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RE: Revved Up Ragtag, Part 10 - Getting Organized, Plus A Contest!
That is a really cool calendar - and a dream board is a brilliant idea! I really need to put one together too.
I may be taking notes from your DIY greenhouse. This year hubby and I are focusing on one or two raised garden beds and expanding from there. Perhaps a greenhouse next year? It's on the wish list.
Hi, @merej99. I don't know what part of Florida you are in, but you are in gardening season right now, in any part of the state. Here's a link from the University of Florida that has a monthly garden calendar for different parts of Florida. Winter can be the easiest time to garden in the South -- at least there are fewer insect and mildew problems.
We've just had a week of cold weather with freeze warnings for the morning. I've started some seeds inside to get a jump on the garden; some green peppers, tomatoes and a few herbs (oregano and basil). I just received a really cool catalog of heirloom seeds. I've come a long way from killing my annual tomato plant but I'm still a newbie gardener. I still need to research which plants like each other and which need to be planted separately. I'm just going to enjoy the process. You know I'll probably be bugging you, papa-pepper, aunt-deb and a few others to help make my garden grow!
*editing to add: I'm in Citrus County. Mid state, close to the Gulf. I'm not supposed to be cold right now but I am! :(
I hear you. Im trying to get a few raised beds going this year (I live in the Appalachian mountains so the dirt is too rocky by far and hard to dig into). I also want to get some raspberries going though. And I hope to have a greenhouse one day too. I feel like that might be the mos ideal, but I need to learn more about how to build one.
One of the things I love about living in Florida is the long growing season -- and the fact that I can have fruit trees - but I have to admit that coming here from upstate New York means no more rocks and I am surprised by how much I miss them! We are choosing to go with raised beds mostly because of the hard rains. You would think sandy soil would just soak up the water and take it away but it actually pools. Our first year I had a great garden started and it drowned in one afternoon. Live and learn.
I dont think Id miss the rocks in terms of gardening. I actually grew up on the Virginia part of the Delmarva Peninsula, and the growing conditions there are excellent. The growing season is not as long a Florida, of course, but the soil there is incredible. Gardening is a lot easier there than most places. But thats a good point about the raised beds. I know Florida does get some hard rains but I would not have thought of that either as far as being a problem.
Do the raised beds need to be watched more (to make sure theyre getting enough water) than a typical garden? Im asking because last year I did some growing in air pots and I definitely needed to keep more of an eye on them.
Raised beds solve a lot of problems. There are so many options for building them, that I'm sure you'll find just the right style to fit your property. Once they're in place, you'll be good to go for a long while and have plenty of time left for knocking a greenhouse together!
I think I am going to put some beds on a rather steep hill in front of my house, and I have a few rough ideas on how to go about that. I basically live on a mountain, but I have another spot where I could throw together a small greenhouse. Im thinking about just using that spot for growing raspberries though, so I still have a lot to figure out, and just seeing some of the things you are doing will probably help with that.
Sounds like a real challenge! Good luck, too, on the raspberries. I've not had success with them, so if you do, I'll be hitting you up for tips. I'd like to try some black raspberries. They're hard to find, even frozen. Last batch I managed to track down was at private farm in Michigan. (Road trip!!!)
Thanks and it is unique! And the board already has me pondering the next step. Amazing how that works...
Raised beds are one of my favorite methods, especially for weed control. There are so many different options with them, too, that increase production. Y'all will have a blast!