Zone 9 Garden

Today’s Harvest

Dan — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:50:23 +0000

The heat of summer is coming soon, and with that comes a bountiful harvest in my zone 9 garden.

Today I pulled about 25 Roma Tomatoes. I plan to make a fair amount of salsa and to can some of them. My wife and I also like to make caprese salad out of them!

I also harvested 2 large jalapeno peppers and 3 red-hot cherry peppers. These will also be used in the salsa!

Still waiting to be harvested are a few green bell peppers.

Eggplant in Bloom

Dan — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:40:18 +0000

The heat of the summer is starting to show up and with it comes eggplant! Eggplant is a heat loving plant that starts to come into its own in Central Florida as other vegetables are on their way out.

While walking through the garden today I noticed that the Eggplant that I have planted near my tomatoes is finally in bloom!

It will not be long now before I have eggplant parmesan!

A Few New Blooms

Dan — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:15:09 +0000

Better late than never right?

While working in the garden I found a few plants with their first blooms of the year.

Jalapenos

Black Berries

The jalapenos seemed to suffer from the late start due to the long and cold winter we had here in Central Florida. The plant is now fairly tall and looks very strong and healthy, and as of today, seems to be producing!

The black berries were planted early this season from cuttings. I did not expect them to produce anything this year at all, and I am considering pinching the bloom off. I would like the plants to grow large and healthy, so pinching the flower will help divert all energy to growth.

Everything else in the garden is growing very well. I harvested more green beans today, and I think it will be the last harvest from the bushes. The pole beans are just starting to set beans!

Will update again soon…

Everything is Growing!

Dan — Tue, 04 May 2010 18:59:16 +0000

Today is the beggining of the end-of-spring/summer harvest for my garden. While walking around the garden I found that the Blue Lake Bush Beans were ready for harvest! As any of my long time readers know, green beans are one of my favorite crops, so needless to say I am happy!

Everything else is just growing like crazy! So here are some pictures from the garden.

Roma Tomatoes

My Favorite Time of Year

Dan — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:27:38 +0000

Late spring is my favorite time of year. Many of my vegetables are setting fruit and they are all growing well. Here are a few pictures of what’s going on in my garden:

Basil – An Herb with Verity

Dan — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:36:46 +0000

Basil is one of the most commonly used herbs in the kitchen and is also one of the most commonly grown herbs. There are many varieties of Basil that can be grown in the home garden and here are a few:

Sweet Basil - The most common basil found in the garden and cooking. Has large leaves that are sweet and have a slight clove smell when fresh.
Thai Basil – Used frequently in Thai and Vietnamese dishes this basil has smaller leaves and is a bit stronger in flavor.
Cinnamon Basil - Containing Cinnamate, a chemical also found in Cinnamon, Cinnamon basil has a strong cinnamon smell with a slight flavor. This basil has purple flowers.
Purple Basil - With a very similar taste to Sweet Basil, Purple Basil has deep purple leaves. The purple in the leaves leaches out during cooking or steeping and can ad color and flavor to many dishes.
Lemon Basil - Contains Citral and Limonene that gives this basil a strong lemon smell and sweeter flavor. A favorite in seafood dishes.

There are many more verities that are grown around the world. These are just a few of the more popular!

Beans in Bloom

Dan — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:21:31 +0000

One of my favorite crops that I grow every year is green beans. I grow many verities in my garden. From Kentucky Wonder pole beans to Purple Bush beans. I eat them strait off the vine and have many recipes for them.

With that in mind it is easy to see that I am excited that my beans are in bloom and starting to set fruit!

All verities are in bloom right now and some have set some fruit. This is a bit behind last year, but this year was also quite a bit colder. I just hope it doesn’t get too hot for the beans to continue setting fruit too soon!

Roma Tomatoes Setting Fruit

Dan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:12:44 +0000

Today I walked around the garden and noticed that my Roma Tomatoes are now setting fruit!

Because of the long freeze we had here in Central Florida I had to put all of my tomatoes out later than normal so I am very happy to see them finally setting fruit. I am currently growing 3 verities of tomatoes and these are the first to set.

My Brandywine tomatoes are in bloom but have not set any fruit yet. They are also a little bit behind the Roma Tomatoes in growth!

Garlic Growing Well

Dan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:04:08 +0000

In January I planted a row of garlic in one of my raised beds and it is really starting to grow well now that the spring weather has shown up. The leaves are about 10-12” tall already and growing strong.

This is all soft neck garlic that I got from the local grocery store. I would not recommend using grocery store garlic for growing at home, but I walked by the garlic and the bulb already had leaves growing from some of the cloves.

What type of garlic are you growing?

Spring is Coming, What are you doing?

Dan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:09:30 +0000

March 20th is the official beginning of spring in North America. With the beginning of spring many will be out in the garden sowing seeds and planting seedlings. The warmer air also brings events and festivals. Here is a guest post about a great festival in Washington DC.

Springtime, perfect for having picnics, wearing shorts and admiring the Cherry Blossom in DC. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a two-week (per annum) event that celebrates springtime in Washington, DC as well as the 1912 gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan.

DC Attractions include multiple festivals, museums, monuments, and more. The National Cherry Blossom Festival, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) organization that coordinates, produces, and supports creative and diverse activities promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty and the environment, and community spirit and youth education. It’s also begins peak season for an influx of tourists to Washington, also brought in by the thousands of historical landmarks, museums, and other buildings, The National Museum of Crime & Punishment, located in Washington, D.C. is one of those such buildings, with excellent depictions of historically famous crime scenes along detailed information concerning past wars, forensics, organized crime, and more.

Average Last Frost Date Coming Soon!