July is a month of anticipation in North Florida, because most of our fall/winter crops are planted in August. There are only a few veggies you can start from seed in July, but there is still time to put larger plants in the ground. You can usually find veggies such as peppers and tomatoes in sizes from 3-inch to 1 gallon pots, or sometimes even larger at nurseries and big box stores. Time ..read more

May is when the heat usually hits North Florida, and we consider it the beginning of summer. Not much will grow from seed this time of year, in fact this year (2017) has been so hot that my pepper seeds I planted last month never sprouted. Vegetables to Plant in North Florida in May  Fried Okra Is an Old Southern FavoriteImage Credit Lahti 213 CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons ..read more

Beginnings of the South Facing Garden, 2015When I moved here, I had NO money and the soil was horrid -- pure sand.  People told me I couldn't do permaculture in this tiny space, but I didn't listen. I did what I could, using what I had, and what I had was leaves. With lots of large trees around the complex, I started raking and piling them up on the beds in the winter, nothing else, just leaves ..read more

The garden is out of control.For the next two weeks, I will be getting rid of probably 75% of the containerized plants in the courtyard and digging out a lot of ornamentals in the outside gardens. The hurricane scare (which was a non-event here in Gainesville) made me realize that these plants do not bring me joy anymore. I'd be much more joyful in nice, open courtyard with a few pretty plants ..read more

Doesn't look like an edible? Keep reading to find out what it is. I decided last year I was going to transition over from ornamentals to edibles in my gardens. Having very little gardening space, and even less full sun, it's been a challenge for sure. I've tried a few experiments over the years, some have succeeded and some have failed. Some did o.k., but needed more sun, so turned out to be ..read more

Giant Peace Lily in from the cold NOTE: This is a post I put into draft back in February and never finished, so here it is, as far as I got with it. This is the most frustrating time of year for me. I want to get out and clean and trim, but the possibility that we'll have another freeze before the month is out keeps me from doing it. My garden just looks awful! But because of the mild ..read more

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile, and I don't have time right now to post pictures, but here's a bit of what's been happening lately in the gardens. I've been trying to get rid of a lot of my excess plants. Since I can't have my yearly plant sale due to the coronavirus, I've been giving away a lot of my plants. I won't give away the nicest or most valuable of them, so I'm looking at ..read more

I've been happily propagating and adding to my plant collection over 40 years and here for the past 4 years. I came here with 10 plants and now, due to the kindness of friends, mostly, have literally hundreds of plants to care for during hurricanes and freezes. One of the drawbacks to living in an apartment complex is that they dictate what you do during bad weather. Now, with ..read more

Uh-Oh! Just realized that August is nearly over and I forgot to post this. Hope you found it from the link in the sidebar, but you have plenty of time to get things in the ground this month, plus, most of what can be planted in August can also be planted in September, so you're probably good. The main garden season has finally arrived in Florida, and here in the northern part of the ..read more

NOTE: I forgot all about this post. I'm publishing it without many pictures for now because June is half over and I want to get it up. Sorry about that. It's been a busy month. June is a harsh month in Florida, and most gardeners use it as a time to rest and plan for their August plantings, but there are still food crops that can be planted and grown, though many you may never have heard of ..read more