper, to taste (lots!)

*(or substitue canned black-eyed peas)

In a large cast-iron skillet that you can cover, slowly fry the bacon until crispy. Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan, boil the sweet potatoes in salted water until tender. Mash the sweet potatoes, and season to taste with salt, pepper, warm milk, and butter (and we add goat cheese, which binds the potatoes nicely).

When the bacon has crisped, remove it, leaving behind the drippings. Over medium heat, slowly fry onions until they color. Chuck in the pepper, okra, peas, corn and cook slowly for a few minutes.

When everything has softened a bit, dump in the tomatoes, raise the heat, and bring to a merry simmer. Clap the top on, lower the heat to low, and let cook until the okra (in particular) has softened. Serve the succotash over the mashed sweet potatoes, with chopped herbs & reserved bacon sprinkled on top.

Mmmmmm.....

Fall seeds...

The boy & I started planting his half of the kids' garden. Our timing was off, but the boy was really excited about starting his garden, so we planted anyway and can hope for the best. We're a bit early for the 'Bright Lights' Swiss Chard and the 'Summer Glory' lettuce blend (Parks); and a bit late for the 'Miniature White' cucumbers.

For the first time, I used some shade cloth over the greens. Maybe that will allow us to sneak the plants into fall without summer's noticing. The cukes are marked forty-nine days, giving us a good chance at harvesting some before our likely frost date around the end of November.

I've been busy at work (I have to get rid of that job thing), so instead of growing my own from seed, I purchased some tomato seedlings from Nize, my friend and local organic grower. Don't get me wrong -- I was ready with a bunch started indoors. But the darn cat ate them. And the dirt they were growing in. And then vomited them everywhere. But mostly on the furniture.

Sometimes it's hard to love the cat.

Anyway, I couldn't find time to replant, and it's probably too late to start now. So, I bought some small, organic seedlings. In my own plot, I put some 'Purple Cherokee', 'Roma' and 'Better Boy' into my grow holes filled with mushroom compost.

I should quickly run down what's blooming well in my garden...

• The zinns have started to fail. Not enough sun, so fungal issues.
  
• The Torenia that's been growing for months now is also looking ratty. But the cuttings I rooted still look fine, which makes me suspect a nematode problem. I'll check when I yank them.
  
• Confederate Rose is blooming daily.
• Roses. 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' continues to bloom nonstop. 'Tuscan Sun' is a close second. My 'Natchitoches Noisette' hasn't bloomed as much this year. It's the fourth year it's been in the ground, and it may well be starting the slow decline that is the inevitable fate of all roses not grafted on 'Fortuniana'. My English 'Abraham Darby' looks great, but I'm still waiting on 'Teasing Georgia', an English Rose I bought in the spring from the (now defunct) MerryGro Farms. It's growing well, just a little reluctant to bloom. But I think I should have a nice flush in November. It's not a great time for roses here, but fall's blooms are right around the corner.
  
• My geraniums made it through the summer for the first time. They look great. Keeping them pretty dry was, I think key. And so did starting them from seed. I should probably try to remember to plant some of the seeds I got from Swallowtail next week.
• Brugs rock. And so does my Datura. I need more.
  

Seed planting calendar

I got this very useful & detailed seed planting calendar and recommended varietals from the really excellent Simon Seed Farm and Garden Center in Leesburg.

If you ever find yourself in that way, make a trip -- it's kind of a wonderful throwback to a time when everyone had a small veg plot and many people still raised some small livestock... not because they had to, but because they loved having living things nearby. (Click on the image for a full-sized copy.)