Saying Goodbye

 It's time to say goodbye to the fall/winter garden, making way for the spring/summer garden.  This has been the most difficult decision for me. Up in zone 6a New York where I grew up, there was one growing season defined heavily by the onslaught of winter, frost and snow.   When the ground thawed, you planted. When the frost came and the snow fell, it was time to pull up the garden until next year.Simple.

Here in Florida it's a much different story. There is no major frost, there is no major snow fall, no extended period of damaging cold temperatures.   So what's a girl to do?   Hem and haw until the last possible moment, that's what.  I started by looking at the garden, really looking to see if there was any reason to keep it going. The green parts were all lush, perky and thriving but after a few weeks of really looking, I noticed that there were very few new flowers coming up.  Only the grape tomato was really showing new flowers, everything else was just chugging along. So that was the deciding factor, lack of new flowers. No new flowers, no new fruit.

As I was ripping out the plants, I was very relieved to find all sorts of hints that I had done the right thing. The jalapeno and banana pepper plants were getting more and more mold spots and the tomatoes showed increasing signs of cut worm damage on the leaves and young tomatoes. 

 Going, going, gone....

This is the right bed all neat and clean. The left bed still has strawberry plants in it that I'll keep for the time being.  Out came the irrigation system so we could add some goodies to the soil. 

Temporary Solution to Feeding the Birds

So, remember when I mentioned that the birdies were dinning on my ripe tomatoes? Well, I looked into a few different remedies but was astounded by the conflicting info online. Some said the birdies wanted water and to put out a bird bath and they'd leave the red globes alone, some said a bird bath only attacks more birds who learn from each other and will do even more damage.  I read about bagging each tomato with a mesh bag as it ripens which would be OK I guess but alot of work on top of the price of the mesh bags, so not my first choice. Then I read about bird netting but there is a trick to even that.  Drape it too close and the birds just sit on it and peck right through. Drape it too loosely at the bottom and the birds can get trapped inside and freak out creating a mess of destroyed plants, poop and feathers. Drape too far away and they'll just hop in, have a taste and hop right back out. Not to mention that bird netting is also pricy, so I decided not to mess with that until I can read more on it. So, what did I decide to do?

Pick 'em early. Now, some may say that there's nothing like a vine ripened tomato and I would agree. But I want some of those tomatoes too and letting them become fully ripe out there was a death sentence for my enjoyment. Granted the birds didn't eat much but I'm not interested in their sloppy seconds, who knows what those beaks are carrying around.  So I'm picking them early and letting them ripen on the counter, still tastier than anything coming out of the grocery store and no birds are harmed in the process.

The Big Beauty

 This was the biggest and most beautiful Big Beef in the whole garden.  Isn't she purdy?

Gone to Seed

Pretty mizuna lettuce gone to seed.  The weather has warmed up significantly and we're getting into the mid and high 80s which is affecting the lettuce crop. It's all bolting but boy is it a pretty sight!

Lettuce is Pretty

Lettuce is pretty. It really is. I know I say everything is my favorite, but growing lettuce is right up there.

Look at these shapes and textures!  Even the lettuce that  goes to seed is incredibly interesting.  

I'm temped to let it all grow wild to see what happens.  

Close Encounter

mizuna mustard greens

Do you know how hard it is to identify lettuce?

It is VERY difficult!

Seed Update - Borage

 Seeds, yeah! These little fellas are pretty hearty. I planted 6 and all 6 grew. Not too shabby!

 They have lots of fine hair like thingies on the leaves, they're a dusty green color and a bit succulent too. The succulent part scares me cause they could easily rot at the base so I'm being really careful not to over water them. Keep your fingers crossed!

Peas Please

The peas have done so well in the later months of the winter garden.  I planted the same peas from the same seeds in the early fall months and they were very weak and spindly with a few anemic pods.

Now that it's cooled off, the vines are robust and hearty. I love watching them grow and the flowers are one of my favorites.   So much so, that I wanted sweet peas in my wedding bouquet. 

Peas remind me of my parents garden in zone 6a. I remember being young and picking and eating peas right off the vine. It's almost like a treasure hunt because the pea pods are the same exact color of the vines and leaves, tricky to find but awesome when you do.  Like the rest of the garden, the peas are arriving in snack size quantities, not enough for a meal but maybe that's for the best since they're so tasty right off the vine!

Seed Starting - Borage

 I'm obsessed with starting seeds now!  These little beauties are going to grow up into borage plants. I'm excited to get them into pots near the raised beds to attract the bees.  The more bees the more pollinatin' that goes on and the more food we get! 

 As a side benefit, it's an edible plant with the leaves and small purple flowers tasting like cumbers.  Yum!  They were super easy to sprout, I planted 6 and it looks like 4 of them sprouted up.