Anyone ever moved cross country and tried to start up a veggie garden

[Krissilpn]

Hello NorthFlchick! I love our co op folks. I have dumped that much and more in my little garden area.. 20 bales of peatmoss as well. In 2 years!! It is quick sand I say! Lol. My neighbor across the street kept shaking her head..she has lived here for many years and one day she comes over and asks " do you give up yet? I did. Thus the raised bed lined with plastic and a few holes cut for drainage. My take on planting in black cow bags. ( The suggestion made by my master gardener friends Which does work but on a small scale. I was hoping to grow enough tomatoes to can.. silly me) I had a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes and egg plant. Go figure. The best way to start seed is using one of the kits that is self watering. The plastic packs sit on a pad that wicks up the water. I've had excellent success starting all my seeds and cuttings using it. No worries of them drying out in the heat. I also tried the self watering home made planters using 5 gallon buckets. They work great but my tomatoes themselves are much smaller as they are normally when planted in a garden

 

[N F C]

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When I first moved to FL, I was as far south as you can get (Key West) for 3 years. Freezes and frosts just don't happen there...last I checked, the record low was around 40 degrees. When we moved up to north FL last year, I didn't even have a winter coat any more (husband took care of that!). Felt like a popsicle all winter and could hardly believe I was still in FL. When you live that far south, it doesn't take much to feel cold. We used to joke down there that you could tell the visitors from the locals when it got chilly because the visitors were wearing shorts & flip flops while the locals were bundled up in hoodies and jeans. Problem with living down there was the cost to buy a place, any place. We knew we wanted to have room for animals and a big garden to help feed us so here we are now. I think gardening is easier here even with it's challenges...once you get way down south, it seems more limited to what will tolerate the climate.

 

[N F C]

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Thanks for the heads-up on the self-watering seed starters. I've seen them for sale before but didn't know anyone that had used one. Funny about your neighbor asking if you'd given up yet!

 

[Krissilpn]

My neighbor is so sweet and in her 70's. She taught me about the baby grass hoppers that if you don't stomp on them when they are small will eat everything in sight when they are 3 inches big! And her garden is raised, covered with rolls of mulch to keep the water in and always has tons of cucumbers and tomatoes. Of course she doesn't work so if anythung looks wilted she waters and there is not a weed to be found. Love her. I ran across the self watering seed starters and decided to try them. Meldew, and fungus, as well as stem rot due to moisture here are my big problems. Bug wise we don't have enough bees..I wanted to take the bee class but I just don't have the room for a hive, 5 chickens and my pups, as they are fine with my girls, they follow them around to see if they would like what the hens are eating while free ranging. Silly yorkies. But I can also see them trying to sick their nose in ahive.