Watch My Food Grow ~ A South Florida Raised Vegetable Garden

Florida Backyard Raised Vegetable Garden

My Mango Is Bigger Than Your Mango

June 14th, 2012 by Lila Steinhoff
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Storms Dropped Immature Fruit

Earlier this year, we had some severe storms that knocked off many mangos from both my Haden and honey mango trees.

Because the immature Hadens were bigger than the mature honey mangos, I tried ripening the immature fruit.

There were mixed results, but I learned that the storm-dropped mangos were edible, even at that stage of growth.

I Was NOT Joking!

Recently, someone asked me if was was joking about mangos ‘as big as cantaloupes’. I was NOT joking. We just picked the first mature fruit off the Haden mango tree in my yard. They are huge.

To give you an idea of the size, I have placed a pint canning jar between the mature Haden mango on the left and one that dropped too early on the right.

The Haden will ripen in three or four days and will take on a slight shade of magenta  across the top. The fruit of the Haden is very smooth, no fiber at all. Hadens are my personal favorites.

Honey Mangos

While we have had meager Haden crops for the last few years, the honey mango tree in my yard is full, as it is every year.

Honey Mangos Are Smaller

Honey mangos are much smaller than the Hadens. Again, I used a pint canning jar to show scale.

The taste of the honey mangos is stronger and more tart than the Hadens, and it’s fruit is more fibrous. They are small, but well worth the extra effort to get your craving for mangos satisfied. I like them a lot.

 

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Beautiful-to-Look-at Veggies

June 11th, 2012 by Lila Steinhoff
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A Treat for the Eyes

An aspect of growing your own vegetables that you may not have thought about is that they are very pleasing to the eye. Fresh veggies can be beautiful.  The tomatoes, green beans and okra from my garden earlier this year were picture perfect… so I took pictures.

Juliets and Romas

Okra

Green Beans

 Wish These Were Mine

To be honest, I did not grow these radishes. I got them from a local fruit and vegetable vendor. I had gone in for lettuce, but when I saw these, I had to have them. They were snow white on the inside, no flaws on the outside, and the radish greens were as crisp as if they had just been pulled from the ground. Radish greens can be used in salads.

How could anything, that were as pretty as these, not be delicious?

Radishes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow, and are ready for the table in just five weeks. There are many varieties, so there is something for everyone’s taste.

My grandmother grew horseradish every couple of years.  When she would grind the horseradish in preparation for preserving it, eyes watered all over the neighborhood. I remember it well.

Fresh tastes good.

Besides looking good and  being good for you, fresh-from-the-garden vegetables taste so-o-o good.

Green Beans with Bacon and Onion

Fried Green Tomatoes

A couple of my favorites are green beans sauteed with a little bacon and onion and fried green tomatoes… a staple of my childhood that I still love. No cornmeal, though. They have to be dipped in flour with just a sprinkle of salt.

 

 

 

 

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Best Use Ever!

June 6th, 2012 by Lila Steinhoff
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Overnight Guest

My grandson, Malcolm, spent the night with me last week. I enjoy having him here, and we always manage to fill the time with a little together stuff.

Not long ago, he painted a birdhouse he’d built in scouts. It was a gift for his great-grandmother. We sat at my table, and  my job was to keep the paint coming… squirt the paint into a dish while he painted.

He said it was really fun. I believe him.

On to the Garden

We both walked out to the yard to pick up any mangos that may have fallen overnight. What is left of my garden is in the same part of the yard as the mango tree. Malcolm picked up my garden trowel and began loosening tiny weeds so he could pull them. He was working intently.

I almost told him not to bother. If you remember, this garden has been set upon by critters and blight and is, I thought, of no value in its present condition. I was so wrong.

Whenever his mother asks him how his day went, Malcolm’s answer is always, ‘This is the best day ever!’  Watching him work with such purpose to remove what few weeds there were made my heart soar. He was having a great time in a place that gives me such pleasure.

I think that sad pile of dirt just experienced its ‘best use ever’. Really good memory.

 

 

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