Planting by Moonlight

I did it and did it literally. I planted as much empty soil space as I could. And I planted in the light of the full moon last week.  I write today because already a sprout of cucumber is busting forth.

It's funny to operate in the dark. There are several Biblical passages about light and dark, Jesus as the light of the world, etc. The experience left me pondering. Here are a few raw thoughts.

It takes a while for your perspective to adjust. Dropping into a new situation, it's best to sit and acclimate to the view. Short-term mission teams get this wrong all the time. They just drop in and start to work. Often making a mess of things.

You really ought not get in the way of the light source. If you block the moonlight, you become the shadow. Get out of the way. Oh how often we block the source of light!

Thursday= Full Moon= Garden Begins

I've heard rumored advice to plant at the full moon that follows the equinox. But I'm still pretty sure that gardening in Zone 10b probably shouldn't follow advice from zones 5 and 6. 

If I had taken that advice and planted at October's full moon, I'm sure my garden would have washed out with the late tropical storm activity we had. However my habeneros and pineapples all seem to be perfectly happy.

Waiting one more month has been essentially a great excuse for pure procrastination.
But Thursday is the day. I'll plant seeds any where I can see dirt and sunshine. And I'll let you know how it goes.

A new gardening season is upon us!

The upcoming winter months will be full of new experiences for me. Every year I like to try something new. Last year it was heirloom tomatoes in my backyard raised garden and this year it's sweet corn in that garden and an entirely new community garden at the church (which I'll get to in a future blog).

Almost two weeks ago I finally got around to preparing my garden by pulling out the sweet potatoes I used to keep down the weeds over the summer and adding some compost. The only survivor was the Malabar spinach which really started to grow later in the summer. Now, I have two large, healthy plants...and yes, it really does taste like spinach making it great for salad.

So, what's new? I decided to add a little (emphasis on the "little") sweet corn. I've been hesitant to plant any in the past because it takes up so much space. However, we simply love sweet corn too much and the prospect of 2-3 meals this winter was too much to resist. The corn is already 3-4 inches tall.

Last weekend I also planted peas, carrots, leaf lettuce, spinach, cukes and cantaloupe. As always I also threw in a few marigolds to help keep the bugs away. Heirloom tomatoes, radishes and broccoli will all be in before the end of the month.

I'll try to do a better job with regular updates this season. Stay tuned!

Backward Seasons

This sad little blog reflects my sad little garden.
OK, It's not as sad as it is backwards. Miami's growing seasons can be all year around. My pineapples are certainly growing fine and they're happy it seems. Mangos, avocados, peppers and okra are all summer season.
But our fall is your spring.  August and September are the months to clean up the beds and get ready. It's way too rainy with regularly passing tropical storm systems.
Late September and October is time to plant. We still have to pray the seeds don't wash away in a down pour, but they usually hold on pretty well. And in the winter, we have all kinds of beautiful vegetation while the rest of the country is in winter gridlock.
It's getting cooler though. I'm more inclined to get this mess under control. You'll see and read more updates.

My Summer Garden in Miami

I thought I should post something before the summer gets too hectic. So here goes....

It's been about a month since I planted my first ever summer garden. With only a couple exceptions, I was completely unfamiliar with the plants I decided to put in the garden. So, I didn't know what to expect (and still don't in many ways) but that's part of the fun.

It's been a very dry summer so far but with a little irrigation the plants are really starting to take off. The sweet potatoes are growing like a weed, the winged beans seem to grow 3-4 inches every day, the everglades tomato plant is filling with flowers and I'll soon get to enjoy my first pepper. I've already starting stealing a leaf or two from time to time from the cranberry hibiscus and malabar spinach plants. I can't wait until I get enough for a full salad.

The big surprises have been my strawberries and muskmelon. They continue to grow and produce. I'm getting a couple strawberries every day. They are small but as sweet as I've ever eaten. As for the melon, there are several marble to golfball size fruits but only time will tell if anything comes of them. I'll keep you posted.

I've included some photos for those that might be interested.



Everglades Tomato





Pepper plant w/one large pepper




Cranberry Hibiscus (the leaves are edible and the flowers make great tea)





Malabar Spinach



Sweet Potato (from a start I got for free)







A Lychee by Any Other Name...

We have one lychee tree. I only discovered it was a lychee after learning a bit from a dear neighbor. It hadn't produced fruit before, probably because of my inappropriate pruning.
But this year, I was ready. I waited and yes, it fruited. One fruit in the whole tree. (Pictured here.)
But this is my question South Florida friends: What other names are there for these fruits?  Have you heard of them called Soapberries?

The summer garden

This is my first year with a summer garden in SoFla. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of eating from the garden year round. About a week ago, I bought a few plants from one of the vendors at Fairchild. Each is supposed to do well during the hottest part of the year. I've planted some herbs (e.g. basil), cranberry hibiscus, winged bean, hot peppers, everglades tomatoes, malabar spinach and sweet potatoes. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

What are Loquats.

 Loquats are also known as Chinese pears. I learned this from Nathaniel, native of Miami, neighbor of the West Grove and friend to Erica and Kristy in the Urban Resurrection Community.  Nathaniel was nice enough to barbeque/smoke a delicious meal for a college group of DOOR participants from Reinhardt College.
 Once I figured out they weren't Kumquats, I described them to Nathaniel who knew them as Chinese Pears. I finally checked the wikipedia article for confirmation.
  Most trees around town are kept much smaller. But like so much in my yard, it was already planted and growing a little wild. They make me extra happy when they ripen. It was this time a few years ago, we moved into this wonderful place. The kids climbed the trees and ate enough to make me worry they'd get a stomach ache. (How mommish of me.)
 I'll bet they are all over Miami and most folks don't know the fruits are delicious. But almond trees grow here as well, and most folks don't know it either.  So much to learn. 

The Variety of March in Miami

 In addition to Pina Nina growing every day, there are bananas coming along. What I had mistaken for kumquats, simply because I guessed, are really loquats. The three trees have a large crop this year. Tomatoes, potatoes, basil, mint, spinach, watermelon and sage are all doing well. The grape vine has burst into bright green.  I still struggle with oregano and cilantro. For some reason, I just haven't been able to convince them to germinate well in three tries.  And I sadly buried the habenero. Looks like a soil problem took it from the bottom up. The tropical climate of Miami has so much going for it, but I think the humidity lends itself to strange molds and mildews. I'm going to try 'solarizing' that particular bunch of soil before mixing it with compost and trying something else. 

Baby Pina

It's a baby pineapple being born!
I think this plant has been gestating for 3 years. It was the top from a willing participant in my gardening experiments.

 Slice the top off, remove extra juicy bits. Let it sit to dry out a little. I think I sat mine next to the sink for 3-4 days. Then plant it into the ground and water.

Three years later, viola'.   Although I read it would only be two years. Oh well. Since this one, I've started 6-7 others.

Look what God grew!

I've been on a kick of posting photos of warm & sunny So. Florida on to Facebook. Last month I had the honor of attending the youth worker Extravaganza in Kansas City and the APCE Conference in ABQ. In both cases those locations received record snow falls and low temps the day I arrived.

All that travel just made me love this place more. Giant spinach leaves growing in January. Potatoes growing from the peels I threw out after Christmas dinner. Pineapples making little baby pineapples from a top sliced off the grocery store fruit (after 3 years of waiting!)