Summertime in Florida, time to plan for fall crops

 

Yes, believe it or not, time to think about your veggie garden and just when you thought it was time to wind down for the summer. You live in Florida and everything is done differently than ‘up north’. Now is the time to get a jump on the fall season. Plan to protect your crops from the sun and avoid sunscald , make your Growboxes during summer so they will be ready to fill in August, and just what are you going to eat come fall? Hmmm? Now is the time to plan your fall garden and peruse some seed catalogs.

Since summer is officially here, don’t forget to protect your plants from sunscald by moving them to shady areas. It’s a better guarantee that you will get a crop in the summer. Sunscald is most devastating to our tender plants. You wouldn’t want to be outside in this heat, day after day with no protection from the sun, now would you? Your plants will appreciate the shade as the temperature difference can be dramatic. I have a hunch that if you are growing in self watering containers and you protect your plants from the sun, then you have an excellent chance of producing a crop. Try lettuce, swiss chard, tomatoes. I have had luck with heat resistant varieties of heirloom lettuce. Try Waldman’s Green. It is a slow to bolt variety and does very well in the shade.

Summertime is a good time to buy seeds for your fall crops. Think of it this way. Your local hardware supply stores usually sell out of their seeds for the summer. What are you going to choose locally? The choices are very limited as to varieties available and if you wait, you won’t have a choice because there won’t be any seed racks to look at. Most stores that sell seed clear out their inventory in June or July. Stock up on marked down seeds at that time. They will last till fall, easily. If you want something more unusual or special, a couple good seed companies are Victoryseeds, The Kitchen Gardener, and Seeds of Change and links for each of them can be found at the end of the article. Summertime is the time to think and plan your fall garden which officially starts the gardening season in Florida. My favorites are heirlooms. They have better taste. Think about the cuisine you would like to eat so you can plant crops and herbs for those flavors. Will it be Italian or Mexican this year, or both?

Summer is the best time to be making your Growboxes. For those that don’t know what they are, a Growbox is a self watering container that you make, that grows awesome veggies. They are portable, holds all the air, water, and nutrients that you provide during the course of the plants life which leads to optimum growth. Make 4 Growboxes at a time once you have taken the workshop and know what to do. It’s the best use of your resources of time and money and saves on both. If you want to find out more about a workshop click the link below. Otherwise, try and find some self-watering containers that are on the market. They offer your veggies an optimum place to grow.

Planning your fall garden starting in June will allow you to have some time to make your gardening decisions before August gets here. You will be ready to go when its time to plant your seeds and you’ll be looking forward to a very rewarding fall garden. Order a couple of seed catalogs from the sites listed above and you will learn of all the incredible varieties there are to choose from.

For more info:  Heirloom Seeds, make a self-watering Growbox,KitchenGardenSeeds; checkout my other articles at Suzanne's Articles