Veggies in the Morning Dew
Mid-to-late November is such a thrilling time in a South Florida garden – when the seedlings have taken off and are on their way to becoming established as full-fledged plants. It won’t be long before we are beginning to harvest and enjoy our organic vegetables and herbs.
So here is a picture essay, highlighting some of what we are growing now as each plant glistens in the morning dew. What could be more uplifting than to greet our seedlings and plants in the crispness and solitude of the early morning? It certainly opens our hearts to the gratitude befitting of this Thanksgiving season.
Fall Gardening – Action!
It’s early November here in South Florida, prime time for planting our organic garden for the new season. We have just gotten a real break in the weather, with some cooler mornings last week (not quite cool enough for us South Floridians to get our boots and scarves out, though it’s tempting, right?) This cooling does make us enthused about being outside and getting our garden going! So, to give a rundown on how we’ve started with either seedlings or direct plantings, here goes:
Fall Season – New Gardening Strategies
As we embark upon our fall season for organic gardening, we’re implementing new strategies based upon past experiences and knowledge we’ve recently gained. Starting mid-summer, we have been solarizing our beds for the first time, using (almost) clear plastic and creating a “greenhouse effect” by tucking it in at the edges. This has minimized our weekly weeding and more importantly, has provided the heat needed to kill off the weeds and any unwanted microorganisms/pests lingering in the soil. We are especially hopeful that it will help to eliminate or at least reduce our nematode population in the soil, as discussed below.
Vegetables Still Growing in May
Well, it is that time of year again in our organic vegetable garden, when the crops are beginning to wither, the harvest is thinning out, and the heat is rolling in – yes, it’s May in South Florida! We are also having an extra-heavy rainfall bout, like two weeks solid of rain on a daily basis. We’ve had to say goodbye to some of our favorite crops (til next season!) – heirloom tomatoes, Chinese and regular cabbages, escarole, broccoli, dill, most of our lettuces and our delicate greens like mizuna and arugula, and our nasturtiums. The good news is that there are still many things growing in May, and a few we can still plant at this time of the year.
Transplanting Seedlings: Our “Winter” Crops
Our fall and winter crops here in South Florida are basically the same. Most of the things that we start in the earlier part of the growing season (fall), we can start another rotation of in December or January. Much of our work is planning what seeds need to be started when. We will either direct seed some of our crops, such as carrots and beans directly into the beds. Or, with many other crops, we will be getting them going in flats, and then transplanting seedlings as they mature into four inch pots and/or directly into the beds, and then watching them grow! For a list of what we can grow in the fall/winter here, please see our post http://www.soflagardening.com/fall-planting-beds/
Fall Planting: The Beds are Filling Up!
Our fall gardening is going strong here in South Florida as we head into December. Though we had a late start this year due to weather events, we are well on our way to filling up our beds with organic veggies that can be grown now and into the spring. “Winter” is not worth mentioning because we don’t really have one here. We consider the winter solstice (December 21-22) as the transition time for us from fall to early spring when it comes to gardening.
Garden Limbo – Post-Irma and Pre-Planting
Well it’s a strange time of year here in South Florida. While anxious to get started on our fall planting, and after weathering the recent tropical storm winds of Irma, we have one more hurdle to overcome: our very rainy season in September, albeit a little late this year. We had torrential rains last night and expect at least a week straight of rain – not a good formula for getting our seeds in flats or in the ground. One lonely flat of tomato and pepper seeds has been started and we will have to see how it does through all the rain. Meanwhile we will continue with a bit of cleaning up from the storm and prepping our beds for planting, weather permitting.
We are a small group of South Floridians who share a love of organic gardening, cooking and leading a healthy lifestyle. We garden together in Miami on a weekly basis year round, and enjoy the labor, harvest and feeling of community that this provides us. We are learning together what it means to grow food in South Florida, with our unique climate and seasons, which are so different than the rest of the country. This website is a venture in sharing information and resources relevant to gardening (and enjoying the harvest) in our South Florida environment. We hope you will find it useful!
