ZONE 9 and FLORIDA GARDENING

Wow! Amazing how giant that elephant ear is!

I did not lose any plants this winter, although none of my winter vegetables did anything. I had found a portable greenhouse like a pop-up tent on Craigslist for $50. New is several hundred dollars. I do almost all my plants in selfwater containers, so I can move them to get the best sun, too.

I have some turnips, though only half have bulbed. My carrots are finally growing and I have either celery or celery root (celeriac) going well: not sure which!

I got ONE heritage black tomato off my huge plant. So frustrating! It was very delicious, though, and does have a more salty flavor than regular red tomatoes. My little patio variety has given us four fruits. How sad is that for months of growing?? :/

I found a cherry tomato plant at the hardware store, and boy is that thing going gang busters. Lots of fruit and growing fast, though none ripen so far.

I have lettuce that overwintered, but it did not grow much. Now it is going nuts.

I have managed to keep my mint alive for two years! It likes to be wet. It does well by keeping it partly shaded in the summer, and full sun over winter.

I started red onions and some are doing really well. The ones that are struggling are being used like pearl onions in a garden mix pickle jar.

My collards are huge, but just underwent a sudden attack of some kind of catepillar worm thing. I have been hand picking them and feeding them to the chickens.

My sweet potatos are doing great, although I had to move them away from the chickens over the winter. The girls were killing them. They now get the leaves in a controlled manner, along with collard leaves.

I started cucumber seeds (3 varieties), 2 types of eggplant (purple and orange), and lots of beans. Italian pole beans are my favorite for flavor. I have lots of cow peas doing and they are flowering like mad.

My fruit trees are all coming back to life this year...I was starting to worry as they just broke dormancy last week. I a weeping mulberry and a black mulberry in the ground. I kept a white mulberry in a pot to dwarf it. My American paw paw is leafing out, but I do not expect fruit for a few years. I have two varities of peach...neither is a Florida specific variety, but both are flowering, which is very exciting and beautiful. My plum is leafing out, but no flowers there...oh well...it was worth a try!
 
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Oops forgot about this topic!

I got a baby elephant ear in November of last year from the peafowl breeder's place that has those giant elephant ears I showed the photo of. They are probably Thailand Giant elephant ears. I have been overwintering the baby one I got in a pot on the kitchen table next to the window. It hasn't been in the ground yet since I got it in November. Right now it has a new leaf uncurling. Each new leaf is at least 2x as big as the last, so it is exciting watching it get bigger and bigger. It isn't really huge like the 6ft plus ones I saw, but I am just glad it is growing well as I really wanted one of those giants!

The two sweet tea olives I have were blooming recently. They smell soo very good. I wish I had a perfume that smelled like them.

A large plant nursery moved closer to me, so now I can go there more often. I tried getting a job there but at the time they were not hiring and no one contacted me during the spring or summer when I figured they would start hiring.
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I might try applying for a job at the other plant nursery, but I am required to take summer classes at least one year in college, and I have avoided summer classes but now I have to get them out of the way. I am not sure if I want to work and go to school at the same time as I don't want to stress myself out too much, but I might see about it. I do love plants a lot and I would love to work outside taking care of plants.
 
Just thinking about plants today. Has anyone tried vertical gardening?

I was looking up various plants today and came across the Hardy Tapioca plant (Manihot grahamii). I think I would like to try growing it. I read that it seeds itself very effectively and that you might have to pull up a lot of the baby plants. It also said that the baby plants are easy to pull up though and discard. So I am thinking about going for it because I like plants with unique leaf shapes and this one certainly has that. Anyone grow these?
 
I grow anything that vines vertically! Beans, Cukes, Gourds, Winter Squash, Malabar Spinach, that sort of thing. The Gourds require a pretty hefty trellis between the weight of the fruit & dense vegetation, I had a trellis collapse one year. When space is limited ya gotta go up!


 
I'm new to Florida (never had to garden in sand - where I can from was mostly clay!) and new to chickens. I moved here because I fell in love and we couldn't bear to be 1,000 miles away from each other. My SO is relatively new to chickens also. Just started last year with 4 hens. We have a small backyard and they have free range. I LOVE fresh eggs! Never had one before!

Which leads me to my question: His back yard has no vegetation left. I would love to plant something that the chickens will like. Is it even possible to plan something the chickens won't completely devour before they get beyond the sprouting stage?

Any suggestions appreciated!
 
I don't have chickens, but I saw an interesting book at Tractor Supply Co. about gardening with chickens.

Here is the name of it: Free-range Chicken Gardens - how to create a beautiful, chicken - friendly yard. it is by Jessi Bloom.

I got it because I like to plant my peafowl aviary and I am always searching for plants that they won't destroy that can live in harmony with them. It has lots of great photo examples and it includes tips from several people about how they keep their garden and chickens together. It even shows simple plans showing where the plants would be and the chicken coop.
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