Partners in Thyme

Don't know how to can vegetables? Well, me neither. Actually, I "know" how but I've never done it so this will be my baby step in that direction. Can't wait for some ripe cucumbers!

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Ingredients:
15 small pickling cucumbers
40 fresh dill sprigs
2 large onions, thinly sliced
9 garlic cloves, sliced
1 qt water
1 qt white vinegar
1 cup canning salt

Directions:
Cut each cucumber lengthwise into 4 spears and place vertically in jars. In a large bowl, combine dill, onion, garlic, set aside. In a large pot, combine all other ingredients and boil. Pour over cucumbers and let cool. Cover tightly and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in fridge for up to 3 months.

One of these days the yard space we are not using for gardening will be a home for all Central Florida native plants, hopefully all grown from local root stock. I have a growing wishlist of grasses, shrubs and flowers. The reason behind native landscaping is really just taking advantage of nature itself, using plants that will survive the dry spring weather and extreme Florida summers without extra care, which means I won't need to use fertilizer or irrigation. With the cold winter we just experienced, many people are left with unsightly brown, rotting trunks in their yard which used to be expensive palm trees. Each of those trees probably cost several hundred dollars, that's one costly mistake I plan to avoid. Native plants will also attract and help support native wildlife, everything from insects to mammals.

Palms and Shrubs

• Needle Palm
• Paurotis Palm
• Yucca
• Coontie Fern *

Flowering Plants

• Hibiscus *
• Azalea *
• Canna Lily
• Crinium Lily
• Zephyr (Rain) Lily
• Bromeliads
• Echinacea (Purple Coneflower, herbal remedy)
• Blanket Flower
• Coral Honeysuckle
• Maypop (Passion Vine)
• Wisteria

Chair Planters

Tonight my talented gardener hubby finished the last of our chair planters, using freecycled metal patio chairs we found on the side of the road. The green movement has inspired a new name for this frugal and slightly redneck technique of picking up trash, it's now called "freecycling" or recycling free stuff. These patio chairs we found are definitely trash, you couldn't really use them for chairs anymore. The legs are bent out of shape and the welded corners are rusted but we had a great idea inspired by an article in Country Garden magazine. So instead of taking up space in a landfill, they have a brand new life now as containers growing vegetables and melons. The chair planters were made using heavy bailing wire as supports and chicken wire to hold the coconut liner basket. I found out the hard way last year that water drains too quickly through the coconut liners and the wind dries out the soil which is not the best growing conditions, especially not for the food we intend to eat. As a remedy, we cut circular shapes out of empty potting soil bags and lined the coconut baskets, which will keep the soil moist. If you're going to use this method, just remember to poke a few holes in the plastic bags to allow adequate drainage. In these three chair planters we are growing cantaloupe, watermelon and cucumber. I plan on getting creative and painting the chairs to make them a fun part of our backyard garden decor.

Hanging Herb Baskets

Keeping with the coconut liner theme, I finished the three hanging herb baskets and planted rosemary, dill and thyme. The baskets are hanging on the three pillars which support the roof over our back patio. They look awesome and will have plenty of room to grow.

Natural (and Free) Trellis

Handyman gardener hubby built a trellis using branches from the the dead crepe myrtle we had to remove from the front yard. Well, we thought the crepe myrtle was dead, it really looked awful and was almost completely covered by a black fungus. The fungus was among us. Bryon chopped it down and now, a couple weeks later, there are a ton of shoots coming out of the stump... Not sure what to do with that. Back to the trellis, Bryon cut three lengths of branches the same size and placed them together to form a tee-pee or tripod shape and then placed two additional levels of cross-layered branches. He used malleable wire (a bit thicker than twisty-ties) to secure the branches in place. The trellis is amazingly sturdy and we will use it to support our vining zucchini and cucumbers. We're out of space in the raised bed so we will need to move the plants to the end of the potato garden.

Potato Garden

Speaking of potatoes, we noticed this afternoon that all of the 18 shoots are turning green. Bryon covered the shoots with more soil and watered them. We realize now that they were probably planted too late in the season, potatoes in Florida are normally planted in mid-January to mid-February. The soil should be at a cooler temperature, as a remedy Bryon will be mulching the bed to keep the roots nice and cool. We'll see how that goes! Time will tell.

Spring Fertilizing

Bryon fertilized the tangerine tree with a slow-release fertilizer. It's been getting plenty of water lately and has a few very fragrant blooms. We don't expect any fruit this year, or next year even because the tree is only about two years old. He fertilized the rose bush too and we noticed the two buds have opened today. The color is not exactly my favorite, a very light pastel pink. I have to say though, a natural pink is much better than the fake pink you see everywhere else. We found this rose buried in our front "landscaping" when we moved in the house - it had been planted in the original plastic nursery pot and just covered with sand. The poor thing was completely root-bound and just looked pathetic. Honestly, I didn't know it was a rose when I first saw it. Bryon saved the day, thank God for his roses and palms class at the UF Agricultural Extension. He pruned it up and we transplanted it into a larger pot. The rose is thanking him now by showing off these two flowers, not even two months since it was rescued. Northern roses can't grow in Florida soil because of a slash worm that attacks the plant. There is a native Florida rose, the Fortuni variety, which is used as root stock for all roses in Florida. Our rescued rose was obviously one from Lowe's and would have never survived anywhere except in a container.

All of the vegetables in our raised bed and in the tomato garden received a healthy amount of fertilizer tonight. Everyone in Bryon's family and mine have been using MiracleGro in their gardens for generations. We decided to keep that tradition and use it in our garden. I guess I can't call this whole experiment "organic gardening" this year. We'll try for that next year though!

2000 B.C. - Here, eat this root.
1000 A.D. - That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 A.D. - That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 A.D. - That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 A.D. - That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
2000 A.D. - That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root.