Growing Food In The Hood

25/07/2022

🌱 August Edibles to Plant in North Florida*
Easily transplant: beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, eggplant, endive, kale, peppers, tomatillo, tomatoes, and tropical spinaches.

Transplant with care: celery and mustard.

Use seeds: beans (bush, lima, pole), carrots, cucumbers, onions (bunching), squashes, and turnips.

Central Florida*
Easily transplant: eggplant, endive, peppers, sugarcane, tomatoes, and tropical spinaches.

Transplant with care: pineapple.

Use seeds: beans (bush, lima, pole), carrots, okra, onions (bunching), peas (southern), and squashes.

South Florida*
Easily transplant: eggplant, peppers, sugarcane, tomatillo, tomatoes, and tropical spinaches.

Transplant with care: amaranth, calabaza, papaya, passionfruit, pineapple, Seminole pumpkin, and sweet potatoes.

Use seeds: okra and pumpkin.

* For the purposes of this planting calendar, "North Florida" refers to all of Florida north of State Road 40. "Central Florida" refers to the section of Florida between State Roads 40 and 70. "South Florida" refers to all of Florida below State Road 70.

August infographic
https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/plant-of-the-month/what-to-plant/what-to-plant-in-august.html

Suggested Gardening tasks calendar
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP451

23/07/2022

It's still very hot here, but we're finally getting some rain. We have 4 varieties of watermelon growing. I also found seminole pumpkins and butternut squash. The rose bushes are also in bloom. It's now time to prepare for the fall garden.

20/07/2022

Finding new things growing and maturing is always fun. We have summer peas, cantaloupe, and Barbados cherries coming in. I wasn't sure how the melons would do since I started them a little later than usual, but grateful that they are producing.

18/07/2022

What is food without seasoning? Although I've always grown herbs and spices, and always known how to store them, I've honestly never worked on ensuring that we saved some for the winter months. I've used it fresh but the grocery store has always been available. Trying to be more intentional these days and putting more effort into storing items we love and becoming less dependent on the grocery store. So, I've made some cayenne pepper and rosemary to add to the spice racks. They smell and taste amazing and will be well used!

15/07/2022

I'm currently trying to finish the back end of the property. We installed a few beds a few weeks ago and will be adding a few more this weekend. We need to also finish covering our pathways with mulch and tackle the weeds and vines on the back fence. The goal is to maximize growing spaces while building up the soil fertility in our yard over the next couple of years.

14/07/2022

Fresh basil and thyme ready for the herb and seasoning rack!

13/07/2022

Spent the last couple of days in classes, so it felt good to get back out i to the garden. Today, I harvested chinese eggplants and a variety of peppers. I also began harvesting and dehydrating basil. I plan to spend today dehydrating herbs and flowers and getting some much needed rest.

01/07/2022

It's been a while since I've posted here. I've been attending educational conferences and trainings, but today we harvested our first jubilee watermelon 🍉! She weighed in at 31 lbs!!!

28/06/2022

Join us in Duval County!

More details https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/duval/duval-county-canning-center/

28/06/2022

Edibles to Plant in July (text)
North Florida
Easily transplant: gingers, peppers, roselle, tomatillo, tomatoes, and tropical spinaches.

Transplant with care: amaranth, calabaza, long squash, luffa, and Seminole pumpkin.

Use seeds: chayote, cucumbers, peas (southern), and pumpkin.

Central Florida
Easily transplant: boniato, gingers, roselle, sugarcane, and tropical spinaches.

Transplant with care: amaranth, calabaza, long squash, luffa, papaya, passionfruit, pigeon pea, pineapple, Seminole pumpkin, and yucca.

Use seeds: chayote, okra, peas (southern), and pumpkin.

South Florida
Easily transplant: sugarcane, and tropical spinaches.

Transplant with care: amaranth, papaya, passionfruit, pineapple, and sweet potatoes.

Use seeds: chayote.

26/06/2022

Today we met two awesome brothers who run The Bunny Ranch. They had an assortment of bunnies and helped us acquire our first male and female New Zealand rabbits. These will be used to provide us with meat and fertilizer for our garden. Next up, time to build their outdoor enclosure.

25/06/2022

My husband and my father took time out of their day to clear overgrowth from the backyard. I always feared walking by these areas, as we do occasionally have snakes in the garden. Now, I can see if they come out during the day. I am so grateful and pleased with the work they did for me. This is love!

23/06/2022

We're blessed to have extra produce that we can put away for later. My main focus is to complete the installation of the garden beds before the new school year begins, so most things are going into the freezer. I have not yet begun canning again, but I look forward to doing so soon.

23/06/2022

20/06/2022

I plan to share a garden update soon, but for now, just take a look at this view! As I looked out from the side of my garden, my heart was filled with so much joy and if only you could have seen the smile that came over my face! This is my peace.

18/06/2022

Baby, this hoe been putting in some work!!!!!

16/06/2022

This heat is so hard on our hens. You have to find ways to keep them cool. Mine enjoy cold watermelon. It's the perfect treat to help them cool down in the afternoon heat.

14/06/2022

I've really neglected myself these past few years. Becoming a teacher through the alternative certification route was costly, time consuming, and exhausting. I vowed to take this summer to get back to living life on my terms. That involves completing our urban homestead and preparing more nutritious foods. Today, I didn't get much work done in the garden, but I managed to pick a few things, including another ripe watermelon, and made myself a delicious and nutritious dinner! I'm reclaiming my time and my health and that's a win for me today.

12/06/2022

Lord, I've been watching these watermelon, eagerly awaiting their maturity. I've thumped them, examined their color, looked for the brown tendrils and everything. This morning my impatient arse decided that I was just gonna harvest this one to test out my thumping skills, cuz it's been years since ya girl's grown watermelon. Well, looka here!! The first icebox watermelon was ready!!! Can't nobody tell me s**t tight now! 😂😂😂 Oh, and I harvested a few other goodies from the garden this morning as well! ❤🖤💚

11/06/2022

Today, hubby took me on an early morning date to the gun range and now mama has a brand new piece.

10/06/2022

Today, our urban homestead provided us with eggs, blackberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, sweet corn, and peppers. I used a portion of it to create tonight's dinner. We are havingcorn on the cob, pork tenderloin, black-eyed peas, okra, rice, and blackberry cobbler for dessert 🤗. The rest was put away. I'll soon be processing some of these items to store for the winter.

08/06/2022

The older I get, the more I appreciate elevated beds. Although I do enjoy getting dirty and working the soil, having some beds that don't require so much bending makes the work a lot easier! We've added 3 elevated beds so far and we love them! They are self watering and super easy to set up. We plan to add several more this summer.

06/06/2022

Dinner is served!!! Grilled shrimp and steak cooked by hubby, fried rice made by Alana, and grilled veggies courtesy of our garden and cooked by yours truly. I think we're all done now!! Baby, I can get used to this! 😛

06/06/2022

Well, apparently I wasn't done harvesting for the day. The garden said it had more to give and it did! Lol! And we 'gone eat it!!

06/06/2022

Today's harvest: 20 gallon pot full of pak choy! It has gotten too hot to grow it here. We managed to keep it this long because it was planted in a cooler, shaded area of the yard. Time to make room for summer peas and pumpkin!

06/06/2022

Today's harvest! Don't you just love all of the beautiful colors?!?! Oh creator. I give thanks to thee!!!

05/06/2022

Today was all about sweet potatoes! Since I'm attempting to grow enough vegetables for our family of 5, I did some research and decided to plant 33 plants. I have no idea if that will actually be enough to meet our needs for a year, but we are certainly going to find out. The slips were planted in a combination of 10 gallon and 20 gallon grow bags. These bags are easy to place and don't take up much space. I'm already dreaming of sweet potatoe pies and souffles 🤤😋!

05/06/2022

Today was a perfect day. I stepped on the scale and was down 5 lbs, got some early morning garden therapy, took a long afternoon nap, and then enjoyed a family dinner on the patio. We enjoyed a pot of tomatoes, sausage, and corn using tomatoes from the garden. We also fried the okra we harvested today. It was the perfect farm-to-table meal for this warm summer evening. I enjoyed every morsel and every moment. This is my peace! ❤️

04/06/2022

You reap what you sow. That saying is still one of my guiding premises. It comes up when we, as a family, discuss our personal feelings regarding food security. Although I struggled with having energy and strength, due to Covid this week, the garden still provided us with a bountiful harvest. These are pics of what we've harvested from June 1st until today. We have varieties of tomatoes, blackberries, okra, various sweet peppers, jalapeños, hot cayenne, sweet peppers, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and royalty purple beans coming in regularly these days. After moving and starting over a year ago, I am excited to see this progress.

28/05/2022

We've been getting lots of rain and the tomatoes started splitting. This harvest, gathered by my daughter, still brings me so much joy!

24/05/2022

I just went grocery shopping.........in my own backyard! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Lots of veggies and not pictured are eggs and pak choy! Gonna make one hell of a veggie plate for tomorrow's lunch and dinner!

16/05/2022

Graduation party for our daughter was a success!! Our homeschooling journey has come to an end. What an amazing journey that I wouldn't change for the world! We did it, and so can you!!!

13/05/2022

Today, we graduated our last homeschooler!!! Our baby girl graduated and received her AA degree through FSCJ's dual enrollment program! We are so very, very proud of her.

12/05/2022

Proud Garden Hoe!! Lol!!!

11/05/2022

From the garden to the table!

06/05/2022

Tomorrow's lunch, straight from the garden, no filter!

04/05/2022

Dragonfruit ❤️ We have 2 varieties, natural mystic and yellow. I haven't grown one long enough to fruit yet, so I'm excited to see where they are right now and looking forward to harvesting a few soon!

02/05/2022

I'm sooooo excited to be growing new to me varieties of seeds! It's also been quite some time since I've grown loofahs. Here, I am propogating seminole pumpkins, everglades tomatoes, purple bell peppers, and yellow flesh watermelon for the first time! I also have loofas, yellow pear tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, and tomatillos. This is going to be an exciting growing season for me!