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View Full Version : I am from Southwest Florida



kirataffy
02-13-2009, 02:38 PM
Hello, everyone!!! My name is Taffy and I live in Southwest Florida. It is a comfortable, sunny 78 degrees. I have Spring Fever! We just came out of two back to freezes and the landscape looks like someone came through with a flame thrower. I am desperate for green!~

I have lived here for 31 years. Long enough to hate it and love it. :eek: I love to garden, and I can't imagine not being able to grow year round. I do most of my gardening out front. Simply because my 4 dogs trample whatever is in their path. This fall, I planted tomatoes, string beans, radishes and broccoli. I hadn't grown veggies in probably 10 years, so this was a small trial run. It didn't pan out the way I had hoped, but I learned many forgotten lessons. Watering daily and deeply, planting LOTS more than I thought would be sufficient and making sure the crops are in full sun in the EARLY FALL. The winter crops can be planted in partial shade, because by the time they fruit, it will be HOT again. At any rate, my kids enjoyed seeing their food go from the front yard to their plate. We are harvesting the broccoli now and it tastes so good. The winter crop will be planted in Rubbermaid containers. The soil here is a joke, and I am not in the mood to build a new garden bed on the south side of the house just yet.

So, now you know me a bit. I look forward to being here. Thanks to Homesteadbaker for bringing me here.

MoniDew
02-13-2009, 02:43 PM
oh, I am so totally jealous of you, in all that nice warm weather! Are you near Ft Myers? I heard about them on the news lately... forget what it was.

PennyG
02-13-2009, 03:05 PM
Hi there and Welcome from Ontario.

HomesteadBaker
02-13-2009, 05:19 PM
**Kitty ...jumping up and down and waving to her friend!!!!!!!**

Hi Laurie!!!!! Glad you made it! :D

P.S. Welcome to the best gardening spot on the web!

Sinfonian
02-13-2009, 08:36 PM
Welcome! Boy, several of us are dying for your weather right now hehe. Enjoy!

plantoneonme
02-14-2009, 09:21 PM
We had a small taste of warm weather 2 days ago...2" of snow today though. Welcome to the group. Kim

gardengirl72
02-15-2009, 06:59 PM
Oh to be in a warm climate! Welcome and please share and contribute to these forums.

alittletouched
02-15-2009, 08:30 PM
Hello, Taffy! I was born and raised in South Florida until three years ago--definitely not long enough to hate and love it at the same time! The only things I miss from back there are good friends and Cuban food! Well, that and perhaps the ability to grow year round. Great to meet you, look forward to hearing more from you!

kirataffy
02-16-2009, 05:59 PM
Yep, I am northwest side of the river we share with Fort Myers. Cape Coral to be exact. Over the weekend we went out to Sanibel Island with the dogs and the kids. The water was chilly though.

Hi, Kitty. I am happy to be here and gather information and inspiration!

Yesterday I saw a dove collecting stuff from my backyard to build her nest in our tree. I was THRILLED!

Do you all feed the birds too?

One of my broccoli heads flowere before I picked it. It was pretty! I am going to give it to the chickens, maybe they will like it.

Okay, enough topic changes! ROFL I thank you for the warm welcome. I am going to explore the site now.

Taffy

alittletouched
02-17-2009, 12:08 AM
I've been researching edible flowers today and broccoli flowers are on the recommendation list for salads. Maybe you can give that a try before the chickens?

kirataffy
02-17-2009, 08:48 AM
I did not know that I could still eat the brocolli after it flowered. I wonder if it would be bitter because it bolted. Like luttuce is. I will have to let another go to flower and find out. The chickens like it. Oh, just so you don't think I let a humongous head of broccoli go, mine are small.. stunted. Not a good year for big plants for me. Not enough water and food. Junky soil. I will be making major changes in the next growing season.