What grows in Florida in December? How about Garlic? Garlic does its best growing in cold temperatures! Last December, I planted Inchelium Red in December and harvested a fantastic crop early the following summer.
I am planting Inchelium Red again this year. It grows well in Florida and I like its mild flavor.
Garlic would grow fine outside in the ground in my North Florida climate, but I'm not interested in planting in the cold so I'm growing my garlic in containers this year.
When planting garlic, begin with good certified seed garlic bulbs. Filaree Farms and Irish Eyes are good reliable sources for healthy seed garlic.
To grow garlic in containers, start with pots 15-24" tall. Add soil enriched with compost.
Break garlic bulbs apart and plant only the largest cloves. Plant cloves flat side down, about 2-3" deep and 4-6" apart.
Keep pots indoors or outside in temperatures above 50 deg. F for about 4 weeks. Containers can then be moved to overwinter outside in colder conditions. Add a 1-2" layer of mulch prior to hard, long lasting freezes.
Water lightly twice weekly.
For more on growing crops in Florida, consider purchasing my book, Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits & Vegetables for Your Organic Garden
Bright green stalks will emerge in spring, signaling you to top dress your plants with compost or seed meal. In addition to compost, I sprayed my garlic crop with fish emulsion every 2-3 weeks throughout the first half of spring. Once the rapid growing phase is over, bulbing begins and you should discontinue feedings.
When bulbing begins, reduce waterings to once weekly.
It's time to harvest garlic in Florida when about half the leaves have browned. Don't let northern gardeners talk you into waiting longer. Inevitably, my garlic crops have rotted if I have waited longer.
Dig around the bulbs with a spading fork and gently lift the bulbs.
Removing dirt from the bulbs is the most difficult aspect of growing garlic. Don't wash the bulbs as they must be dry to cure properly. I brush off most of the dirt and let the rest fall off as the bulbs are curing. To cure, tie the stalks of 8-10 bulbs and hang these in a well ventilated barn or shed. Last year, I left mine hanging well into fall in a pole barn and they kept perfectly well. You can take yours down after about 4 weeks. Place the bulbs in a net bag and store in a cool location (45-55 deg. F.) Cooler temperatures encourage sprouting.
A Blog for Container Gardeners who want to Grow and Cook Organic Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Common Nutrient Deficiencies in Vegetable & Fruit Plants
Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits & Vegetables for Your Organic Garden
Organic gardening is different from traditional gardening in its focus on creating healthy soil. When soil is nutrient rich, plants grow quickly and are better able to withstand pest and disease stress.
Nitrogen is necessary for photosynthesis, cell growth, and reproduction. This is the element plants use in greatest amounts. Plants deficient in Nitrogen may have yellow leaves and poor growth. Adding organic matter, such as aged manure, cottonseed, and composted plant materials will improve nitrogen levels in the soil.
Phosphorousis required for cell growth, plant reproduction, and flower and fruit formation. Plants deficient in Phosphorous will be stunted, a purplish tinge on the underside of their leaves (yellow leaves in the final stages), poor flowering and poor fruiting. Amend deficient soil with bone meal or rock phosphate.
Potassium is necessary for formation of flowers, leaves, and fruit. It plays a role in photosynthesis in low light conditions and in plants' water regulation. Potassium deficiency occurs most commonly in sandy and acidic soils. Amend deficient soil with kelp or seaweed.
Calcium strengthens stems and other plant parts. Calcium deficiency begins with yellowing and progresses to browning of young leaves. Calcium deficiency is responsible for blossom end rot in tomatoes and tip-burn in lettuce. Amend deficient soil with eggshells and oystershells.
Magnesium is crucial for photosynthesis. It also aids in the action of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Magnesium aids in cleansing plants of natural metabolic waste. It assists in the formation of proteins. First symptoms include the discoloration of veins in the lower leaves. Leaves may also become thin and brittle and may cup upward. Amend soils deficient in Magnesium with Epsom salts, Fishmeal, or Greensand.
Other Nutrient Deficiencies discussed in the book include Iron, Zinc, Boron, and Copper.
Container Gardening for Health
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Create a Living Wreath Made of Herbs for Holiday Meals
Living wreaths add beauty and fragrance to your home during the holidays. Harvest sprigs from the wreath to flavor your holiday meals.
To make a holiday wreath, begin with a metal wreath form. Wrap it in moistened sphagnum peat moss. Tuck 3"-5" herb plants into the wreath and secure with florist pins. Wrap with additional moss to hide roots.
Prepare a tray (large enough to hold the wreath) with a thin layer of soil over a 2" layer of moistened gravel. Lay the wreath flat on the tray in a sunny area. As the herbs grow, continue to secure them to the wreath. In about 4 weeks, your wreath will be sufficiently full to hang from a doorway. Take the wreath down after the big day and return it to the tray when the guests have gone home.
Herbs to grow for the holidays:
Creeping Thyme -- Excellent on everything from Turkey to roasted vegetables.
Rosemary -- Delicious on lamb, pork tenderloin, red meats, and vegetables.
Sage -- A must for traditional turkey and dressing.
Parsley -- Not just a garnish! I prefer the flavor of the flat leafed Italian
variety over curly parsley. Used in many sauce recipes, salads, and other vegetable dishes. Add finely chopped parsley and chives to green beans.
Tarragon -- Integral in French cuisine, Tarragon has a strong, slight licorice flavor. It's often used in butter base sauces and included in a rub for Turkey and Lamb.
Chives -- I love finely chopped chives in my mashed potatoes. They are also commonly used in vegetable dishes.
Mint -- Removes the gamey flavor from lamb.
Happy Holidays
To make a holiday wreath, begin with a metal wreath form. Wrap it in moistened sphagnum peat moss. Tuck 3"-5" herb plants into the wreath and secure with florist pins. Wrap with additional moss to hide roots.
Prepare a tray (large enough to hold the wreath) with a thin layer of soil over a 2" layer of moistened gravel. Lay the wreath flat on the tray in a sunny area. As the herbs grow, continue to secure them to the wreath. In about 4 weeks, your wreath will be sufficiently full to hang from a doorway. Take the wreath down after the big day and return it to the tray when the guests have gone home.
Herbs to grow for the holidays:
Creeping Thyme -- Excellent on everything from Turkey to roasted vegetables.
Rosemary -- Delicious on lamb, pork tenderloin, red meats, and vegetables.
Sage -- A must for traditional turkey and dressing.
Parsley -- Not just a garnish! I prefer the flavor of the flat leafed Italian
variety over curly parsley. Used in many sauce recipes, salads, and other vegetable dishes. Add finely chopped parsley and chives to green beans.
Tarragon -- Integral in French cuisine, Tarragon has a strong, slight licorice flavor. It's often used in butter base sauces and included in a rub for Turkey and Lamb.
Chives -- I love finely chopped chives in my mashed potatoes. They are also commonly used in vegetable dishes.
Mint -- Removes the gamey flavor from lamb.
Happy Holidays
Monday, October 26, 2009
Raw Foods Diet
On Sunday I drove 3 hours west to Lakeland to give an organic gardening workshop at a Raw Foods Restaurant, Grass Roots. Owned and operated by Spencer & Sabrina Aird, Grass Roots has a warm ambience with cinnamon and saffron painted walls, large arched windows, and upscale art.
The Airds have created a hub for the raw/organic foodies in Lakeland (they also have a restaurant in Tampa). Like the owners, workshop attendees were vibrant and excited about growing some of their own foods.
My mission on this trip, however, was to learn as much as I taught. A small part of me believes I would be healthier on a raw foods diet, but a bigger part of me stubbornly reminds myself of the years I have spent developing recipes for cooked meals. I wanted to know how those who partake in the raw foods lifestyle survive (happily) without lentils, brown rice, pasta, apple pie...what kind of life is that?
After the workshop, I signed books and surveyed the crowd for the best person to corner about her diet. Aha! There she was...last in line and wearing yoga clothes. She would tolerate my questions no matter how basic and annoying. She handed me a book to sign and I held onto it until my questions were answered.
Beans? I asked. How do you live without beans? I asked a million questions and she answered them all. Thank you, Patricia!
It would be inaccurate to say raw foods dieters don't cook. Though it may not be over a hot stove, they spend more time preparing their food than the average person. They combine ground up nuts with other vegetables to make raw crackers, julienne zucchini to create "noodles", and substitute little known vegetables, such as Mameysa Pote, for those that would require cooking, such as sweet potato.
If I ever become a raw foodie, I promise it won't be tomorrow. But I am going to incorporate more raw foods into my cooking...for example, I'll add diced carrots and celery to my lentils after the lentils are cooked.
So--is a raw foods diet really any healthier than a cooked diet rich in vegetables and whole grains? See the Side Wiki for more information about this debate.
For more on growing your own food, visit The Gourmet Gardener.
Spencer and Sabrina Aird, Proprietors or The Grass Root RestaurantsThe Airds have created a hub for the raw/organic foodies in Lakeland (they also have a restaurant in Tampa). Like the owners, workshop attendees were vibrant and excited about growing some of their own foods.
My mission on this trip, however, was to learn as much as I taught. A small part of me believes I would be healthier on a raw foods diet, but a bigger part of me stubbornly reminds myself of the years I have spent developing recipes for cooked meals. I wanted to know how those who partake in the raw foods lifestyle survive (happily) without lentils, brown rice, pasta, apple pie...what kind of life is that?
After the workshop, I signed books and surveyed the crowd for the best person to corner about her diet. Aha! There she was...last in line and wearing yoga clothes. She would tolerate my questions no matter how basic and annoying. She handed me a book to sign and I held onto it until my questions were answered.
Beans? I asked. How do you live without beans? I asked a million questions and she answered them all. Thank you, Patricia!
It would be inaccurate to say raw foods dieters don't cook. Though it may not be over a hot stove, they spend more time preparing their food than the average person. They combine ground up nuts with other vegetables to make raw crackers, julienne zucchini to create "noodles", and substitute little known vegetables, such as Mameysa Pote, for those that would require cooking, such as sweet potato.
If I ever become a raw foodie, I promise it won't be tomorrow. But I am going to incorporate more raw foods into my cooking...for example, I'll add diced carrots and celery to my lentils after the lentils are cooked.
So--is a raw foods diet really any healthier than a cooked diet rich in vegetables and whole grains? See the Side Wiki for more information about this debate.
For more on growing your own food, visit The Gourmet Gardener.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Winterizing Fruit Trees
For deciduous fruit trees to break dormancy and produce flowers in spring, they must be winterized properly. The following guidelines on fertilization, watering, pruning, chill hours, and freeze protection will ensure your tree wakes from its winter slumber next spring.
Fertilization: It's time to wean your tree off its monthly fertilization schedule. Reduce its feeding by half each time you feed until the end of fall. Do not fertilize again until spring.
Watering: Reduce waterings when the tree begins to go dormant. Soil should only be slightly moist throughout the winter period.
Pruning: Do not prune trees less than one year old. Any major pruning of older trees should be done during the dormancy period. See my book, Container Gardening for Health, for detailed information and illustrations.
Chill Hours: Most deciduous fruit trees require a certain number of "chill hours," the number of hours the temperature drops below 50 deg. F, in order to produce fruit. Research the number of chill hours required for your tree variety and compare this number to the average chill hours received in your region. (Ideally, this should be done prior to buying a fruit tree.)
Freeze Protection: Though deciduous fruit trees require chill hours, it is important to keep the roots in containerized trees from freezing. In most areas trees can overwinter in unheated garages or basements to protect them from hard freezes, but you still may need to wrap the containers in insulative material to prevent root death. I'd like to hear from gardeners in USDA Zones 1-2B about root protection of containerized fruit trees in these areas.
For More Information on Growing Organic Fruit Trees in Containers, check out my book, Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits and Vegetables for Your Organic Garden
Fertilization: It's time to wean your tree off its monthly fertilization schedule. Reduce its feeding by half each time you feed until the end of fall. Do not fertilize again until spring.
Watering: Reduce waterings when the tree begins to go dormant. Soil should only be slightly moist throughout the winter period.
Pruning: Do not prune trees less than one year old. Any major pruning of older trees should be done during the dormancy period. See my book, Container Gardening for Health, for detailed information and illustrations.
Chill Hours: Most deciduous fruit trees require a certain number of "chill hours," the number of hours the temperature drops below 50 deg. F, in order to produce fruit. Research the number of chill hours required for your tree variety and compare this number to the average chill hours received in your region. (Ideally, this should be done prior to buying a fruit tree.)
Freeze Protection: Though deciduous fruit trees require chill hours, it is important to keep the roots in containerized trees from freezing. In most areas trees can overwinter in unheated garages or basements to protect them from hard freezes, but you still may need to wrap the containers in insulative material to prevent root death. I'd like to hear from gardeners in USDA Zones 1-2B about root protection of containerized fruit trees in these areas.
For More Information on Growing Organic Fruit Trees in Containers, check out my book, Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits and Vegetables for Your Organic Garden
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Understanding the "Dirty Dozen"
Excerpt from "Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits and Vegetables for Your Organic Garden" ISBN: 0978629329.
...In 1988, The National Research Council was commissioned by the U.S. Con-
gress to study issues concerning pesticides in the diets of infants and children using USDA/FDA data .
The results of this study are published in a 372 page book, Pesticides in the Diets
of Infants and Children(ISBN:0309048753). The study concludes that children are uniquely suscep-
tible to health problems from exposure to toxic pesticides because of their rapid
growth. Infants and children also consume greater quantities of certain foods as
a proportion of body weight. This leads to greater exposure to some pesticides.4
The problem with pesticides is that the quantity of a vegetable your child eats
may exceed government expectations. Anyone who has children knows they go
through phases where they will only eat one food or one group of foods. Since the
government is not in your dining room calculating how many pounds of straw-
berries your tot has eaten this week, they cannot tell you if she has consumed
too much of a certain pesticide. The government can tell you what foods have
chemical residue even after they have been washed and prepared for eating. In
fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Adminis-
tration conducted nearly 43,000 tests on produce samples from 2000–2004.
The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) analyzed this data and created a “simula-
tion of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets...” Their study
showed “that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by
avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the
least contaminated instead.”5 They nicknamed this list of foods “the dirty dozen.”
As of June 2007, the dirty dozen is as follows:
Rank Fruit or Veggie Score Page number
in this book
1 Peaches
2 Apples
3 Sweet Bell Peppers
4 Celery
5 Nectarines
6 Strawberries
7 Cherries
8 Lettuce
9 Grapes, Imported
10 Pears
11 Spinach
12 Potatoes
The list has changed slightly since this book was published -- Kale has moved to the top 12 and spinach has moved down slightly, but all the fruits and vegetables above still remain high on the list.
At The Gourmet Gardener, we don't believe you should have to limit these healthy fruits and vegetables in your diets. Instead, select foods your family commonly eats on the Dirty Dozen list and grow them organically. Use this book as a guide to growing healthy fruits and vegetables in containers and small spaces.
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...In 1988, The National Research Council was commissioned by the U.S. Con-
gress to study issues concerning pesticides in the diets of infants and children using USDA/FDA data .
The results of this study are published in a 372 page book, Pesticides in the Diets
of Infants and Children(ISBN:0309048753). The study concludes that children are uniquely suscep-
tible to health problems from exposure to toxic pesticides because of their rapid
growth. Infants and children also consume greater quantities of certain foods as
a proportion of body weight. This leads to greater exposure to some pesticides.4
The problem with pesticides is that the quantity of a vegetable your child eats
may exceed government expectations. Anyone who has children knows they go
through phases where they will only eat one food or one group of foods. Since the
government is not in your dining room calculating how many pounds of straw-
berries your tot has eaten this week, they cannot tell you if she has consumed
too much of a certain pesticide. The government can tell you what foods have
chemical residue even after they have been washed and prepared for eating. In
fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Adminis-
tration conducted nearly 43,000 tests on produce samples from 2000–2004.
The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) analyzed this data and created a “simula-
tion of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets...” Their study
showed “that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by
avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the
least contaminated instead.”5 They nicknamed this list of foods “the dirty dozen.”
As of June 2007, the dirty dozen is as follows:
Rank Fruit or Veggie Score Page number
in this book
1 Peaches
2 Apples
3 Sweet Bell Peppers
4 Celery
5 Nectarines
6 Strawberries
7 Cherries
8 Lettuce
9 Grapes, Imported
10 Pears
11 Spinach
12 Potatoes
The list has changed slightly since this book was published -- Kale has moved to the top 12 and spinach has moved down slightly, but all the fruits and vegetables above still remain high on the list.
At The Gourmet Gardener, we don't believe you should have to limit these healthy fruits and vegetables in your diets. Instead, select foods your family commonly eats on the Dirty Dozen list and grow them organically. Use this book as a guide to growing healthy fruits and vegetables in containers and small spaces.
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in reference to: Container Gardening for Health (view on Google Sidewiki)
Monday, September 21, 2009
September/October Schedule
September 22 2PM Book Signing
Safety Harbor Library, Safety Harbor Florida
September 26 9 AM - 2 PM Book Sales/Signing
Organic Morning
Native Nurseries, Tallahassee FL
October 10 and 11 Speaking Engagement and Booth Exhibit #937
Green Festival, Washington DC
To Schedule a Workshop, Discussion, or Book Signing:
386-362-9089
gginfo@windstream.net
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