I just got my winter garden planted last week. Below is what it looked like about a month ago. Summer heat and humidity along with a flooded yard took its toll.
But, our Florida weather turned beautifully fall within two days, I pulled weeds, spaded the 4 X 10 raised bed, pulled more weeds and raked the soil. On October 25th the seeds were sown for my winter garden.
I’m a Yankee gardener from many years ago. My Grandpa raised over 5 acres of vegetables to huckster at nearby markets and he had several acres of orchards which included Northern Spy, Macintosh, Rambo, Delicious, Cortland and Rome Beauty apples plus numerous varieties of pears and plums. Grandma had a quince tree in the yard from which she made a delicious jam.
So, for me, gardening in Florida was a challenge because unlike up north in Pennsylvania, summertime in Florida is best spent sipping mint juleps by the pool rather than toiling in the vegetable patch. Bugs, blights, birds, and awful humidity guarantee minimal returns on the gardening labor.
On October 25th I planted kale, radishes, carrots, red beets, and spinach in the raised bed. In the pots I planted sugar peas. The radishes and kale poked through the ground within 4 days. That’s what the above pictures show. The spinach and red beets emerged today, just 6 days after planting.
To all my relatives and friends up north enduring the first fingers of frost and chilly temperatures bracing for the wintertime snows and frozen gardens, HAPPY GARDENING from sunny Florida.
