Watch My Food Grow ~ A South Florida Raised Vegetable Garden

Florida Backyard Raised Vegetable Garden

Poinsettias in My Yard

December 3rd, 2013 by Lila Steinhoff
Respond

Seasonal Beauty

This is the image of the poinsettia that most of us have.

poinsettiaPoinsettia

Poinsettias are native to the tropical forests of Mexico, and because they have become associated with the Christmas season, they have become big business in the United States.

We use them to decorate for the holidays, and afterward, put them out in the yard in the foil-wrapped pots to dry up and eventually be tossed out.  I’m betting that whole bunch of us (me included) have done that at one time or another.

Rescued Plants

This poinsettia grows in my yard.

poinsettiaPoinsettia

This is not what this poinsettia looked like when I got it.  A friend used several of them for holiday decorations, and afterward, put them out in her yard until they were just really feeble-looking stems in pots.  In the spring, she was gathering them up to drop them in the trash can. I decided to rescue several of them.

I brought them home and planted them in a corner of the yard where I had caladiums, thinking that the two plants would compliment each others colors.

Will they Grow?

The plants were not much more than a ball of dried stems, but they began to grow and within a month, they had tiny leaves.

poinsettiaPoinsettia

The leaves stayed green for almost a year. They began to turn red in January. In south Florida, and left to nature, the light isn’t right for them to take on their colorful leaves until January.

The beautiful red ‘flowers’ aren’t flowers at all. They are leaves that begin to change color when they get at least 12 hours of darkness for several days in a row. This is called photoperiodism.

poinsettiaPoinsettia

Gradually, the plants began to fill out. By January, they were about 15 inches tall and were taking on their winter colors.

Worth the Wait

In January of 2013, a year and a half after I planted the holiday leftover plants, they took on the bright red leaves we recognize as poinsettias.

poinsettiaPoinsettia

These may not be the spectacular arrangements we see in the stores during December, but it is really nice to have them all red in my yard… even if they missed their stage call in December.

Tags:   · · 2 Comments

Garden Saved by Trellises

November 26th, 2013 by Lila Steinhoff
Respond

Damaging Winds

Recently, I wrote about the unusually strong winds we have been experiencing in South Florida. The plants in the garden were slammed around for about four days a couple of weeks ago.

IMG_5450Wind-blown Green Beans

The plants were blown so hard that holes were forming around the stems and roots. Some plants were lying on their sides, and some were pulled completely out of the ground.

It Is Happening Again

The winds are back. Yesterday, the winds were 12 mph sustained with gusts to 30 mph. Even large-stemmed plants, like broccoli and egg plant were were losing ground. Last time, I put trellises on each side of the eggplant to contain it, but, because the winds changed direction so often, it was no longer working. I had to go to Plan B.

trellises with eggplantBlowing Eggplant

Plan B

I have tied up tomato plants ever since I began gardening, but today, I added more veggies to the ‘tied up’ list.

Even broccoli plants, that sit lower to the ground than the eggplant and have sturdy stems, had holes around the roots and were lying on their sides. The only solution to losing  quite a few plants to the wind was to tie them to a trellis anchored in the ground.

IMG_5434Broccoli

I tied the large stem to the trellis very close to the ground. That was enough to keep the plant upright in the wind. Broccoli is sturdy, so the wind was not going to damage it once the root couldn’t move.

eggplant tied to trellisEggplant Tied to Trellis

The winds were so strong and variable that sandwiching the eggplants between two trellises was doing no good. The plants were blowing out from in between the two trellises and digging holes around the roots, again. I tied the large stems to a trellis. Because the eggplants are three feet tall, I had to anchor them higher on the trellis. It was enough to hold the stem still in the wind.

Problem Solved… I Hope

The garden looks like a trellis farm, but the plants are doing well. It’s looking pretty good.

gardenRaised Garden Boxes

Those dozen small trellises are light weight, easy to handle and are stable in the ground. They were one of the best purchases I made last season.

Tags:   · · · · No Comments.