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"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Last Bits of the Veggie Garden


So this is what it's like to have a sunny place in the garden?

Wildflowers have taken over my small veggie patch. They have grown so much better here than in the wildflower garden I purposely created in the back garden. The climate over here with 5-6 hours of sun each day is so different than all the other shady places I'm used to in my garden.

I can't say that it is all that pretty. There are dead tomato vines sprawled throughout begging to be uprooted.

Procrastination has overtaken me where this clean up task is concerned. Every time I get started I find myself digging up and potting blue porterweed and red coccinea salvia to preserve for somewhere... anywhere... I can't just pluck them all out and throw them away. So many self-seeded ... and they are everywhere.

And then there are those peppers that just keep on producing. I guess I'll just let those plants stay put and see what happens.

Although I've planted new tomato seeds in small pots this ground should have been turned and left to settle with new compost and soil in it several weeks ago. It should be ready for the fall veggie garden.

The fact that new zinnias keep popping up makes it even more difficult to make myself clear the beds for planting seeds.

Who knew companion planting would create such a challenge by the end of the summer season?
I'm just going to have to buckle down and get brutal with some of those persistent flowers. Geesh! they don't even require much water... neglect is more like it ... do you see the dilemma? If I leave them I can't plant a fall veggie garden but at the same time these are by far the most care-free flowers in one place in all of Hoe and Shovel... more procrastinating!

23 comments:

  1. I got NO tomatoes!!
    Are they gone?

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  2. Pretty, but veggies taste better. Take lots of photos before you ax them!

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  3. Gardens here are just beginning to produce fruit. Several of my co-workers have brought in tomatoes, zuchinni, and other fruits/veggies to share. The tobacco crops are also just about to be harvested. So odd that you are already preparing for the fall!

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  4. It looks pretty, but you will feel better after removing them and having veggies there, because that was your plan. Procrastrination is the source of stress.
    Additionally there is something more magic in veggie patch, than wild flowers patch :)
    greetings,

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  5. Let them stay!! I love seeing where flowers pop up! Isn't nature fascinating.

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  6. meems, i can fully understand your dilema...transplanting is a good way to handle it. can you make room for the new stuff without disturbing the wildflowers...only turning under parts of the garden? i am trying to decide about a fall garden. i need to plant now or not at all. i am just not sure how to work it around some of the stuff i have going on either.
    dh made a place for pumpkins but my window of opportunity might already be closed.

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  7. Hmmm... maybe you could get around this problem by planting veggies in the spaces where the wildflowers aren't sprouting? You may get amoeba-shaped beds but what a combination of food and beauty that'll be! I know that I would kill to get a garden thats so pretty and carefree at the same time.

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  8. Meems, I was wondering if a no till method would work in Florida. If cut the top off the wildfowers and weeds and added mulch do you think you coud plant without turning the soil?

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  9. You can't eat the flowers even though they are candy for the eye..

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  10. It would be difficult to pull out all of that lovely color. I could (and do) procrastinate over a delimma like that.

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  11. almost time to start putting in the fall cool season crops!

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  12. I know what you mean about procrastination. I just ventured out last week, for the first time in 2 months,to do a little clean-up in the garden. I did get the tomato and cantalope vines cleared away, and am eager to replant soon. Your flowers look beautiful. It is a shame to pull up those self-sufficent workhorses in your garden.

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  13. The dilemma! If only I had your's.
    The only thing left in our veggie garden still producing is one lone eggplant.The tomato seed catalogue is going to my Dad's tomorrow,for him to pick out what I should plant.
    I'd take your problem any day.

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  14. No matter if its the last bits or not, your gardens are always so lovely! My zinnias are huge and mingling among just about everything inside the fence. I love them with the tall salvia 'black & blue'. The butterflies adore the zinnias. I'll have to be a bit more careful next year with my seed scattering!

    Hope all is well. It's been a busy week here - 90th bday party for husband's mother yesterday. Been learning a new software package just so I could give our HOA a plan to extend a garden bed a few feet. I think I spent 60 hours on a plan! They'd better approve it!

    Cameron

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  15. What a dilemma Meems. I agree could you just maybe work a little area amongst the wild flowers to plant a few seeds or set out a couple plants so you could have some veggies plus have all those lovely flowers.
    I see all the peppers. Maybe chopped & froze for later use. They are so expensive in the grocery.

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  16. I understand -- the french marigolds I grew alongside squash are incredibly lush with no care other than sunshine! The squash are dead!! I'm going to move the marigolds so I can plant fall veggies, even though I know they won't be as happy where they are going. Better than thowing them out!

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  17. I understand the dilemma but I am no help. The flowers are beautiful.

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  18. Pat,
    You'll need to start over with tomatoes if you want some for the fall.

    Teresa,
    Veggies it is!

    mjm,
    So odd indeed... but it is the way with Florida... you're going to be saying that a lot from now on.

    Ewa,
    "Procrastination is the source of stress." NO question... I'm going for the magic...thanks.

    Becky,
    Yes, flowers popping up in the sunshine is very different for me. This is the only really sunny spot (other than my new front yard renovation)at Hoe and Shovel and it was just created two springs ago.

    Marmee,
    You have plenty of room... go ahead and plant and see what happens. It's all an experiment remember! Use those raised beds the boys planted in... just do a few things so you don't get overwhelmed. *smiling with you*

    Sunita,
    Right now there isn't enough space to do both. Some of them at least have had to be removed. I've potted up several. This morning several more will be potted up... we'll see what happens.

    Rick,
    My biggest concern was getting some amendments (dried blood and bone meal- compost, too)turned into the soil and then giving it a few weeks to rest/settle before the seeds go in.

    Penny was here the other day and mentioned the no-till method. I did some research and was surprised by the information. I think you're both onto something. Why not give it a try? I think I'm going to top dress with some fresh soil/bone meal and my own compost. I'll leave 'some' of the flowers and plant around them for fall. I LOVE trying out new methods... thanks.

    Darla,
    So true.

    Lisa,
    Decisions have been made. I'm going to be brutal yet conservative with what I get rid of to make room for seeds.

    Compost,
    It's almost too late here... I've got to get a move on.

    Susan,
    2 months? How do you get by with that? I haven't had a rest from gardening and I think that might be part of my issue. Not complaining... I make my own schedule... the fall planting timing was put off and now I'm a little behind on my agenda. So many other things taking my time right now. YOU definitely know how hard it is to pull out workhorses in a Florida garden.

    Chris,
    Do you want some salvia or blue porterweed? I've got more than my share. The angelonia looks better than ever and the golden globe ground cover is well... covering the ground.

    Cameron,
    Your Zinnias are beautiful and fit right in with your stunning cottage gardens. These are scraggly compared to yours. I'm glad you had fun with seeds this year... they really liked your soil and sun. I adore the way the butterflies are so attracted to them.

    MIL and husband have close birthdays... happy birthday to both. That HOA will count their blessings to have YOU working on a plan!!!

    Lola,
    Peppers ARE expensive in the store and I keep thinking I need to do just as you've mentioned. Not sure I'll get around to that one either. I need a few more hands and arms.

    Ginger,
    The tough decisions gardeners have to make!

    Grace,
    It's okay girlie-girl flower loving, garden friend!

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  19. Or you could be a benign gardener and let the pretties have their way and keep your tomatoes in containers set among the zinnias, salvia and that too adorable blue flower;-) No help, but then I don't grow vegetable here and then there is that reality~~ I am not as disciplined as my dear friend meems is;) hugs, gail

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  20. I'm trying, Gail, to not sweat the small stuff. But if I let all those flowers have their way there would be no veggies. It is done now. Yay! I finished it today. I left some of the flowers to plant around. I dug up most of them and put them in pots or somewhere else in the garden. Whew... I put that off for long enough.

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  21. hello! how are you?
    sunny greeting from Bali island ^^

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  22. My gardens are full of volunteers and the mosquitoes have taken over....I am waiting for Autumn...mabe even frost at this point!
    Sherry

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  23. It's hard to cull plants isn't it? Especially when they are doing well and seem happy in the spot that they chose to volunteer themselves. They are like errant kids. I know exactly how you feel. Hope things are going well..

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Have a blessed day,
Meems


September 2010

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