Seed the Stars

08/26/2024

🇵🇷 Find Puerto Rican Heirloom Eggplant seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com

⭐ Introducing a new "STAR" that we seed-saved this summer and are excited to continue to steward: The "Rosita" Eggplant!

🇵🇷 This heirloom eggplant originated from Puerto Rico in the 1940’s. In our spring trial, we experienced that 'Rosita' tolerated Florida's heat & humidity very well, and produced more fruit per plant compared to other Italian- style varieties we have grown out so far.

🍆 "Rosíta" has sweet, non-bitter, white flesh and has a long harvest window since the seeds are late to develop, and the light pink skin has a thin, tender texture. Plus, the gorgeous lavender color is a lovely pop of color in the garden!

🇮🇹 We enjoyed many rounds of Eggplant Parmesan from this tasty and abundant variety and are excited to offer our Florida grown 'Rosita' seeds with y'all!

🐝 As with most members of the nightshade family, eggplants grow best in Florida's spring and fall seasons when nighttime temperatures are a bit cooler for proper pollination.

🌱 We recommend sowing eggplant seeds shallowly, about as deep as the seed is wide, in soiless seed starting media to best control germination conditions & needs.Transplant them into your growing space once they have a few sets of true leaves.

🫘 This variety takes about 70 to 80 + days from seed to harvest. To learn the best time to start your eggplant seeds, first look up your average frost date to decide if you still have enough time to plant and harvest them this fall season before the risk of frost or start your seeds 8 weeks before your last average spring frost date.

🏆 Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated & will grow true-to-type if properly isolated from other varieties. So allow a fruit to go past prime eating stage to become a firm fruit with a yellow color to harvest for seed right from your own garden. Healthy eggplants can sometimes become short lived perennials in frost free zones as well, so if you have the room to leave a healthy plant in the garden, you may want to!

08/24/2024

👀 Find Florida-Heirloom, "Hickory Cane Dent Corn" seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com

🌽 This historically celebrated corn variety of present day Florida & Georgia was originally stewarded by the native peoples of the Southeast USA; these disease and pest resistant plants are widely adaptable to many diverse soil types and growing conditions.

🏆 Kown for its exceptional flavor and easy processing, Dent Corn has large, white kernels that are ideal for cornmeal, cornbread, grits, tortillas, hominy, & livestock fodder.

🔥 Although "Hickory Cane" is not a "sweet-corn" variety, fresh green ears have traditionally been harvested for roasting over an open fire.

🪲 With a strong tolerance to Leaf Blight, tightly layered, easy to shuck husks help to resist pests like beetles & worms.

🫘 As each husk is shucked,a true treasure is uncovered and reminds us of the past seed savers, starting with the many generations of Native Americans that selected and guided a grass over thousands of years to become this edible beauty.

🌴 Our deepest gratitude goes to the "Indigenous Peoples of Florida" who originally stewarded this GORGEOUS grass.

🕸️ "Nature is a vast web of generosity..."

💰 20% OFF seed packets 'till September 30th with the promo codes SAVE20 or SUMMER20 at checkout on seedthestars.etsy.com

🌱 When your seeds wake up, will they be expecting to grow in FLORIDA?

🏴‍☠️ "Seed The Stars" stewards a collection of locally-trialed, regionally-appropriate, organically-grown seeds selected from their best performing “STAR” varieties that thrive in Florida!

⭐ Variety: "Hickory Cane Dent Corn", A Florida Heirloom.

08/21/2024

🍆 Find fresh Puerto Rican Heirloom Eggplant seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com

⭐ Introducing a new "star" that we have seed saved this summer and are excited to continue to steward -the 'Rosita' Eggplant!

🇵🇷 This heirloom eggplant originated from Puerto Rico in the 1940’s. In our spring trial, we experienced that 'Rosita' tolerated Florida's heat & humidity very well, and produced more fruit per plant compared to other Italian- style varieties we have grown out so far.

💜 "Rosíta" has sweet, non-bitter, white flesh and has a long harvest window since the seeds are late to develop, and the light pink skin has a thin, tender texture. Plus, the gorgeous lavender color is a lovely pop of color in the garden!

🇮🇹 We enjoyed many rounds of Eggplant Parmesan from this tasty and abundant variety and are excited to offer our Florida grown 'Rosita' seeds with y'all!

🐝 As with most members of the nightshade family, eggplants grow best in Florida's spring and fall seasons when nighttime temperatures are a bit cooler for proper pollination.

🌱 We recommend sowing eggplant seeds shallowly, about as deep as the seed is wide, in soiless seed starting media to best control germination conditions & needs.Transplant them into your growing space once they have a few sets of true leaves.

🫘 This variety takes about 70 to 80 + days from seed to harvest. To learn the best time to start your eggplant seeds, first look up your average frost date to decide if you still have enough time to plant and harvest them this fall season before the risk of frost or start your seeds 8 weeks before your last average spring frost date.

🏆 Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated & will grow true-to-type if properly isolated from other varieties. So allow a fruit to go past prime eating stage to become a firm fruit with a yellow color to harvest for seed right from your own garden. Healthy eggplants can sometimes become short lived perennials in frost free zones as well, so if you have the room to leave a healthy plant in the garden, you may want to!

08/20/2024

🎃 Find PREMIUM "Seminole Pumpkin" seed packets at seedthestars.etsy.com

🧡 We have spent the last few seasons selecting seeds from our largest, roundest, deepest orange colored pumpkins with THICK walls & an outstandingly RICH flavor... Some larger pumpkins were nearly solid, yielding an IMPRESSIVE amount of food per-fruit.

🌴 Our deepest gratitude goes to the "Indigenous peoples of Florida" who originally stewarded this diverse landrace.

😋 With a LEGENDARY taste that’s SWEETER than a Butternut, Seminole Pumpkins are well adapted to hot, humid, subtropical-climates with a resistance to Downy Mildew & Squash Vine Borers!

🌱 In Central Florida, Seminole Pumpkin plants grow best in early Spring, in full to partial sun with high airflow.

💪 Help plants grow new roots along the vines by burying nodes with compost & avoiding trellises.

🌼 Pumpkin plants have separate male & female flowers that are pollinated by insects, HOWEVER, they shoukd be hand pollinated to maximize pumpkin production in your patch!

🐝 Male “staminate” flowers are slender-stemmed & emerge for the first several flushes of flowers, while female “pistillate” flowers bloom later on with a small unfertilized fruit at its base.

🕸️ "Nature is a vast web of generosity..."

💰 20% OFF seed packets 'till September 30th with the NEW promo code SAVE20 at checkout on seedthestars.etsy.com

🏴‍☠️ Stay tuned for more heat-tolerant "Florida-favorites" areiving THIS WEEK!

🫘 "Seed The Stars" stewards a collection of locally-trialed, regionally-appropriate, organically-grown seeds selected from their best performing “STAR” varieties that thrive in Florida.

🤔 When your seeds wake up, will they be expecting to grow in FLORIDA?

08/14/2024

🏆🧄🍓 Pre-order your garlic & strawberry propagates from Practical Plants
https://practicalplantsfl.com presale

https://practicalplantsfl.com presale for strawberries and garlic are open!

08/11/2024

🎃 We're STOKED on the success of this pumpkin in Florida!
👀 Find fresh "Orange Bulldog" pumpkin seeds at: seedthestars.etsy.com

🫘 These Jack-o’-lantern style pumpkins were bred for production in the Southeast by the University of Georgia, who sourced disease-resistant germplasm from the Brazilian jungle and selected for large, round, bright-orange fruit, with deep furrows and an open cavity that's suitable for carvings.The high resistance to viruses, powdery mildew, downy mildew, as well as fruits with diverse sizes, shapes, and colors make this pumpkin a star in our garden!

✨ "Seed The Stars" stewards a collection of locally trialed, regionally appropriate, organically grown seeds selected from their best performing “star” varieties that thrive in Florida’s unique growing conditions. When your seeds wake up, will they be expecting to grow in Florida?

08/10/2024

👀 Find new packets released this week at seedthestars.etsy.com
🫘 This diverse bean mix is an opportunity to experiment with multiple bush varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris at once and save the seeds from the plants that grow and taste best to YOU!

🏆 Our goal for this project is to work towards creating a locally adapted crop with vigor & genetic diversity. Plant populations that are more genetically diverse tend to adapt better to changes in our climate, to pests, and disease pressure when compared to in**ed varieties.

✨ A mix of varieties of the same species grown together and encouraged to cross pollinate is also referred to as an "Ultracross" or “Grex” which means “flock” in Latin, describing a population that shares similar characteristics, rather than sharing similar genetics. While beans naturally have a low cross pollination rate, we have observed seeds with new color patterns after our second season. We have added new varieties from other grexes during our third season and will continue to add new genetics to the mix each season we grow them out.

🌿 Many of the varieties we selected for this project are bush beans with dual purpose, meaning they are compact plants with pods that can either be picked as young tender, immature snap-beans or use as shell beans. Or you can allow the bean pods to dry on the plant to store as a staple food to use for making chili, soup & refried beans. Some beans in the mix are best suited as a shelled or dry bean and will have a firmer pod.

💌 We are excited to finally share seeds from the beginning of our Adaptation/ Landrace Garden Projects journey. We hope that the Florida gardeners interested in promiscuous pollination projects will enjoy exploring the characteristics of this diverse bush bean mix!

👨‍🌾 We will be sharing more information on our Adaptation / Landrace gardening projects in future posts, but if you're ready to dive in now, we recommend that you check out the book Landrace Gardening by Joseph Lofthouse.

🌱 We look forward to hearing your growing and eating experience and the different ways you decide to use these beans.

🏴‍☠️ Find our locally-adapted, seasonally-appropriate, Florida-grown seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com

08/02/2024

In August, there's still time to start and grow many heat loving annual crops, start seed of some warm season crops, as well as start seed of the cool season crops towards the end of the month to plant out sometime next month as temperatures start to cool.

🐛 Pest pressure and plant disease are very high this time of year due to high temperatures and rainy weather, so diligently keep up with scouting and implement a pest management routine, especially for sensitive crops such as cucurbits & tomatoes.

🌱 If you wanted to get a jump start on the cool season crops, you may begin to start some crops by seed later in the month to transplant out sometime in September. Make sure to protect your cool season seedlings by growing under shade cloth, dappled canopy, or starting indoors. If you start your cool season seeds indoors, make sure to gradually get those seedlings used to the outside elements over a few days before transplanting out.

👩‍🌾 Personally, we wait to start our cool season crops until September and October. So don't feel stressed to get everything started this month. If you still have a full thriving summer garden, you will still have plenty of time to start your cool season crops next month.

🍅 If you want to start tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillo, and groundcherry by seed for fall, this is the time to focus on seeding those early in the month.

➡️ Remember that crop planting lists are guides and that plants do not strickly adhere to human calendars! Make sure to continue to make your own garden observations & keep records to learn when crops do best in your garden and always keep an eye on the weather & temperatures to decide the best planting time.

08/02/2024

👀 Looking for Florida-friendly, heat-tolerant, edible plants?
🏆 Find locally adapted, FloGrown seed packets at seedthestars.etsy.com

💠This perennial pea native to equatorial Asia tolerates drought, heat, & humidity, making it a great crop for our Florida summers.

💜 The beautiful blue brewed tea made from the flowers will turn from blue to Purple/Magenta if an acidic component is added, such as a squeeze of lemon or lime!

😋 Flowers are edible and can be used to bring color to a salad, create brightly colored drinks, and naturally dye rice & baking dishes. Leaves and pea pods are also said to be edible when young and tender, though we personally only use the Flowers which are full of antioxidants and are commonly used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine.

🌿 Butterfly Pea is a vigorous climbing vine, so we recommend growing on a trellis, fence, or pole to maximize your growing space. Vines typically produce throughout the warm season in Central Florida. The plants take a break during our winters, but wake up once warm weather and long days of sunshine arrive, really kicking into gear during the hottest summer months.

🫘 Germinate seeds by scarifying: Lightly scrape/nick the seed coat and soak overnight in a glass of water before shallowly sowing.

💰 15% off seed packets by "Seed The Stars" https://seedthestars.etsy.com?coupon=15OFF

✨ "Seed The Stars" stewards a collection of locally trialed, regionally appropriate, organically grown seeds selected from their best performing “star” varieties that thrive in Florida’s unique climate.

🏴‍☠️ When your seeds wake up, will they be expecting to grow in Florida?

07/30/2024

🍒👀 Planting kid-friendly garden snacks this Fall?
✨🌱 Find Florida-grown seed packets at seedthestars.etsy.com

🍍 We've grown a few varieties of Groundcherry as well as varieties from two species and the Pineapple Groundcherry is hands down our favorite variety!

😋 The lantern-like papery husks hide small yellow pineapple flavored fruits which are perfect for preserves, sweet dessert toppings, and brightening up salads.

🟡 Ripe fruits fall from plants when husks dry & fruit ripens to yellow with a citrusy pineapple flavor.

🌿 This variety is a compact sprawler and can create a mat ground cover grown in an intercropped system.

🪴 They are adaptable to most soil types and also thrive in pots. While they are heat tolerant and relatively pest free we have found spider mites to be a common pest during the hotter months. So we now grow them mostly as a spring and fall crop to avoid heavy pest pressure.

⭐ Only eat ripe yellow colored fruit and keep your husks dry after harvesting a batch before enjoying. The abundant fruit can also be frozen but we mostly find ourselves eating them out of hand as garden snacks!

🏴‍☠️ Grown organically in Zone 9b, Central Florida by "Seed The Stars"

🫘 When your seeds wake up, will they be expecting to grow in Florida?

07/27/2024

🌺👀 Looking to grow heat-tolerant, edible perennials?
✨🌿 Find Florida-grown seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com

🍁🏆 Cranberry Hibiscus is a Florida food forest favorite for a few fabulous reasons! She is a gift that keeps on giving fresh flowers & tart foliage for teas & salads. Cranberry Hibiscus tolerates cooler conditions, is more vigorous, longer lasting, and has larger flowers than tropical hibiscus varieties. In colder climates, Hibiscus acetosella can be grown as an annual, but is often regarded as a perennial to zones 9 –11.

🏴‍☠️🫘 "Seed The Stars" stewards a collection of locally trialed, regionally appropriate, organically grown seeds selected from their best performing “star” varieties that thrive in Florida’s unique climate. When your seeds wake up, will they be expecting to grow in Florida?

07/26/2024

🌳 Filling out a Florida food forest? Interplant "Tree Okra", the perennial.
👀 Find locally-adapted, heat-tolerant edibles at seedthestars.etsy.com
🫘 When your seeds wake up, will they be expecting to grow in Florida?

07/24/2024

We're baaack!

After 3 weeks of garden sitting for our friends in North Carolina, we're back in Lake county, Florida, and making the rounds to each of our seed gardens. We are so happy that the rainy season decided to start when we departed, which gave some crops the extra boost they needed before harvest time!

Here's a look at the first harvest of our spring planting of Orange Bulldog and Seminole Pumpkin from our seed gardens at .

We will begin curing these pumpkins for storage and start processing some for seed soon!

07/22/2024

🍅👀 Looking for Florida-friendly veggie varieties?
✨🌱 Find Florida-grown seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com

🫘🏴‍☠️ "Seed The Stars" stewards a collection of locally trialed, regionally appropriate, organically grown seeds that are selected from their best performing “STAR” varieties that thrive in Florida.

*How to grow Yellow Everglades Tomatoes:

Germination: Seeds can be started, anytime when the chance of frost has passed in warm climates. We start ours outside in seeding flats when the weather is consistently above 70 degrees.

Everglades tomatoes are currant style tomatoes which can take over two weeks to germinate, depending on their environmental conditions. Tomatoes prefer consistent heat to germinate (70 - 80 F) so we recommend a heating mat or monitored conditions to keep the soil warm in cooler environments. Placing them up on top of the fridge often works too since it's normally a warmer location in the household. The longer you can consistently maintain temperatures around 70°- 80 F, the sooner they will germinate.

***Tomato seeds are small, and in natural conditions will typically germinate on top of the soil. Remember this when you are seeding your tomatoes! The number one mistake we see with new growers is seeding to deep.***

We germinate tomatoes using a light,well draining, and sterile 'soilless' seed starting media which retains moisture and is a great consistency for root development. We prepare seeding flats or pots with moist soilless seed starting media and create a small depression, no more than ¼ ‘’ deep, before placing one or two seeds in each depression. I then lightly cover the seeds and water them in, making a note or seed tag for the date of seeding. If the media is kept consistently moist and they are lightly sown about 1/4th - 1/8th of an inch deep then germination should occur. We have successfully seeded Everglades Tomatoes on top of soil, without covering as well, though I find the plants to be stronger when seeding them slightly below the soil surface( ¼- ⅛ of an inch). Once tomatoes emerge, place in full sun and thin each container to have only one tomato seedling.

07/16/2024

🍅👀 Looking for Florida-friendly veggie varieties?
✨🌱 Find Florida-grown seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com

🫘🏴‍☠️ "Seed The Stars" stewards a collection of locally trialed, regionally appropriate, organically grown seeds that are selected from their best performing “STAR” varieties that thrive in Florida’s unique growing conditions.

*How to grow Everglades Tomatoes:

Germination: Seeds can be started, anytime when the chance of frost has passed in warm climates. We start ours outside in seeding flats when the weather is consistently above 70 degrees.

Tomatoes can take as little as 5 days or as long as two weeks to germinate depending on their environmental conditions. Tomatoes prefer consistent heat to germinate (70 - 80 F) so we recommend a heating mat or monitored conditions to keep the soil warm in cooler environments. Placing them up on top of the fridge often works too since it's normally a warmer location in the household. The longer you can consistently maintain temperatures around 70°- 80 F, the sooner they will germinate.

***Tomato seeds are small, and in natural conditions will typically germinate on top of the soil. Remember this when you are seeding your tomatoes! The number one mistake we see with new growers is seeding to deep.***

We germinate tomatoes using a light,well draining, and sterile 'soilless' seed starting media which retains moisture and is a great consistency for root development. We prepare seeding flats or pots with moist soilless seed starting media and create a small depression, no more than ¼ ‘’ deep, before placing one or two seeds in each depression. I then lightly cover the seeds and water them in, making a note or seed tag for the date of seeding. If the media is kept consistently moist and they are lightly sown about 1/4th - 1/8th of an inch deep then germination should occur. We have successfully seeded Everglades Tomatoes on top of soil, without covering as well, though I find the plants to be stronger when seeding them slightly below the soil surface( ¼- ⅛ of an inch). Once tomatoes emerge, place in full sun and thin each container to have only one tomato seedling.

07/15/2024

👀 Looking for a drought-tolerant, pest-resistant cover crop?
🫘 Find "Florida Velvet Bean" seeds at seedthestars.etsy.com
🏆 From ancient ayurvedic plant medicine, to syntropic agroforestry applications - there are MANY reasons why the Florida Velvet Bean has taken root in our permaculture community. Grown in Zone 9b

07/13/2024

🌶️😍 Looking for kid-friendly, SWEET peppers?
✨🌱 Tap to source seeds and get growing!
seedthestars.etsy.com 🫘 grown in zone 9b 🏴‍☠️

🌶️ HOW TO GROW SWEETY DROP PEPPERS:

✨ Store seeds in a cool dark space and use within 6 months of purchase to maintain viability and high germination rates.

🫘 Heirloom seeds – these seeds will be "true to type" season after season if they are isolated from other Peppers varieties. If grown too close to other pepper cultivars they can become cross pollinated, affecting future seed genetics. Seed savers recommend at least 500 ft isolation distance.

🌱 SEEDING/ GERMINATION:

☀️ Seeds can be started indoors 8 weeks before your last frost date.
Peppers can take as little as 5 days or as long as two weeks to germinate depending on their environmental conditions. Peppers prefer consistent heat to germinate (at least 70°F) so we recommend a heating mat or monitored conditions to keep the soil warm in cooler environments. Placing them up on top of the fridge often works too since it's normally a warmer location in the household. The longer you can consistently maintain at least 70°F, the sooner they will germinate.

🌟 Germinate peppers using a light and sterile 'soilless' seed starting media which retains moisture and is a great consistency for root development. To prepare for seeding, soak the seed overnight in a glass of water to hydrate. The following day prepare seeding flats or pots with moist soilless seed starting media and create a small depression, no more than ¼ ‘’ deep, before placing one or two seeds in each depression. Lightly cover the seeds and water them in, making a note or seed tag for the date of seeding. If the media is kept consistently moist and they are lightly sown about 1/4th - 1/8th of an inch deep the germination should occur. Once peppers emerge, place in full sun and thin each container to have only one pepper seedling.

🪴 TRANSPLANTING/POTTING UP:

🌶️ Almost all peppers have the same requirements for successful growth. Plant them in good, well-drained, fertile soil – and make sure they get lots of sunlight and consistent water.

🌿 Once the seedlings have grown 2 – 3 sets of their “true leaves” and have developed a root ball that stays intact when gently removing it from the container, they are ready to be potted up or transplanted. Make sure to 'harden off' the young plants by placing them in the warm sun by day and bringing them inside by night, extending their time in the daylight and elements each day. Once they have acclimated, move them out to the garden or new container. When potting up use a mix of potting soil and compost, planting the seedling at soil level in the new container. We also mix compost into the planting hole when transplanting into prepared garden beds. We top mulch around each of our pepper plants in pots or in the field with a 1 to 2″ thick layer of compost and reapply throughout the growing season.

🏆 HARVEST/ SEED SAVING:

🌶️ Harvest peppers when fully ripe and consistently res colored. Harvesting mature fruits encourages new fruits to mature on the plant. To save seed, harvest pods when they have a wrinkly or leathery texture. Scrape seeds from the flesh and allow to dry in a cool, dark, dry place. Ceramic plates make for good seed drying plates.

07/08/2024

🌿👀 Want to grow heat-tolerant greens all summer?
🫘🌱 Find the "Tropical Spinach" seed collection at:
seedthestars.etsy.com ☀️🏴‍☠️ Grown in FL, Zone 9b

✨ Lagos Spinach is an easy to grow herbaceous annual that resists most insects, requires very little maintenance & blooms attractive flowers. The nutritious leaves of this variety are mottled with maroon swatches and are high in protein, vitamins, minerals & antioxidants.Harvest young tender leaves, shoots, and stems to cook as you would spinach and to keep your plant a more compact size. Lagos flowers boast showy spikes of pink, feathery flowers when the daylength shortens in the fall/ spring.

✨ Surinam Spinach produces crisp, succulent leaves and cheerful flowers. We tend to use these plants raw in salads, plant them as border plants, or as a companion plant with fruit trees.

✨ Chinese Spinach is a lovely two‐toned amaranth/ callaloo variety that puts more effort into leafy greens rather than showy flower heads like our larger red/gold varieties. We like to cook our Amaranth with onions and garlic for a Spinach substitute.

✨ Molokhia (Egyptian Spinach) plants grow quickly, up to 9ft tall, and stems are a main source for jute fiber. The tender leaves can be used for tea, in soups, raw in salads, and to thicken sauce. Seed pods can be pickled. We typically harvest by tipping the top tender leaves to add to soups and stir fry. It's also a great plant to grow to have a high supply of greens to add to the compost!

🏆 So if you're looking for greens that wont wimp out and actually thrive in the Florida summer, find the 4-Pack of seeds for these gorgeous, edible plants at seedthestars.etsy.com

07/04/2024

🥭 Grateful for everyone who helped to pull off the 2nd annual Mango Farmfest at the Gatherings Grove on Pine Island, Florida. There are some legit community vibes in this Mango Tribe! Amazing speakers, vendors & fruit junkies. Thanks to everyone who traded tropical fruits & plants for our FloGrown seed packets!

🌦️That was one of the heaviest rainstorms that we've vended through, but puddles don't slow down these hardcore mangoheads at this barefooted plant-people party...

😋 "Can one eat too many Mangos" you might ask.. Yes! Ironically, we discovered that Kelli may be allergic to Mangoes - her favorite fruit. Mangoes and poison ivy contain a similar chemical called urushiol that can cause a rash in some people when exposed to the mango skin. So, now I'm the designated mango processor & she's not allowed to touch the skin. Too much of a good thing, y'all.

🌴 See you next year on Pine Island at The Gatherings Grove Mango Farmfest, FOR SURE!

🏴‍☠️🫘✨🌱✌️ XOXO -Ryan

07/01/2024

July in Central Florida provides us with the opportunity to grow many interesting heat-tolerant crops that thrive in our hot and humid summer season.

🎃It's a great month to start pumpkins in time for an early fall harvest. Pest management is very important when starting cucurbits in the hotter, more pest heavy months.Organic pesticide applications of OMRI products such as BT or Spinosad can be used to target common cucurbit pests such as caterpillars. Make sure to follow the directions on the label and apply when the sun is low and pollinators are not active (early morning/ evening).

🍅 Late July through August and into early September, is the window to start seeds of warm-season nightshade fall crops such as tomatoes, peppers, ground cherries, eggplants, and tomatillos in Central Florida. Start seeds in an area with protection from heavy rains and partial sun for the young tender seedlings.

🍍 Keep planting perennial subtropical and tropical plants now that we have started our rainy season.

🐛 Be diligent in keeping up with a fertilizer and pest management routine while scouting for pests and diseases in the garden and food forest.