Vegetable Gardening at Our New Place

We really enjoy living at our new place in this ever so lovely neighborhood of Lighthouse Point.  I know this may sound absurd but it literally took us almost all of last year to get settled into the house.  I still have a few "I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-crap" boxes in the garage.  You know, the "I don't know what to do with the stuff yet don't want to get rid of it" stuff.   Oh well, I'll just keep hoping for some grand inspiration or a miracle; whichever comes first.   So what's a girl to do but find a distraction...ah-ha...a vegetable garden.  Of course I would use just about any excuse to get into the garden, hee hee, especially because it's a blank slate here.

For those of you who don't know, South Florida's summer heat and humidity usually shut down any chance of vegetables and herbs to grow well   Our sun is incredibly intense and can fry the heartiest of plants in one day.  By the time August rolled around, it seemed the heat would never stop and the rains would never come.  I figured it was a great time to plan for what I wanted to do.  First was research what I thought would grow here and figure out when to start preparing the soil...hmmm...so many choices...so here is what I bought so far.

UM HELLOOO...'glass gem' corn!  Why have I not known about this before...and where have I been...did I get heat stroke this summer, well I think a couple times but...how cool is this!?!

Glass gem corn grown by Kylee Baumle in Ohio
You can see her blog at Our Little Acre

For those of you not familiar, glass gem is considered a flint type of corn that you can use as popcorn or ground into cornmeal, it isn't a sweet type of corn.  As you can see it varies in color considerably and has incredible decorative uses.  I bought the glass gem corn from the Native Seed/SEARCH and also bought their cucumber 'beit alpha' and fava beans 'broad windsor'.

Beit alpha cucumbers, glass gem corn & broad windsor fava beans from Native Seed

From Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, I bought their Shanghai green pack choy, Fish pepper, San Juanito tomatillo, purple jalapeno pepper, yellow wonder wild strawberry, Mexican sour gherkin cucumber and calendula 'pink surprise'.

Fish pepper, Mexican sour gerkin cucumber,
Shanghai bok choy & purple jalapeno's
from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Pink surprise calendula, San Juanito tomatillo,
yellow strawberries & free gift of love-in-a-mist
from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Sidenote: I had some seeds I previously bought at a dollar store (because I just couldn't pass that up, am I right!?!) and am quite curious as to how they will preform compared to the other seeds.  So I will be planting those as well.

As I waited patiently for them to arrive, September's weather mellowed out just a bit and the rains we expected all summer (but never came) finally hath cometh, so ok, soil prep time.  I cleared out the weeds and amended the soil with mushroom compost, cow manure and my homemade compost.  I also made wood supports I modeled from a victory garden article from NPR.

Inspiration victory garden image from NPR about Cherokee purple tomatoes

This is what our looks like from the inside of our patio

The seeds arrived!  Straight away planted them in their pots, labeled and waited.
Four days later here is what I find peaking out of the soil...

The glass corn with mango's in back (left);
mango seeds, dollar store seeds of tomato/habanero/sweet banana pepper (just curious),
akee seeds, African tulip tree, cuc's, corn, sugar snaps, fava beans (middle);
beit alpha cucumbers (right).

Thirteen days later...shazam!

Corn & cucumbers (left);
sugar snaps in back & dollar store seeds of tomato/habanero pepper/sweet
 banana pepper in front (middle);
fava beans sprouts (right).

In the ground they go...

Glass gem corn & beit alpha cucumbers

The gem glass corn is on the left while the cucumbers and sugar snaps are on the right.  The rest are waiting patiently in pots in the middle.  Though as you see in the picture...I have run out of room LOL.  So to gain more ground, I am planning on moving the portora alocasia to another location of the yard.  BUT,

I also have to wait until this is healed...

Got into a tangle with a hedge trimmer...12 stitches later...sigh...

Not being able to get back into the garden is more painful than my injured hand.
Ugh so again at a stand till...sniff, sniff...insert sad pouty face here.

Well my friends, until the next milestone...Happy Gardening!

Best wishes,
Sheri
xoxo

South Florida Plants to Attract Birds

Hi friends!  Returned from a way too long hiatus...soooo nice to be back!

Now let's get dirty peeps!

Thought it would be great time to get some beautiful plants in the ground that will attract birds to your garden.  Fall is just about here and the northern birds that winter here in South Florida are starting to fly into town.  Now is a perfect time to get your garden spruced up for the out of town visitors.

Birds are easy to keep happy...water, food and shelter.

Water is easy...any type of bird bath will do.  Just make sure the water gets changed out frequently.  Also, the use of mosquito dunks and/or water wigglers is a great way to keep those critters from laying eggs.

Food is a bit more detailed...berries, fruit, flowers, nectar, seeds and/or bugs are usually the main sources.  The best resources for birds is always the most natural but you can always supplement with bird feeders.  Sidebar: buy the best quality seed you can afford, there really is a difference.

Shelter is of course really complicated since birds are all over the map as to what type of nests they build and where.  Many people add bird houses to their garden though my experience is they usually end up building their own.
If you plant the trees the birds will come.

Here is a small list of trees and shrubs that I find are a good starting point for many South Floridian gardens.

Beautyberry (callicarpa americana) - bulbul, mockingbird, cardinal, catbird & brown thrasher

Blue porterweed (stachytarpheta fruiticosa) - cardinal & sparrows

Citrus - orioles, hummingbird, catbird, warblers, mockingbird, brown thrasher, cedar waxwing, finches & grosbeaks

Cocoplum (chrysobalanus icaco) - the fruit eating birds, catbird & mockingbird

Common hibiscus (hibiscus rosa sinensis) - hummingbird, spot-breasted oriole, painted bunting & northern oriole

Cordia (cordia globosa) - mockingbird & cardinal

Dahoon holly (ilex cassine) - mockingbird, cardinal & cedar waxwing

Elderberry (sambucus canadensis) - fruit eating birds

Fiddlewood (citharexylum fruticosum) - mockingbird, catbird & cardinal

Firebush (hamelia patens) - hummingbird, oriole, mockingbird, warblers, cardinal & other fruit eating birds

Firethorn (pyracantha coccinea) - mockingbird, cardinal, blue jay, catbird, cedar waxwing & woodpecker

Jamaican caper (capparis cynophallophora) - fruit eating birds, cardinal, doves, mockingbird, oriole & blue jay.

Live oak (quercus virginiana) - woodpeckers, vireos, warblers, blue jays, grackles & owls.

Loquat (eriobotrya japonica) - bulbul, mockingbird, cardinal & woodpecker

Marlberry (ardisia escallonioides) - mockingbird, catbird & cardinal

Mulberry (morus rubra) - the fruit eating birds

Necklace pod (sophora tomentosa) - hummingbird & warblers

Orange jasmine (murraya paniculata) - mockingbird, catbird & cardinal

Pigeon plum (coccoloba diversifolia) - mockingbird, catbird, robin & woodpecker

Powderpuff (calliandra haemetocephala) - hummingbird

Red & purple firespike (odontonema strictum) - hummingbird & oriole

Sabal palm (sabal palmetto) - red-winged blackbird, mockingbird, grackle, blue jay & robin

Scarlet milkweed (asclepias curassavica) - hummingbird, mockingbird & catbird

Sea grape (coccoloba uvifera) - mockingbird, catbird, blue jay & woodpecker

Shrimp plant (beloperone guttata) - bulbul, hummingbird, spot-breasted oriole & buntings

Simpson stopper (myrcianthes frangrans) - mockingbird, catbird & cardinal

Slash pine (pinus elliotti var. densa) - doves, blue jay, warblers, owls & woodpeckers

Southern sumac (rhus copailina) - mockingbird, catbird, cardinal & sparrows

Tetrazygia/West Indian lilac (tetrazygia bicolor) - mockingbird, blue jay & cardinal

Turk's cap (malvaviscus arboreus) - hummingbird & painted bunting

Virginia creeper vine (parthenocissus quinquefolia) - catbird, flicker, great-crested flycatcher, mockingbird, robin, brown thrasher & warblers

Waxmyrtle (myrica cerifera) - cardinal, catbird, vireo & warblers

Wild coffee (psychotria spp) - cardinal, blue jay & catbird

Wild grape vine (vitis spp) - fruit eating birds

Wild tamarind (lysiloma latisiliqua) - warblers, gnat catchers & flycatchers

Willow bustic (sideroxylon salicifolium) - fruit eating birds, cardinal, mockingbird, blue jay & warblers

I'm sure to have missed a few good ones so I will be sure to add them as come in.

Ok, now that you have your list...get out there and start planting some wonderful species for our winged friends to enjoy (butterflies too)!

Happy Gardening & Many Best Wishes,

Sheri

xoxo