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.
Continuing on from our first post, Yess!! Fall Planting – Getting Started! here is a breakdown of where we are at this point with planting:
Grown and being harvested: (of course, more of each will be planted)
- Arugula, mizuna and cress
- Two different kinds of bok choy
- Red and pink radishes
- Green bush beans
- Jalapeño and aji dulce peppers
Cabbage
Planted and growing well:
- Heirloom and regular tomatoes
- Green cabbage
- Broccoli raab
- More green beans and purple beans, bush type
- A few strawberry plants
- Carrots
- Kohlrabi
- Mesclun lettuce mix
- Daikon
- Parsley, thyme and dill
- Red mustard greens
- Onions
- Escarole
- Swiss chard
- Sweet mini peppers
- Nasturtium, calendula and cosmos
Daikon
Just sprouting after direct seeding, or newly transplanted into the beds:
- Sorrel
- Lacinato (dinosaur) and curly kale
- Red cabbage
- Collards
- Peas
- Red radishes
- Fennel
- Romanesco broccoli
Escarole
Holdovers from last season, that survived the summer
- Collards
- Rosemary
- Tarragon
- Garlic chives
- Marjoram (how’d it survive the heat?)
Mesclun lettuce mix
Seedlings in flats or 4″ pots now, to be transplanted to beds when ready:
- Cherry tomatoes
- Green cabbage (pointed and regular)
- Leeks
Seeds newly planted in flats this week:
- Celery
- More cherry tomatoes
- Everglades tomatoes
- Calendula
- Chamomile
- Zinnias
- Chinese cabbage
- More green cabbage (pointed)
Crop failures so far:
- Tatsoi – probably seeds were old; ordered more
- Heading lettuce – same as above
- Kohlrabi, Chinese cabbage & lacinato kale – most likely due to overly wet beds (all have been restarted)
- Swiss chard – probably too warm the first time planted; restarted & doing okay
- Basil – Bed too wet due to rainy spells (experimented with planting it this time of year which is “off-season” – it typically thrives in warm weather and dry soil).
So that’s what we have going on so far with our fall gardening. We are very excited at this time of year to continue prepping our remaining beds, planting seeds in flats and beds, transplanting seedlings, watching everything sprout and grow, and last but not least, beginning to enjoy the harvest! Much more on the harvesting and cooking to come!
Writing and Photos by DK
You Might Also Like...
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!
