D.W. asks about summertime gardening in Florida :
“ Hi David ,
A duo of years ago I learn property ( 10 + acres ) with the spirit to homestead ( ego - sufficiency a primary design ) and after getting it cleaned up am quick to invest in intellectual nourishment yield .
I know you ’re probably think why it learn me this long … .
The dimension was an abandoned baby’s room ( 20 + year ) and therefore had tidy sum of adorable landscape cloth , buried irrigation piping , one C of sprinkler head , grow - mansion and sight of other goodies all lay to rest underneath wonderfully thick vines . At this spot I am very close to mop up of the glade phase and set away 1.25 acre recession for home , equipment and food production / garden areas . Within this I would like to allocate about 1/3 acre for a food forest .
My research has led me to your site and recently learn your composting presentation on the home - grow internet ( think that ’s the correct name ) . That led to the leverage of several of your book and doing a lot more inquiry into Permaculture . I would first wish to thank you so much for writing about Florida - specific get method and plants for the primal Florida area . It seem to me that this environment ( I am located [ near Orlando ] ) has unique challenges not encountered in many other places . Also your books avoid being too expert so that the tyro is not overwhelmed and encouraged to just get start out . Much appreciate ! ! :-) .
Snake beans can take the heat!
Now that you have me equipped with vestigial knowledge of the system , etc . as well as enthusiasm to set out … It is mid - July in Florida and I have an receptive lea as my roof of the mouth . I ’m accumulating compost material as quickly as possible , however the brutal warmth and humidity seem to make it a good clock time NOT to plant . Are there plants I can be getting in the reason now ? If not when ? if your passport is to await what do you suggest I do in the meantime ? I have the ability to irrigate but obviously there is no shading canopy available yet . May have miss in your al-Qur’an but saw no consultation to time other than to get started NOW .
Thanks again for the selective information easily digest , your renegade approaching , parodies and humor in your articles and videos . They are a darn ! The one about coffee connoisseur and Yam workouts especially got me laughing cordially Keep em coming – you have a endowment .
Please give notice ,
Thank you , D.W. ”
Thank you for the kind words , D. W.
As you have experience , summertime in Florida is no jest . It ’s hot , humid , and pathetic on plant . You ’re right to not “ jump right in , ” even though I ’m certain it ’s tempting .
Here are my recommendation for summertime horticulture in Florida .
Vegetables that Take the Heat
There are a few options open to you right now on the yearly front : yard - foresighted bean , okra plant and southern peas . That ’s about it . Most everything else will simply die .
Snake beans can take the estrus !
Even these will bear a act in the hotness , but not like everything else does .
If you plant curtilage - long beans now , you should be clean beans by September . Same with okra and southerly peas . I utilise southern peas as a green manure in the hot calendar month , planting them where I plan to plant fall gardens after . Just buy a udder of shameful - eyed peas from the grocery store , soak them overnight , then put away and rake them into a bottom . Keep watered and they ’ll be up in a few days .
For perennial , you may still plant moringa , chaya and cassava starch in the summertime .
Or you could just skip embed crop all told and drop your time getting ready for a grampus fall garden .
Use the Summer as a Head-start on Fall Gardening
Taking the clock time to make compost in summer is a good starting . Make piles and get them going so you have compost to feed your garden in fall . body of water the lots well to get them going , unless you ’re getting deal of rainwater .
Another great project for summertime : use the sun to your reward !
Put down black plastic sheeting or weave moldable landscape painting fabric over area you would like to garden in the fall and get the sun ROAST the weeds !
That ’s one thing the heat of summertime is expectant for : toasting weeds .
Alternately , you may get digging beds , making lasagna gardens and decide where you ’ll be growing in crepuscule .
These were what the beds in my Florida kitchen garden looked like :
Get Going on Fall
I ordinarily obtain serious about tumble horticulture in late September and early October .
The first plants I ’d put in were another round of warm - season crop like red-hot peppers , Solanum melongena and beans .
In October I ’d flora Brassica oleracea italica , Brassica oleracea botrytis , turnips , lettuce , cultivated cabbage , cultivated carrot , kale , and other plants that can take a little cold .
Another thing I always spent time doing during fall was digging novel garden bed .
When the weather cool down off , it ’s actually nice to be outdoors again . practice it to your vantage .
Finally – fall is the time to found fruit and nut tree and shrubs . I always put in a unexampled round of them in the fall .
For veggie planting time in North , Central and South Florida , check outthe chart UF posted here .
It ’s very utile .
Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening: The Secret to Growing Piles of Food in the Sunshine State
Related to today ’s post , Lina save this hebdomad :
“ David , got my books ! Two down and one to go … .. one mesmerism on your Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening book made me become hopefull again : stop out the UF Extension horticulture usher for Florida ( for me South Florida ) . All my spring planting of annuals were off . No wonderment little thrived … . I followed the planting clip for dusty zones . All the advice about growing seeds indoors is irrelevant for South Fl . I am see so much . give thanks you soooo much for all your help .
delay outTotally Crazy Easy Florida Gardeningif you do n’t have it – it ’s based on years of experience with Florida gardening .
It ’s alsonow available in audiobook format , read by yours truly . It ’s not a prospicient book but it has the paint you need to literally grow piles of nutrient .
Conclusion
summertime may not be the best metre to garden in Florida , but it ’s not altogether wretched . Throw down some weed - vote down cover , flora a few yard - long beans and get plan for fall .
Just be certain to void going alfresco between 9AM and 4:30PM or you may be incinerated by the sun .
