Woo, hoo! I had a great time this morning organizing the seeds that I have (a lot) and starting to order more. Tops on my list were callalo (edible amaranthus) that we'd eaten in the Caribbean, but is grown throughout the tropics (and warm-season temperate areas) and "seasoning peppers" - a Capsicum chinese variety that has flavor, but not the heat of traditional Caribbean peppers.I also ordered...
Monday, 31 December 2012
Sunday, 30 December 2012
A mild winter so far
Returning home from winter break travels, I was surprised that we'd still not had a hard freeze in the Piedmont. Some of the camellias near the house are loaded with lovely pink and white flowers -- the white-flowered ones are a treat because they're almost always browned by freezes!The cilantro and arugula are still looking great - both can withstand light frosts, and maybe more if they've been gradually...
Friday, 28 December 2012
A compost turning = happy gardening in 2013!
The old compost pile by the shed was last turned in midsummer.Last summer I turned this compost pile as part of the shed-moving project, and I've continued to add alternating green and brown layers* to the top since then.Now, it was time to turn it again to access the bottom of the pile, which I guessed...
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Two weeks in the Caribbean
St. John view A couple of weeks on two relatively quiet Caribbean islands has been largely free of gardening observations. I didn't see many vegetables or fruits of any sort being grown on St. John, US Virgin Islands, aside from our friend's plantings (she's been planting tropical fruits such as bananas,...
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Winter Solstice and more...
The Mayan Calendar ends 12/21/12 6:12 am EST.Winter solstice has been a cause for celebration (both pagan and religious) since man's earliest days for now is when the days start to get longer. And isn't that reason enough?This year the day has new meaning, though, since the experts tell us that...
Monday, 17 December 2012
Scrubjay Trail Winterfest
A mocking bird surveys its space. Does it see that bug?I did see some scrub jays, but they did not pose as wellas this mocking bird.I attended the Scrub Jay Trail Winter Fest in Clermont, FL on Saturday. What a great event and the weather was fantastic. All for a good cause: the preservation and...
Friday, 14 December 2012
Bokashi Composting, a fast, anaerobic, fermentation process
Gainesville Compost Chief Engineer & Inventor Steven Kannermixes bokashi grain into UF Krishna Lunch food waste.A guest post by Chris Cano(I ran into Chris recently at Porter's Community Garden. You can read about this at The Gainesville community behind Porter's Garden. He talked about this different...
Saturday, 8 December 2012
The Gainesville community behind Porter's Garden
I saw a notice on Facebook that Porter's Community Garden in Gainesville was looking for volunteers to plant donated fruit trees on Wednesday Dec. 5th. I was going to be in town for a couple of other meetings on that day, so I stopped by. What a great community project! Intensively grown cabbage...
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Gardening and creativity
I've been re-reading a lovely book that I've had for awhile -- Fran Sorin's Digging Deep: Unearthing Your Creative Roots Through Gardening. She's a tremendously wise gardener, and her book, published in 2004, has obvious 'legs' as it's still in print.I'm planning on leading a workshop this spring...
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
A anthocyanin-rich fall
It's been a great year for red leaf color here in the Eastern U.S. Very minimal cool nights followed by a LOT of warm sunny days seem to have resulted in much more intense late reds than usual.It's been remarkable warm now for weeks, so anthocyanin production must be unusually high. (The red and purple pigments, in fall, are produced using sugars from photosynthesis - in real time - and sequestered...
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Recipe for Failure: Long-day Onions in Florida.
I love winter gardening in north Florida. We can grow cool-weather vegetables including, lettuce, onions, garlic, cabbage and the other cole crops right through the winter despite the fact that we get 10 or more killing frosts. The soil never gets particularly cold, though because between those frosts...