- Jul 21, 2014
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Was looking for an introduction thread so not sure if in the correct forum. I am in Duval, border zone 8/9, in Jacksonville. This year is my first serious attempt at gardening again since the 80s when I was in TN. Started last year, 2013, mid hot summer because I was curious in aquaponics, which I never got into, but I was introduced to what I call gutter "ponics" and container "ponics", which were both a failure for my few crops but was a great learning curve. My 2013/2014 fall/winter garden started in 5 barrels, 55 gallon, which I cut in half length wise and made a wooden frame 16' x 4', so they are about waist high. We harvested many greens for our juicing process during fall/winter.
I started cherry tomatoes and red bell peppers in starter kits which were placed in 4 windows facing south in January 2014. By February, they were in my containers, of which I added 5 more for strawberry beds and 16 more, which I cut in half across the middle, for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Had a great spring/early summer harvest on all except the berries. Put bush beans as companions to the berries and got many great harvests from one $1.20 seed packet! Put in 3 varieties of peas and 3 of pole/string beans along some fencing already in place. Failure on the peas, but many harvests on the Kentucky Wonders, which I have since started a second planting, after I pulled the plants, shredded them and now in the composting barrels.
Also started second planting with cucumbers this July, but they are struggling to get started - heat maybe? Pulled all tomato plants, shredded and now in the compost. Too many caterpillars for me to want to fight over the crop! [a NOTE on the tomatoes: My observation was that the big one like Beef Stake & Better Boy take so much longer to ripen than the big cherry ones, so we ended up loosing too many to the caterpillars or we picked them green to ripen off the vine or add them into the supper fry pan! Next year early planting of only the big cherry and forget about the bigger varieties - until I get my summer "screen" house built! :>) ]
June/July now have okra and a few cow-peas rotated where the cukes & tomatoes were. So far - good except for a few leaves being eaten!
By the way, the bells and banana peppers are surviving very well through the caterpillars and this heat. The leaves are getting chewed up a bit but the plants as a whole and the fruit are doing quite well. So I started 1 barrel with pepper seeds to see if they will make it into fall. Yesterday my lovely wife and I pickled 6 quart jars of Hungarian "mild" - actually quite HOT - banana peppers from 1 1/2 containers (6 plants).
Anyone else doing above ground containers?
Anyone find what is easiest crop which will survive the caterpillars and this humid heat?
I started cherry tomatoes and red bell peppers in starter kits which were placed in 4 windows facing south in January 2014. By February, they were in my containers, of which I added 5 more for strawberry beds and 16 more, which I cut in half across the middle, for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Had a great spring/early summer harvest on all except the berries. Put bush beans as companions to the berries and got many great harvests from one $1.20 seed packet! Put in 3 varieties of peas and 3 of pole/string beans along some fencing already in place. Failure on the peas, but many harvests on the Kentucky Wonders, which I have since started a second planting, after I pulled the plants, shredded them and now in the composting barrels.
Also started second planting with cucumbers this July, but they are struggling to get started - heat maybe? Pulled all tomato plants, shredded and now in the compost. Too many caterpillars for me to want to fight over the crop! [a NOTE on the tomatoes: My observation was that the big one like Beef Stake & Better Boy take so much longer to ripen than the big cherry ones, so we ended up loosing too many to the caterpillars or we picked them green to ripen off the vine or add them into the supper fry pan! Next year early planting of only the big cherry and forget about the bigger varieties - until I get my summer "screen" house built! :>) ]
June/July now have okra and a few cow-peas rotated where the cukes & tomatoes were. So far - good except for a few leaves being eaten!
By the way, the bells and banana peppers are surviving very well through the caterpillars and this heat. The leaves are getting chewed up a bit but the plants as a whole and the fruit are doing quite well. So I started 1 barrel with pepper seeds to see if they will make it into fall. Yesterday my lovely wife and I pickled 6 quart jars of Hungarian "mild" - actually quite HOT - banana peppers from 1 1/2 containers (6 plants).
Anyone else doing above ground containers?
Anyone find what is easiest crop which will survive the caterpillars and this humid heat?
