Guest Post: Gardening in Florida
By tinychoices | March 16, 2009
Last week we got a note from Tiny Chooser Heather Stapleton noting that our gardening tips and CSA discussions were really out of season for her, because the Florida growing season is so different than the rest of the country! We invited her to write a guest post about the differences and available resources for the more Tropical of our Readers.
Some Tiny Choices that are simple in other parts of the country are rather difficult in Florida. I do my best to wait until July 4th to turn on the AC, but try living without it in August around here – I almost ruined several paperbacks and a ream of paper (recycled of course) one summer trying to be “dark green.”
On the flip side though, eating locally is an easy tiny choice for Floridians for most of the year (especially if you can put things up to use in those dog days of summer when not a whole lot will grow). And, folks in my area are definitely interested! At work (I love my job), I hosted a local foods round table discussion and tasting last night and we were at full capacity with about 60 people!
However, living at 27.64 degrees north (southern central FL for those of you who don’t have to track hurricanes and therefore are not ridiculously familiar with geography), I often feel left out of the fun gardening, local eating and CSA tips floating around out there, both in print and on the internet.
For example, here it is early March and you Yankees are just gearing up for gardening! Just now starting seeds – some INDOORS at that. I just got a post a few days ago stating that now is the time to sign up for your CSA! And, in August, our LOCAL paper ran a national story about the beauty and bounty of farmers’ markets – right at the WORST time of the year for farmer’s markets around here.
Though tropical storms, or worse, hurricanes can put a real damper on gardens and fruit trees, gardening in FL is usually wonderful; we can grow things that most of you northerners can only dream about: mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, bananas, and of course, citrus! There is a trade off: no local cherries, apples, or plums for us. Blue berries are possible, but you need varieties with lowest chilling hours. Black berries, too, but you have to settle for less sweet varieties. In my limited experience, you can forget raspberries in south Florida.
We in the Sunshine State can grow foods during a longer (albeit much different) season than the rest of the country. We don’t “have it as good” as California perhaps; gardening year-round is very difficult in the dog days of summer, where even evening temps rarely fall below 80. And, unless you are growing specific hybrids, even tomatoes have a hard time setting fruit.
My point? Though I am learning through experience, I am NOT an expert and all of that advice out there is not very helpful to me as a sort-new Floridian (who actually grew up as a Hoosier and loved to garden with her Poppie).
Florida’s version of summer can last through mid October – I AM NOT COMPLAINING. All I am saying is that things are very different down here and I have a difficult time relating to many of the posts out there. I suppose regional differences make everyone’s tiny choices somewhat different!
But, here is what I have learned about gardening in FL so far:
- Sign-ups for most CSAs in south FL begin in July and might run through October.
- Most gardening takes place between September and early June, with two distinct growing seasons.
- Farmers’ markets seem to be at their peak December through May (despite what our local paper advises).
- Growing seasons are very different, so ignore most advice on the seed packages. Moreover, since we are doing much of our gardening in the winter, when the days are shorter and there are fewer hours of sunlight, seeds take about 20% longer to sprout.
- When looking for berries, look for varieties with low chilling hours. Though we do have a few nights of chilly temps, even a few nights at 32 or below, Florida does not get below 40 degrees for a long enough period of time for most berries.
- Pests are worse in FL because hard freezes don’t occur and therefore don’t kill off things like nematodes, funguses etc. However, you can use the power of the sun to do some killing on your behalf.
- Ditto for the “weeds.” Learn how to recognize the edible ones and make your job easier – eat ’em!
- Though well drained, most Florida soils are extremely basic and nutrient poor, so I have found that IN ADDITION to standard compost, oak leaves and used coffee grounds (collected free from area coffee shops) can help acidify the soil.
- If you expect to grow vegetables through the summer, look for super heat tolerant varieties. And, try things like New Zealand spinach, sweet potatoes and okra.
If anyone out there considers themselves a south Florida gardening expert, or if you know of any good links, I would love to learn more (and thus feel a little less neglected)!!! Our extension office has some great info. But, unfortunately, most websites are about FLOWER gardening and landscaping in Florida – not exactly what I am looking for. There are a lot of great gardening links out there, but here are some FL specific links I have been enjoying lately.
Keep making those tiny choices – all of us need to focus regionally and do what we can!
[[Photo courtesy Heather - it's of her pineapple border! Growing *pineapples!* So Exciting!]]
Topics: Food, Home | 6 Comments »
Here’s another CSA question… What are the pros/cons of signing up for a CSA vs just going to the local farmer’s market on a regular basis? I have a feeling that as a small family that often goes out of town and seldom agrees on which vegetables are tasty, we might be just as well off with the farmer’s market. It’s also convenient, just up the road a bit from my office, whereas several of the local CSAs I like would require a trip much further out of our usual paths for pickup.
I think the biggest pro is for the CSA farmer – they receive guaranteed revenues when you sign up and pay in advance. a pro to you and your family is that you will be virtually forced to deal with the weird and unusual vegetables you might not ever be inclined to try on your own! Also, I can never get out of work in time to get to the local farmers markets, so a CSA is a more convenient option to me, even if I have to drive a little.
Of course, there are also the issues of food waste, and not being sure what you’ll get every week may make it harder to plan meals. plus having to pay all at once for the CSA can be a burden.
if you haven’t gone the farmers market/CSA route yet, how about taking this summer to commit to heavy farmers market use and if it is super successful, next year evaluate if a CSA will be easier on you!
BY FAR, the BIGGEST benefit of a CSA with working shares is LEARNING how to garden in your area and connecting in a REAL way with your food AND your community. Some CSAs even offer classes, potlucks, etc.
I personally get WAY MORE pleasure of going out to my CSA.
And, not all CSAs work the same. Witin reason, we can take up to a certain amount of veggies per month – so, for example, since I HATE endive, I would never take any! Some CSAs offer a “trading table.”
Another benefit of CSAs – they FIT the group! There is no one right way to do a CSA.
[...] Monday: Guest Poster Heather fills us in on Gardening in Florida! [...]
[...] I had a great weekend and was able to really enjoy some of the warm spring weather we had here in the northeast. It reminded me of all of my garden plans, which, sadly, will have to be mostly put off until next year as I’m just too darn BUSY to get anything planted in time to actually catch the spring. But I figured that some of you are perhaps not so busy, and maybe live in the northeast or similar clime (and if you’re not, check out the post about gardening in Florida!). [...]
Very good site! Thanks!