Tuesday, September 10, 2013

The Florida Fall Veggie Garden - Let the Planting Begin!


Winterbor Kale and Packman Broccoli 
Saturday in South Florida was overcast and gloomy, loved it! The day was a tad cooler at a mere 88 deg.F and as I wrote this post at 5.00pm it was already down to 75 deg.F.
Lemon Boys, Sweet Pepper, Red Sails Lettuce and Radicchio

I thought it would be a good day to get some transplants in the above-ground-veg boxes so I made a quick trip to Home Depot. I'll explain why I'm mentioning them in a moment.





They have just about everything! Broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, peppers, zucchinis, kale, and a plethora (I love that word) of both tomatoes and herbs. Also they have a HUGE selection of seeds available which I don't remember - in previous years - being readily available until late October.

At the moment Home Depot have a sale of a 9 pack of vegs for $2.50 - that's .30 cents a plant!

When I got home with my goodies, a thunderstorm had blown up so any delirious ideas about planting was squished.

Sunday though.....


Packman Broccoli
I planted 9 of the broccoli in the garden and, as a companion plant, also sowed seeds of Nasturtium in between broccoli. 

Other good companion plants for broccoli are: carrots, bush beans, cukes, lettuce, potato, radish, onions and celery. Herbs include: dill, sage, basil, rosemary.

Note: Various sources do not recommend planting onions with bush beans.
Lemon Boy with Red Sails Lettuce and Radish seed
After the disastrous tomatoes-in-the-ground harvest of last season, I'm growing all my tomats in pots this year!



One is sharing a pot with the Red Sails Lettuce and the other is nestled in among the bush beans. I included a few radish seeds with the lettuce.



Other companion plants for tomats include: basil, cabbage, carrots, celery, chives, garlic, onions and peppers.

I buried a ripe banana with its skin on under both the tomats here. In years gone by I have noticed they take off once their roots reach the banana. The brick is to hold the pot down so the raccoons cannot dig banana up.

Flowerlady Lorraine over at Flowerladys Musings asked me how I prevented the raccoons digging my vegetables up, this is one of my techniques. The good old brick trick! And here's my other 'secret' weapon. Our fierce little guard dog Pikachu!


"Did someone mention Raccoon! Let me at 'em!"
Elsewhere in our backyard paradise. I want to show you my rose bush, Chrysler Imperial.

See all that new growth? This has occurred over a four week period.




The rose is blooming it's head off! Julie over at A Succulent Life told me she uses banana peels in her rose garden and has had fabulous success with her roses.

I followed her advice about and agree that Roses go bananas for bananas! Who would have thought! Thanks Julie!

6 comments:

  1. Oh, yeah regarding the banana peels!!! Your magic is working on me! Now I feel like planting all my 5 gallon buckets up with one kind of veggie that we eat a lot of....broccoli! Is that your chihuahua??? What's his/her name? I just took Doozey to vet today for shots and routine check up. I love my puppy!!!!

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    1. Hi Julie, yes that's our little, biddy, long haired Chihuahua 'Pikachu.' He's always had a colorful personality and is a grumpy little whatsit most of the time! We adopted another dog recently to keep him company, he was so lonely when the two big dogs - that he had grown up with - died, and he tried to run off a few times. Thank goodness I have the nicest neighbors that posted signs up when they found him........ I like to think he thought he was going off to find them .....awwww :-<

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  2. I've got to try those banana peels in my rose garden! Your Chrysler Imperial is beautiful!

    I agree with you about Home Depot. I love shopping there for vegetable starters and seeds. They always have a great selection and everything's so fresh and healthy-looking.

    Your fall garden is looking good. I'm going to put mine in this weekend. I can't wait!

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  3. I'm so jealous of your fall planting season. We can grow some things but zone 5 isn't going to stay warm much longer. But I'm excited to see what you grow. I think I've mentioned that I'm from Ft Laudy and think about moving back all the time. So I'll live out that planting season through your blog this year.

    KK

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  4. Leslie: good luck your gardening project this weekend!

    Preppy: bbrrrrr. Zone 5! Oh well you can always curl up with a cup of hot cocoa while I ramble on about my tomatoes! Thanks for commenting!

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  5. I'm headed to H.D. Hope they still have their veggies on sale. Thanks!

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Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my blog and leave a message. Happy Gardening!

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