Partners in Thyme

Cold Hardy Lessons

This winter has been much more tolerable than last year, we have only lost a few plants and most of them were ornamental. Anything that dies this year, I am taking a mental inventory and never planting the same species again. Cold hardy and drought tolerant is the only way to go in Florida. I learned a few hard lessons this year, I should have moved my plumeria inside or harvested it earlier. I tried to salvage the trunks of each plant but they aren't looking good. We'll see if it sprouts again this spring. I also lost my flapjack which was a gift from my mother-in-law. See, you thought I had a green thumb? Nope, should have brought those plants inside. I was about a week too late for each. My hibiscus is hibernating and the milkweed must have migrated south for the winter. Both are almost completely gone, beyond wilted and dying. Most of my other plants are doing great, especially the red spider lily and azaleas. I'm sticking with the shrubs for now on, azaleas will replace everything that didn't make it this year.

Surviving The Winter

My handy and ingenious husband built a PVC frame over each of our raised beds and we were able to cover them with heavy plastic overnight during a hard freeze. The mobile greenhouse effect saved our gardens and we were able to grow food throughout winter. A few casualties did happen though, our fruit trees took a major hit. Our young tangerine tree will most likely survive, it is the most encouraging of all the trees in the backyard. Still has a few green leaves and all it's branches are bright green. The young navel orange is another story, it is looking pathetic. No leaves, hardly any green branches. I will be surprised if it springs back to life in a few months. The dwarf cavendish banana is a goner too, it wilted away despite our efforts to protect it from the cold with blankets and plastic. Our young mango tree was starting to flower just before the first frost in December, now it's brown and wilted. The first frost was devastating, I was so excited about eating some fresh mango right off our tree and according to sources I read online, there was only a month between those flowers and fresh fruit in my hand. I really don't know what to expect with that mango tree, no leaves have fallen off but it looks terrible. Everything else is looking great, we harvested a basket of brussel sprouts tonight and I steamed them up for dinner. Delicious! I wanted to try them plain, with no spices or seasoning ... they were amazing and just needed a little bit of salt. We've also been eating plenty of mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower and chives.

Planting In February

Today we planted potatoes. A fellow gardener gave us four different types of seed potatoes: yukon gold, la clipper white, red and russet chef. I cut them in half and let them cure for three days, according to advice. The la clippers had the best looking eyes, we expect them to sprout in a few days. The other varieties did not have the distinct eyes but they were planted anyway. We'll see what grows and what doesn't. I saved back quite a few of the la clippers, so we'll hold off and see if we need to replace any of the others.

This weekend we planted georgia collard greens, 45-day quick cabbage (we'll see!), sweet onions, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes and romaine lettuce. I also planted a blueberry bush in one of my huge pots, it already has blooms. I am SO excited about blueberries. After all that work on Sunday, we had a hard freeze on Monday night. We were both worried that nothing survived, but luckily I covered the tomatoes and everything else is looking great. It's mid-February now and the cold weather is starting to warm up. I don't expect many more freezes now through March.

What's Growing

We'll have at least a few more basket loads of brussel sprouts and about a ton and a half more mustard greens. The strawberries were transplanted from their watering can containers from last year into the ground in our "berry patch" and both plants have blooms already. I am very encouraged and can't wait for fruit. Last week, I started seeds that I harvested from our green bell peppers last year, no sprouts yet. I also started carrots, we'll see if they come up. This year we plan to have a wide variety of tried and tested vegetables and I'm looking forward to trying some new ones like corn, carrots, swiss chard and peas.