Life Happens

Life happens.  I would say it a different way, but this is a family show.  The last month or so has been tough, but I realized something:  the sun will continue it's internal thermonuclear fusion reaction, the moon will continue it's pull on the tides, and life will continue in all it's majesty and wonder.

I have proof that life will continue.  My garden is overrun with weeds in just over a months time.

I started my plans in June to rearrange the front garden.  The plants I would like to keep are getting moved into pots.  Everything else is getting mowed, since it is just grass.

Somehow, the idea for a vegetable garden was planted.  The ground has been tilled and seed planted.  I have no idea what I am doing, but the kids and I will try and make some plants grow for dinner in three to four months.

So here is to growing! I believe I will go get a beer after all the hard work today.

Seed starting

I picked up some seed starter, (perlite, vermiculite, sphagnum peat moss), a few paper towel rolls for containers and hopefully baby seeds soon.

I think it is time again

I think it is time again to rearrange the front garden.  I can't do much with the soon to be butterfly garden until we finish "cooking" off the grass.  So, after the lack of rain and then three massive down pours the front garden is looking rough.  It will get rearranged with fresh mulch.  I know; it is the wrong time of year to move some of those plants.  Really, the only plant that is going to be kept is the Bulbine.

The Bougainvillea had a bad winter.  I didn't think it would make it.  It is now growing wild.  I can't tame it, or train it, and not one flower has been produced. Of course the hotter and longer the days get, the less Bougainvilleas will produce.  This baby will go into a nice big pot and get some extra care.

The Fern Leaf Lavender did not take winter well at all.  I have already but it into a pot and babied it.  Some nice new growth has started and I will try to propagate it.

The Mexican Petunia is getting kicked out now that I know it is invasive.

The Snapdragons have gotten to hot and are pasted their prime so they will be composted.  (Wait I don't have that started yet *sigh*.)

After last weeks rain, the Cosmos started to die off; go figure.  So they are getting pulled.

The Phlox is already done for the season.  It looks the Dianthus's time is up also.  I had already expected that and have new seeds to start.

So that just leaves Bulbine...Oh and the Aloe, always the Aloe.

A Date

My Husband decides to treat me to an outing looking at plants.  He took me to a few local Native nurseries then off to The Florida Botanical Gardens.

The Gardens

Passion Flower (Passiflora Incarnata)

It looks like a snake head.

Texas Olive Tree (Cordia Boissieri)

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia)

I Don't know

Plumeria (not sure what species)

I would love to visit again.

Baby trees

I joined the Arbor Day Foundation.  Anyone can join for just $10.00 and you receive ten free trees or you can donate your trees to a national forest.  I picked ten flowering trees.  Three Eastern Redbuds, four White Dogwoods, and three Goldenrain Trees showed up on my door step.  

Of course there isn't the space for ten little trees that will grow to around thirty-five feet tall.  One Redbud and one Dogwood found homes in the front yard.  The rest found homes with friends.  I was surprised how excited everyone had become about the trees.

The whole planting process took a very short amount of time.  Between digging, planting, and mulching, it took maybe 30 minutes.  I did forget to soak the trees for three hours like the directions said...that is what I get for planting before coffee and breakfast.  I really hope they do okay.  I have checked them twice a day looking for signs of life out of them.

Amending the soil

Now that we have the answers from our little experiment on soil testing, what do we do with the information?  Well, we need to prep the ground for planting; add what is missing.  Nitrogen needs to be added, blood meal is a nice organic answer.  I won't tell you what it is made from, but I bet you can guess.  It also will keep the wild chickens away (remember old farmland, now city).  We also need to till the ground to break up the compacted sand/clay soil.

The yard is covered in an unidentified grass that has been growing since the house was built.  It's never been watered either, thanks to my father.  He was a pioneer, and probably didn't even know it.  He said, "If it is meant to grow, it will grow.  Whether we water or not".  After looking into making a Florida friendly yard, that is exactly how it should be done.  The point is, the grass that is growing now is so tough, it has withstood months of very little rain.  To even get to the soil, you have to take a shovel and cut into the roots of the grass because it is so matted together and tightly bound to the earth.  So, my soil is going to get some sweat into it also.  It should be good for it.

There are many methods to amending the soil.  I really don't know if one is better than another.  They all create the same effect.  We chose our method because we are limited on resources, but have plenty of sweat to add.

All of our yard is pretty well flat and devoid of rocks and shrubs.  We didn't need to remove any of that.  We have some compost/manure bags on hand.  So, we dig out the area that the new garden is going to go into, to a depth of six to eight inches.  We add what amendment are needed.  In our case, organic matter and nitrogen.  Most Florida gardens would need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.  The fertilizer grade that is most recommended is 6-6-6.  That is 6% of each element to add.

Visit http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh025 Fertilizing the Garden, for more information.

Now that amendments are added, we replace the soil we removed and cover the ground with weed tarp or heavy plastic.  The weed tarp/heavy plastic will kill off the grass that was disturbed and let the fertilizer settle into the soil.  We are going to give this two months.  Waiting this time period is good for two reasons:

     1. It is the start of summer, and boy does it get hot here!
     2. It is the start of rainy season, and what good would adding nutrients to the soil be if they just run off with the rain?

Drip drop

It's raining it's pouring...I wish I had a rain barrel...