Sep 29, 2016

September Garden Update

How my garden did this month

Last month the garden was pretty bare and all we had were some seedlings that were started. Well this month those seedlings flourished!

We lost one of our broccoli plants and have yet to put mulch back over its spot. The other 3 seem to be doing ok. The first two are obviously doing better than the third which still has its protective cone on. We keep the cone on for the first little bit to help prevent bugs from crawling in and eating them while they are getting their roots established. Most the time it works, but today I found a caterpillar on one of the plants inside the cone. I guess that time the cone was trapping the caterpillar in, rather than keeping it out!


We have 6 tomato plants which are all doing well. We have Roma, beefsteak, and cherry tomatoes. Don't ask me which are what yet though! Four are in this row and two are in the next row over.

Our jalepeno is still producing, but the amount has fallen way down. Hubby is still enjoying his pickled jalapenos and it's not in the way so it gets to stay a little while longer.

This watermelon seems to be doing quite well.



I had this great method of being organized and labeling all of the seedlings. Unfortunately some of the plants we replanted in containers to let them grow a little more rather than planting them directly into the ground. At that point my organization and record keeping fell apart, so I fully expect some surprises in this garden! For example I'm not sure what these plants are!


I planted some carrot seeds in this part of the garden and didn't have anything make it. I know carrots are a little bit tricky and you should plant radishes in with them to help break up the soil and see where you planted them. I didn't plant the radishes, and I may have left the mulch covering on too long. I'm going to try again at a later date, but right now this carrot experiment is a failure!


We are still dealing with caterpillars. :(  Hubby and I bought some bt to spray and did it once, but I think it's time (past time, really) to apply it again. Since it is deactivated by sunlight and washed away in the rain we only have a narrow window to apply it. Florida is the sunshine state, but we are also plagued by regular thunderstorms. Hopefully later this week we can put some more on!


We have lettuce! While this one little plant most likely won't produce enough for our needs, I am excited that we are on our way to growing a salad, which has been my goal all along.


Our okra continues to grow and produce okra, however it seems like the production has slowed a little bit. We have eaten it fresh, fried it up, and put it in jambalaya. I didn't think I really liked okra, but I love having this plant and hope to grow more in the future.


Hope you enjoyed this update. How is your garden doing?

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1 comment:

  1. I'm so excited to see another Florida veggie gardener! Your carrot sowing is not a failure, as long as you learned something from it. Right now is actually a great time to reseed, because carrots will do well here in fall. So, get back out there and sow some!
    Have you ever eaten pickled okra? Or roasted it? I'm a Yankee who is addicted to the pickled stuff. You can find recipes for those on my blog. We also have a year-long gardening series called "Farm School", if you'd like to read more about veggie gardening in Florida.

    Thank you for sharing your gardening experience. Keep growing!

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