Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Friday, October 04, 2013

How the Garden Grows

The autumn vegetable garden is off and running, so to speak. It all started back in August when I planted tomato seeds - 4 different varieties: Sweet Baby Girl, Black cherry, Bella Rosa and Cherokee Chocolate - all from Tomato Growers, Inc.

All 4 tomatoes went into the ground around mid-September, and Sweet Baby Girl is the first to set flowers.

Planted at the end of August were Packman broccoli, Blue Lake bush beans, Green onions.  The green pepper plants from spring were resurrected with a dose of fertilizer - to which they responded well and have stepped up their production of peppers. The plants look a bit shabby but they keep chugging along, so I'll let them stay, as long as they keep pumping out their tasty little peppers.

The eggplants that were planted in June are still producing 3 to 4 a week

Mid-September seed plantings included another round of Packman broccoli and Blue Lake bush beans. I have to say that I really struggled with the Blue Lake bush beans - from Seeds of Change - having to replant them numerous times. My mother had the same experience. Has anybody else had the same experience with this brand?


Other new additions to the garden were Snow Peas (seeds), Winterbor kale (starts), True Siberian kale (seeds) and pictured below - Georgia collards (starts). 

The broccoli has not liked the hot mid-day sun, but other than having to dust them with an organic insecticide and give them a cooler spray of water, in the heat of the day, they look on track to begin producing by the middle to end of this month.

The end of September found me planting Red Core Chantenay carrots, Cherry Belle radishes, Early White bush Scallop squash, Swiss Chard and Bok Choy seeds, as well as French shallots which I read about on Daisy's Maple Hill 101 blog. I'm not sure if it's the right time of the year to plant them but since my green onions are doing well, I decided to give them a try. The bulbs were purchased at the super market.

The 3 rainy days we experienced last week were a big help in getting my little starts well on their way. I've been busy mulching the beds with straw to keep them from drying out. I've had more than normal pest problems - - - - caterpillars, stink bugs and some other little worm eating holes in the bean leaves, but a little organic dust seems to have remedied the problem.

How is your Autumn vegetable garden growing?



5 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Boy, do you have a green thumb. You grow so many good veggies.

I keep getting emails saying mail cannot be delivered to your email address. My comments show up here which the emails are about, so I don't get it at all. I just tried to send you an email through the addy on your Central Florida Gardener blog and it bounced right back to me.

I've tried emailing you before and the same thing happens. I don't want you to think I am ignoring you.

Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

Anonymous said...

What a great variety you have growing. I had a difficult time with my seedlings again this year, but my garden is coming along nicely in spite of myself. :-)

Leslie Kimel said...

It's so neat that you've already got tomatoes flowering. I've never had any luck with fall tomatoes. I agree with Lorraine--you really do have a green thumb. I just love reading about your vegetable garden--it always inspires me to get out and work on mine.

Unknown said...

Your garden is way ahead of mine.But I haven't paid as much attention as I should have.
Broccoli is struggling.
Have had the same problem with the green beans.Have had to re-seed twice this year(had to do that last year,too).Not a fan.

Susan said...

Hi Flowerlady...Sorry hear you're having email trouble. I'll send you one and then you can check the address.

Hi Eli...Yes, the garden does have a way of doing just fine when left to its own devices. :)

Hi Leslie...Thanks! I thought about you this weekend when I saw Rosinweed for sale at a plant festival.

Hi Chris...Bugs have been my biggest problem and I'm hoping for cooler weather soon for my lettuce.

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