Summer In Review

It was hot, hot and hotter.  Drought or Monsoon.  Never did get our daily afternoon rain to cool things off.  Bugs came out in full force mid July.  We are actually in a water deficit right now, so a bit of a dry summer.  When we did have rain, it frequently came down fast and furious and drowned stuff out.

Things to do different next summer -

May - start cherry tomatoes, red pears and Everglades currant
June - start yard long beans and/or lima beans in ground along the trellis in the back section of the NE garden
June - okra seeds in ground spaced 12" apart in the NE garden & around and about in the South Garden on a Dime - need about a baker's dozen plants

Plant more sweet peppers!  Sweet Peppers in pots along the back fence are doing tremendously wonderful.  Even the plants in the small strip at the edge of the driveway and backgate fence are doing great.

Eggplant did good.  More big egg shaped plants next summer.  Or better use of soil amendments and fertilizer.

Bush Cowpeas in the back!  On the trellis.  They may be called bush, but with a trellis they would climb to 3 - 4 feet.

It is a lesson in futility to try and start Florida Cranberry before May.

The peanuts are doing fantastic.  Especially considering the effort I put into them.  I mean, buying a packet of organic green peanuts.  Scattering on the garden soil and poking in a bit.  When the leaves turn yellow, pull them up.  And they are doing fine in shade.  Backyard garden next summer me thinks.

Whipporwill cowpeas all along the back fence.  In pots or straw bales of course.  Can't have the boy doggie hiking his leg on our food!  Whipporwill are reported drought tolerant, and I can vouch mine in the front have not had supplemental water except for the occasional location sharing.  They should do great along the back fence.  Here's hoping .....

Fresh greens stuff?  Pretty much fail.  The flat leaf parsley did great.  Everything else?  Next summer try pots.

The sweet potatoes are taking over.  I've not yet tried to find a real potato, so here's hoping some are growing.  I've moved some of the amish porto rico bush over to the south garden.  I'm hoping they will naturalize/perennialize or something like that.  At least they can stay in the ground longer.

Seminole Pumpkin! The first two plants were lost in the first monsoon.  The next have all survived.  I have 3 plants growing that were started a few weeks apart.  Note the squash.  Note how alive, green and healthy.  May it please stay this way.  Please don't let me talking about it jinx it.

The earth may grind to a halt on the day we harvest and eat a squash from the garden.  The Early Balum in the back?  The vine bit the dust during this last week.  Grrrrr ....

The surprise factor?  Remember the rock star potting container?  White for cool soil?  About 3 inches of wine corks and pine needles mulch?  Virtually no supplemental water? 

Yes, we ate it.  It was good.  More cucumbers on the rock stage for this fall and next spring.  The plant itself is kind of shabby looking, and a lot of the pollinated cukes would melt during a monsoon, but we did get a few here and there.  I have hope ....

Umm, summer starting tomatoes for fall planting?  Start them all in July.  The mid August seedlings are all struggling like mad.  Generally from bugs it looks like.

Speaking of bugs, I found TWO lubbers on my one and only producing Black Lima today.  What is the deal-e-o with lubbers and limas?  More Grrrrr .... 

The volunteer broccoli seedlings?  Toast.  The volunteer Florida Broadleaf Mustard Seedlings?  A few thriving.  Arugula self-seeding?  Quite a bit actually, but I think it loses the competition with the tree roots and water suckers.  Culantro?  Doesn't spread fast enough.


Think I will take a break now and go shell Whipporwill Peas.  They are producing like mad.  Yippee!